‘Culture is always a conversation among different voices.’

While the languages may vary, Dr. Henry “Skip” Louis Gates Jr. believes everyone can speak in the same tone. Gathered in the Hyatt Regency hotel last month, hundreds from different cultures came to hear Gates tell what is needed to win the race to achieve “Cultural Collaboration in Transforming Michigan.” The conference was presented by the Council of Michigan Foundations and sponsored by Comerica Bank and The Knight Foundation.

“There’s an understanding that the needs existing in our state can only be solved if we work together and collaborate ideas, crossing geographic and racial lines,” said Caroline Chambers, Comerica vice president. “Comerica is supportive of initiatives that encourage diversity.”

To gain widespread appreciation of diversity, Gates believes more is needed.

“The challenge facing America will be shaping a truly common public culture…society won’t survive without the values of tolerance,” wrote Gates. “And cultural tolerance is nothing without cultural understanding.”

Robert Collier, president and CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations, suported Gates’ message and hopes application of it will push Michigan forward. “Our foundation is made up of a number of organizations representing diverse backgrounds. By working together we learn that we’re really not that different,” said Collier. “Dr. Gates’ research supports this (thinking). Although we come from different backgrounds, when we sit down and talk to one another, we find that we have more in common than originally believed. In order for Michigan to move forward, we must learn to work together and establish a common ground.”

Viewed by many as a genius, Gates has received numerous awards and honorary degrees that include recognition from the MacArthur Foundation as one of 21 gifted individuals, becoming the first African American to be awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship, discovering the first novel written in the U.S. by a Black person, and becoming the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Cambridge.

“The impact Dr. Gates has on our lives and the world goes well beyond the details of his resumé,” noted Chambers. “I have often heard him described as a ‘public intellectual,’ which refers to the way he brings the breadth and depth of his intellectual and scholarly studies to the public for the purpose of informing and encouraging public dialogue.”

In 1997, Time magazine named him one of the “25 Most Influential Americans.”

Under his guidance, an African American studies program was developed at Harvard University. But Gates is most known for conducting widespread research of African American history and literature, including releasing “The Wonders of the African World,” a six-part mini-series that aired on PBS and launching the popular Africana.com website in 1999 that was purchased by AOL Time Warner a year later.

“As a Black American, I know what it’s like to have your history stolen from you. I wanted to bring this lost African world into the consciousness of the larger public, Black and White,” Gates said in an interview with Jet magazine.

It is the restoration of that history that Gates and supporters believe will help to continue conversations among people of different cultures and help Michigan to go beyond color lines to win the race for cultural tolerance.

“By tracing our heritage, we will find things that we can be proud of and motivated by,” said Chambers. “Other cultures can talk about their roots without hesitation. Wouldn’t it be great if every child could know where they came from and take pride in the accomplishments of our heritage?”