Kelly Dillaha Archives - Red Wine and Blue

Moving Macomb Forward event connects community

Sarah Kester — Sun, 19 Nov 2023 01:32:02 +0000

Community activists, residents and political leaders gathered at Macomb Community College South Campus in Warren Saturday morning to discuss how they can help each other and how voters can be better engaged — particularly in municipal and school board elections.

The Moving Macomb Forward event was hosted by Red Wine and Blue, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, For Our Future Michigan and Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.

“We are an unlikely alliance because women’s groups don’t traditionally work closely with environmental groups, so we are just trying something new,” said Kelly Dillaha, Michigan Red, Wine and Blue program director. “We wanted to bring the different groups together to see if there was any kind of crossover in the work that we are doing and if we could help each other.”

People from around Macomb County attended the brainstorming session and networking event and discussed issues facing local residents including the lack of affordable housing, high energy costs, flooding, gun violence, education, access to mental health services, and updating water infrastructure.

“People are coming to us because they see things that are happening at the school board level, or a lot of moms are concerned about gun violence issues,” said Dillaha. “It is those kinds of issues that are motivating people to feel like they need to show up and get involved and to vote.”

Legislation expanding gun restrictions for domestic abusers clears Michigan House

Sarah Kester — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 00:46:45 +0000

Kelly Dillaha, Michigan director of the women’s advocacy organization Red, Wine & Blue, called passage of the bills a “huge victory” for survivors of domestic violence.

“As a child, I lived through the traumatic experience of domestic violence with a gun,” she said. “I’m so relieved and proud that fewer little girls will have to live through that same nightmare. Today, we’re giving domestic violence survivors the hope and safety they deserve.”

The advocacy organization End Gun Violence Michigan noted that passage of the legislation capped off a “historic year” for gun safety legislation in Michigan, including for safe storage of firearms, universal background checks, and red flag laws.

Gun reform activists had mobilized after two school shootings in the last two years at Oxford High School in November 2021 and Michigan State University in February.

Read the complete article at michiganadvance.com

The post Legislation expanding gun restrictions for domestic abusers clears Michigan House appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

Survivors of domestic violence push for gun reform laws in Michigan

Sarah Kester — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 01:06:51 +0000

A key part of End Gun Violence Michigan’s intentions is to try and disarm all convicted domestic abusers and make domestic violence victims and communities all over Michigan safer. The goal of the Sept. 14 memorial service was to support new legislation that would forbid convicted domestic abusers from buying or carrying guns for eight years in the state.

Similar legislation has been approved in 31 other states, strongly tying into the goals that End Gun Violence Michigan (EGVM) has for people and communities all over Michigan. EGVM reunited people who were affected by domestic violence in Michigan to share their stories as a way to support new legislation. Their testimonials were publicized during press conferences streamed all over Michigan on Monday, Sept. 18, in order to speak further about the vigil.

Participants wanted to bring attention to the changes in legislation they are strongly pushing for, and how they plan to do what they can to help this legislation to get passed as soon as possible and in effect in Michigan. One press conferences took place at St John’s Church in Royal Oak, Michigan, in which End Gun Violence Michigan had people speak about their firsthand experiences with these issues.

Some people involved with this organization have personal experiences regarding domestic violence or gun violence and are looking to spare others from the pain they or someone close to them faced. Kelly Dillaha is the Michigan Program Director for Red, Wine, and Blue, a state organization that educates women about issues in civics, as well as helping provide tools and resources needed to help them contribute to the community. Dillaha’s job has had stories be told regarding domestic violence in people’s communities, including personal issues for both Dillaha and the women she works with.

Dillaha’s experiences with domestic violence run deeper than just this organization though, as she grew up in a household where domestic violence with a firearm took place and her sorority sister, who introduced her and her husband, was murdered by her husband.

Dillaha also mentioned that her children were at Michigan State during the mass shooting back in February 2023. “The tragic reality is that two-thirds of mass shootings are domestic violence related. We know domestic violence escalates when women try to leave,” Dillaha said.

Read the complete article at news.jrn.msu.edu

The post Survivors of domestic violence push for gun reform laws in Michigan appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

What are local schools doing for student safety?

rwbdrew — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 13:11:55 +0000

The list is long, as are our memories, of youths who have been victims of school shootings. And as the public cries for a solution become deafening, it is left to school districts and law enforcement to fortify schools with what amounts to bandaids as prevention as lawmakers at the national and state level tussle over gun control.

If the last 50 years is any predictor – if 2023 continues as it has begun, there will be approximately 400 school shootings this year, up considerably from 2022’s record high of 273, so says David Reidman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, which is updated daily,

Stateside Podcast: The parents on the other side of the phone

rwbdrew — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 22:54:18 +0000

On the night of the shooting at Michigan State University, students faced four hours of a shelter-in-place order. During that time many students were in communication with their parents; texting and calling them. On the other end of the phone, parents had to manage their own fears while reassuring their children.

Kelly Dillaha was one of those parents. Her twin sons are juniors at Michigan State University.

“[M]y son texted a picture of how they had barricaded furniture against the doors and window of their apartment and asked my husband if he thought it was going to be secure enough to hold anyone back and if there was improvements they could make to how they had barricaded,” Dillaha said. “And that was kind of the low point of the evening because you’re trying to remain calm as a parent.”

After Oxford, gun violence advocates felt helpless. But there’s hope for change in Michigan now.

rwbdrew — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 22:46:34 +0000

Kelly Dillaha, the mother of twins who attend MSU and were barricaded in their room just off campus during the mass shooting, said the school could not have done anything differently to prevent Monday’s violence. What would make a difference, she said, is gun reform.

“The vast majority of people in Michigan are for this kind of reform with our legislation, and I don’t think all of the legislators are listening to us,” said Dillaha, a Birmingham resident and the Michigan program director for the progressive women’s group Red Wine & Blue, which advocates for gun reform.

In addition to the bills introduced by Republicans, a flurry of press releases from Republican Senators and House members have focused on mental health access and school safety measures.

‘We all ran for our lives’: MSU students describe mass shooting as a never-ending nightmare

rwbdrew — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 22:43:44 +0000

Michigan State University students are angry.

Yes, they are traumatized; yes, they are overwhelmed with grief and sadness. They know they will need mental health support in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. But, right now, in the wake of three students being killed and five others being injured in a mass shooting at Michigan State University Monday night, they are also deeply angry.

MSU mom, anti-gun violence advocate calls for solutions after campus shooting

rwbdrew — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 22:40:14 +0000

A Michigan State University mother and anti-gun violence advocate says Monday’s deadly shooting on campus reinforces her efforts to achieve sensible gun control.

Kelly Dillaha’s phone was flooded Monday night with messages from concerned friends asking about her twin sons who both attend MSU.

As the chaos on campus unfolded, Dillaha remembers the worst part of the evening for her:

“My kids texted a picture showing how they’d moved their furniture in their house to barricade their door and they’d sent it to my husband asking if he thought they’d reinforced the door well enough,” Dillaha said.

Michigan State Mom, Activist Hopes Shooting Will Lead To Gun Reform

rwbdrew — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 22:35:49 +0000

Kelly Dillaha and her husband, Scott, were watching television in their Birmingham home Monday evening when their phones started blowing up with texts asking if their twin sons, Aidan and Brandon Johnson-Hill, students at Michigan State University, were OK.

They switched to a news channel and learned the East Lansing campus was on lockdown. A gunman had opened fire in two buildings, killing three students and wounding five others.

Good News Alert: Democrats Might Actually Flip the Michigan Legislature

rwbdrew — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:13:21 +0000

When Michigan voters go to the polls, they’ll also be deciding whether to enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution, or to let stand a 1931 law that would essentially ban abortion in the state. Kelly Dillaha, Michigan Program Director for the grassroots women’s group Red Wine and Blue, which claims 11,000 members in the state, says that the issue is galvanizing suburban women, but that it’s not the only one. The public school culture wars, largely orchestrated by the far right, are also activating voters.