Dr. Leah van Belle serves as Director of Impact & Sustainability with Detroit Parent Network and as literacy faculty at Wayne State University. A proud Detroiter and first-generation high school graduate, she has served in literacy equity and justice work as a community activist, classroom teacher, literacy coach, and instructor in prison education programs. Leah is Past President of MRA, editor of The Michigan Reading Journal, and the MRA 2026 Adult Educator of the Year. She serves on the state’s Early Literacy Task Force and on the advisory committees for MiLEAP and Birdie’s Bookmobile, a Detroit community book bank. Most importantly, Leah is the mama of a neurodiverse little human, and reading together at bedtime is one of their favorite parts of every day. You can reach her at lvanbelle@detroitparentnetwork.org.
Recommended Citation
van Belle, Leah
(2026)
"The Soul of Reading: Broadside Lotus Press and Black Poetry as Celebration and Resistance,"
Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 58:
Iss.
2, Article 11.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol58/iss2/11
