metro

Learning Together

JPMorganChase

Mission shows how Detroit's blacks and Jews
join to fight poverty, racism.

Farm, cultivator of numerous commu-
nity gardens and supplier to Capuchin
Soup Kitchen; Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue, the only free-standing syna-
gogue in the city of Detroit; and the
Heidelberg Project, two city blocks filled
with captivating art. The tour helped
showcase a side of Detroit rarely seen
in the media. It showed a city full of life
and opportunity, a place filled with pas-
sionate community members.
After seeing Detroit from the road,
group members had a chance to get
their hands dirty at a community gar-
den project. Falik provided mission par-
ticipants with the opportunity to work
with Summer in the City volunteers at
JCPA Chair Dr.
Romanowski Farm Park in southwest
Conrad Giles
Detroit.
speaks with
The project brought up issues of food
Mission to Detroit
insecurity, along with underlying issues
participant
of racism. It became apparent that to
Barbara Shannon-
fight poverty and hunger on a wide
Banister,
scale, the racial and city/suburb divide
executive director
must be resolved.
of the Aurora
At the end of the four-day confer-
Human Rights
ence, which included such speakers
Commission in
as Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence
Colorado.
and JCPA Chair Dr. Conrad L. Giles
of Bloomfield Hills, participants were
given an opportunity to collaborate with
each other to find ways to apply the
experience in Detroit to their own com-
munities.
Providence and California's Silicon
Nashville partners Irwin Venick and
Valley. From a state representative to a
Howard
Gentry hope to create a similar
JCRC chair to an incoming president
conference
that brings together African
of a local NAACP office, the mission
American
and
Jewish young professionals.
brought together a diverse group of peo-
Rhode
Island
participants Jim
ple who were passionate about tackling
Vincent,
Scott
Libman
and Marty
issues of race and poverty.
Cooper
suggested
that
an
ongoing rela-
At the mission's opening dinner,
tionship
be
formed
between
the Jewish
Detroit
Arthur Horwitz, publisher of the
and
African
American
media,
along
and
Bankole
Thompson,
Jewish News,
with
the
creation
of
multicultural
net-
Michigan
Chronicle,
senior editor of the
working in an effort to create new jobs
served as speakers and panelists for the
in their community.
group.
Additionally, Roslyn Duman and
Laying the groundwork for conversa-
Barbara Shannon Banister of Colorado
tions about interfaith and interracial
suggested that working together to facil-
partnerships, Horwitz and Thompson
itate dialogue would be more beneficial
told how they strive to build relation-
than simply talking about the issues.
ships between the Jewish and African
Detroit served as a prime example
American communities by engaging
of a thriving and re-emerging city.
their respective ethnic media.
The positive view of the city's various
On the first full day of the mission,
programs contributed to the success of
participants boarded a bus for on-site
the mission and has opened the doors
visits to several successful Detroit pro-
to future collaboration between Jewish
grams designed to combat blight and
and African American communities in
poverty in the city. Stops on the tour
Detroit and across the country. Li
included Focus:Hope, a community
building organization; TechTown, a
Sarah Crane of Farmington Hills is an associ-
business incubator; Piquette Square,
ate at the JCRC. Rachael Malerman of West
home to 150 homeless veterans in
Bloomfield is a JOIN intern at the JCRC.
southwest Detroit; Earthworks Urban

Jewish News
Publisher
Arthur Horwitz
and Michigan
Chronicle Senior
Editor Bankole
Thompson give
a presentation
on interfaith
and interethnic
partnerships to
Mission to Detroit
participants.

Sarah Crane and
Rachael Malerman
Special to the Jewish News

"Does everything but hand
viewers a glass of white wine
light candles and draw
them a bath"

BRIDE
FLIGHT

opens July 29th

www.dia.orgicift
313.833.3237

DETROIT
INSTITUTE
OF ARTS

12 July 21 . 2011

p

rominent members of the
African American and Jewish
communities from across the
country gathered in Detroit to team up
and confront poverty and racism.
From June 27-30, the Jewish
Community Relations Council (JCRC)
of Metropolitan Detroit hosted the
Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)
Mission to Detroit. Working to facili-
tate interfaith and interracial efforts
to eradicate poverty, the mission gave
participants many ideas to take back to
their home communities, along with a
new and positive perspective of the city
of Detroit.
Among the 16 participants were
Ben Falik, JCRC board member and
co-founder of Summer in the City, a vol-
unteer program that engages teens and
young adults with the city of Detroit,
and QuanTez Pressley, director of com-
munity outreach and speechwriter for
Detroit City Council President Charles
Pugh. Participants came from Denver,
Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Nashville,