24 | MAY 21 • 2020
J
oel Marwil, 73, of
Farmington is the recipient
of the 2019 B’
nai B’
rith
International (BBI) President’
s
Award for his efforts in distrib-
uting the win-
ning books from
the Diverse Minds
Writing Challenge
to Detroit-area
preschools and
elementary
schools. The
organization has
been champion-
ing human rights
since its inception in 1843.
The national BBI Diverse
Minds Writing Challenge com-
petition asks high school
students to write and illustrate
a children’
s book for elemen-
tary-aged students “that tell
a story of tolerance, diversity
or inclusion.” Contest winners
in each city/region receive a
$5,000 college scholarship and
have their books published.
BBI Great Lakes Region
president Lila Zorn of
Farmington Hills accept-
ed the award on Marwil’
s
behalf during a ceremony in
Washington, D.C., this past
November. “Joel is the con-
summate volunteer who cares
about people,” Zorn said. “He
took on the book distribution
because he so strongly believes
that a positive message of
diversity be taught to our
young children.”
“
As satisfying as it is to
receive the award,” said Joel,
“I’
m just happy to be able to
give back to the community.
That’
s the real meaning behind
it.” He plans on distributing
more books and making him-
self available to read at schools
once normal sessions resume.
Since 2006 B’
nai B’
rith said
it “has published 41 original
children’
s books, some in two
different languages (English
and Spanish), awarded more
than $337,000 in college schol-
arships and grants, and donat-
ed more than 45,000 books
to public schools, libraries,
and community organizations
across the country.” You’
d be
hard pressed to distinguish the
books of these high school-
ers from their professional
counterparts both in form and
function.
Joel has a long history with
B’
nai B’
rith. He’
s been a mem-
ber since 1972, ascending to
trustee and president of the
Tucker-Grant Lodge. He is a
vice president of the execu-
tive board of the Great Lakes
Region.
WITNESS TO INJUSTICE
When he was just 11, Joel
became acutely aware of the
impact that inclusion, or lack
thereof, could have on an
impressionable young mind.
He remembers clearly the
day in the summer of 1957
he and his 12-year-old friend
Sidney spent an afternoon at
the beach in Cape May, New
Jersey. If not for segregat-
ed beaches, they may have
enjoyed the afternoon togeth-
er.
Joel is the Detroit grandson
of Aaron and Fera Zavelle,
his mother Lenore’
s parents,
who owned a prominent
Philadelphia bookstore. Sidney
was the son of Bill Harper, a
longtime black employee of
the Zavelles.
The Zavelles’
relation-
ship with Bill and his family
extended past the confines of
their bookstore and their skin
color. On this particular week-
end in 1957, they welcomed
the Harpers into their Cape
May summer home. However,
when the families left the front
porch, Jim Crow laws prohib-
ited them from enjoying the
same beach.
Joel couldn’
t fully compre-
hend why he and Sidney had
to go their separate ways that
day. “I was confused at first,”
he said. “It didn’
t sound fair
that one person had to go
someplace else because of the
color of their skin…. I kept
silent. I didn’
t know what to
say. I was getting an educa-
tion.” Words escaped him, but
not the feeling it left with him.
Seven years later, during
another summer excursion to
the East Coast, Joel and Sidney
again arrived together at a
beach in Atlantic City, only
this time they did not part
ways. Together, they were the
beneficiaries of change that
came with the passage of the
landmark Civil Rights Act of
1964 that year.
Joel still feels the joy of that
new experience at the beach.
“It was a wonderful thing that
happened, a gift to humanity,”
he said.
The witnessing of an injus-
tice in 1957 and the righting of
a wrong in 1964 are moments
in time that Joel says “stayed
with me the rest of my life”
and profoundly impacted him
personally and professionally.
Alan
Muskovitz
Contributing
Writer
Jews in the D
Joel Marwil is all about inclusion.
Diversity Champion
Lila Zorn, president
of B’
nai B’
rith Great
Lakes Region,
presents the B’
nai
B’
rith International
President’
s Award to
Joel Marwil.
ALAN MUSKOVITZ