JUNE 11 • 2020 | 21

can’
t legislate racism.
’
 I can’
t 
make anyone like me or dislike 
me because of the color of my 
skin. But I sure can protect the 
environment we work and live 
in, create laws that will swiftly 
hold those to the judicial pro-
cess and make sure everyone 
knows if you choose to do this, 
there are consequences.
” 
Lawrence was grateful for the 
peaceful protestors in Detroit, 
where there was little arson or 
looting like there was in the 
1960s when she was a child. 
“We burned up our city and 
we destroyed it. There’
s enough 
of us around who aren’
t going 
to let that happen,
” Lawrence 
said. 
The black community was 
also devastated by the impact 
of the coronavirus pandemic 
in Michigan. Lawrence knew 
many people, including two 
family members, who were 
diagnosed with the virus and 

battled the illness. 
“We have been locked up 
in our homes, grieving deaths 
and sickness with this virus and 
then when this happened; it was 
like dry brush and this event 
was the flame that just lit up all 
of these emotions,
” Lawrence 
said. “It was just back to back, 
with the young man who was 
jogging down the street and was 
shot down like he was animal 
prey and somebody was hunt-
ing him. The disregard of life 
for the young lady who was in 
her own apartment and police 
broke in and took her life.
“
And then, to watch a man 
die, and take his last breath, 
from what I call a modern day 
lynching, because when you 
lynch someone, you cut off the 
air by their neck and that’
s what 
happened here. To watch that, 
it was just too much. We had 
to get out and scream and tell 
people that this is not right, and 

we deserve more because we are 
Americans.
” 
Lawrence called on local 
mayors, governors and the 
president to unite the country 
as one, instead of causing more 
division. 
“We should vote for those 
people who understand their 
job is to bring us together and 
to be the uniter of these United 
States of America, of your city 
and of your state,
” Lawrence 
said. “We don’
t elect people 
who will divide us and actually 
prey on parts of our community 
and make them disposable.
” 
Lawrence encourages the 
black and Jewish communities 
to engage with “the Black-
Jewish dialogue.
” When she was 
younger, she said, people would 
open their homes and sit with 
one another, listen to each other 
and form inclusive bonds. 
“We have moved this dia-
logue to synagogues and town 

halls, but what about that inti-
mate setting in someone’
s home 
talking about what is happen-
ing, especially now?” Lawrence 
said. “I’
m a firm believer that 
when small groups of people 
come together on the same 
issue we can truly start making 
a difference.
” 
Serving formerly as 
Southfield’
s mayor and now as 
a congresswoman, Lawrence is 
proud of the connections of the 
black and Jewish communities 
in her district. While it is not a 
reality in a lot of areas through-
out the country, it is a powerful 
tool that the community can 
use to fight for the equality and 
justice that the country needs, 
she said. 
“Someone told me yesterday, 
‘
No matter how dark the night, 
morning will come.
’
 And I am 
counting on that,
” Lawrence 
said. 

Allyn and Repair the World 
Detroit say they will follow 
the lead of Detroit Jews for 
Justice (DJJ), since “they work 
so closely in organizing and 
activism, especially around 
anti-racism.” 
“We acknowledge that in 
most our Jewish spaces, we see 
a lot of white faces and hear 
a lot of white voices, and that 
is really not the time for that,” 
Allyn said.
DJJ’
s founding executive 
director, Rabbi Alana Alpert, is 
planning education and action 
opportunities for the commu-
nity. Alpert also asks the Jewish 
community to support cam-
paigns and organizations, like 
DJJ, during this time. 
“The killing of black people 
by police is an egregious exam-
ple of the systemic racism that 
we are committed to fighting. 
We condemn this horrific 
violence and affirm that Black 

Lives Matter,” Alpert told 
the JN in a statement. “Were it 
not for the pandemic and its 
disproportionate impacts on 
people of color and residents 
of Detroit (itself a result of 
structural racism), we would 
be actively mobilizing our 
supporters to demonstrate 
following the leadership of our 
trusted partners.” 
Alpert said DJJ has been 
approved for a grant from the 
Jews of Color Field Building 
Initiative to work with syna-
gogues on diversity, equity and 
inclusion. 
“The grant will also support 

us to amplify the voices of Jews 
of Color, who have been telling 
us unequivocally that we in the 
Jewish community must show 
up for black Jews and for all 
black people targeted by state 
violence,” Alpert’
s statement 
read. 
The Detroit Free Press 
reported that faith leaders from 
varying backgrounds through-
out Metro Detroit have come 
together to speak out against 
Floyd’
s death and demand jus-
tice and peace. At Greater New 
Mount Moriah Missionary 
Baptist Church in Detroit on 
May 31, rabbis, an imam and 

Rev. Kenneth Flowers spoke 
out against the racial injustice 
and condemned Floyd’
s death. 
During the live-
streamed mass, local news 
outlets reported, Jewish lead-
ers told the predominately 
African American congre-
gation that “on behalf of the 
Jewish community of Detroit 
… we are with you at this 
time.” 
Muslim faith leaders, Arab 
American advocates with the 
Arab American Civil Rights 
League, the Dearborn mayor 
and police chief also gathered 
at the Dearborn Police Station 
and criticized the injustice. 
Bishop of the Episcopal 
Diocese of Michigan, Rt. Rev. 
Bonnie Perry, also acknowl-
edged Floyd’
s death during 
mass and said, “We cannot be 
filled with the power of the 
Holy Spirit and crush the life 
out of another.” 

“We cannot be fi
 lled with the 
power of the Holy Spirit and 
crush the life out of another.”

— RT. REV. BONNIE PERRY

JEWISH GROUPS RESPOND continued from page 18