Across Metro Detroit, many protesters in 
majority-white suburbs with large Jewish 
populations mobilized on foot and in vehicles 
in support of the Black Lives Matter move-
ment. Jewish News staffers reported from 
several of these scenes.

WEST BLOOMFIELD 
About 500 people gathered at a police 
reform protest in West Bloomfield Friday 
afternoon, June 5. 
As the crowd amassed, volunteers walked 
around to help attendees register to vote. 
Protesters stood on either side of Orchard 
Lake Road between 14 and 15 Mile roads. 
Cars honked in solidarity as they passed. 
It was organized by college students 
Thomas Callahan of Southfield and 
Raniyah Reynolds of Detroit. The pair 
founded an organization called Black 
Leader’
s Reformative Institute. Reynolds, a 
junior at Michigan State University, said it 
was important to her and Callahan that the 

police reform movement have a presence in 
the Detroit suburbs. 
“I just wanted to make sure that we took 
it outside to places that are not necessarily 
known for police brutality but making sure 
that we’
re all united, we’
re all a communi-
ty, we all understand that this is not OK,
” 
Reynolds said. “We wanted to make sure 
that West Bloomfield had a voice as well.
” 
While many organizers across the 
country — including in Detroit and Ann 
Arbor — are demanding that their cities 
defund police forces and instead invest in 
other community services, Reynolds and 
Callahan organized their march around 
police reform. 
People from across West Bloomfield and 
surrounding cities came out to protest. 
Nancy Cohen, a West Bloomfield resident 
and a Hillel Day School teacher, said she 
came to the event to send a message to her 
students and her own children. 
“
As a woman in her 50s, I’
ve never felt so 

disheartened by the events and the political 
divide of our country,
” she said. “You can’
t 
sit quietly. You’
ve got to be involved.
” 
Teri Weingarden, who serves as the trea-
surer of West Bloomfield Township, said 
she felt the Jewish presence at the event was 
important because of Judaism’
s belief in tik-
kun olam. “It is our responsibility to repair 
the world,
” she said. 
Weingarden believes the township board 
would fund additional anti-bias training for 
their police department if a proposal were 
to be made. 
The crowd marched down Orchard Lake 
to the West Bloomfield Police Department 
for a short rally. 
Rabbi Rachel Lawson Shere of Adat 
Shalom Synagogue held two signs — one 
with a Hebrew verse from the Torah and 
the other saying “I Can’
t Breathe,
” the final 
words of George Floyd.
“The word in Hebrew for ‘
breathe’
 is the 
same word for ‘
spirit,
’
” Shere said. “People’
s 

22 | JUNE 11 • 2020 

‘White Silence is
 Violence’

Weekend protests in suburban neighborhoods
support Black Lives Matter.

JN STAFF

MAYA GOLDMAN/JEWISH NEWS

Jews in the D
jews and racial justice

