32 | MAY 2 • 2024
J
N
T
amara Lopes of
Southfield is getting
ready to help welcome
the first Detroit cohort of
Rekindle, a group aimed at cre-
ating social change
by bringing leaders
from Black and
Jewish commu-
nities together to
discuss racism and
antisemitism.
From a cafe in
Detroit, the cohort of 14-16
people, equal in numbers of
Black and Jewish participants,
will work to build bridges
between the communities,
she says. They’ll meet for
four biweekly sessions on
Wednesdays, with a fifth final
session to culminate.
In the first session, they’ll be
getting to know each other and
discussing Black and Jewish
history and intergenerational
trauma, she says. “I’m excited
because we are having a dia-
logue,
” she explains. “This will
allow us to break down barriers
and listen to each other for who
we really are.
”
Rekindle, which started in
Cleveland in 2021, is in the
recruitment phase now, with
applications coming in as word
gets out about the program. It’s
a way of rekindling the relation-
ships the two communities built
during the civil rights move-
ment, she explains. “We are
fighting the same fight whether
we know it or not … I believe
we’re stronger together than
separate.
”
Detroit will be the eighth city
where it’s running cohorts, says
Matt Fieldman,
executive director
and co-founder. “I
wanted to see the
two communities
work better togeth-
er,
” says Fieldman.
“Participants walk
out with a new understanding
of the other communities, with
new partners in the other com-
munity and a real action project
that they can point to and say ‘I
did that.
’”
Fieldman added that
Rekindle has made a $10,000
commitment to the launch of
the Detroit chapter.
There have been conversa-
tions and disagreements, and
sometimes emotions run high,
but the focus is on what they
can do together, he says.
“We don’t have to agree on
everything to be good allies,
especially as it relates to mak-
ing our cities better,
” he says.
“Let’s focus on what we can do
together.
”
Jeff Jenks of Huntington
Woods says he’s
enthusiastic about
the opportunity
to participate in
the project, which
he learned about
through a JCRC
email. At 84, he
says he’s spent his life involved
in civil rights and supporting
democracy and sees the need to
contribute on a local level.
“It puts Jewish intervention
back in the book,
” he says,
adding that he sees a need to
reinforce the connections and
support between the Black and
Jewish communities.
Involved in other initiatives
around Metro Detroit aimed at
bolstering these relationships as
well, he says it’s critical to work
toward stronger understand-
ing. “We will build legitimate
bridges; we will work with Jews,
especially the young genera-
tions,
” he says. “I want to listen
to younger people and how
they’re thinking. It has been a
long time since we intentionally
built bridges among young peo-
ple. I want to learn new tech-
niques for change.
”
Yevgeniya Gazman of
Farmington applied to take
part in Rekindle to meet other
young leaders and foster collab-
oration between
communities.
“When we sit
down together and
learn from one
another and we
collaborate, our
impact is exponen-
tially greater,
” she says.
Gazman says she’s in multiple
groups focused on community
building and learning from
one another. Born in the Soviet
Union, she immigrated to the
United States as a child refugee
and says she feels a pull toward
wanting to learn more about
the Black experience in this
country. Rekindle is something
she’s compelled to make time
for, even as she has started a
new position as an immigration
attorney. “I just know I need to
show up, and I have zero doubt
that good things are going to
happen,
” she says.
She adds that she’s hoping
to come away with stronger
ties to other young Black
and Jewish leaders in the
community as well. “I hope to
make new friends so we can
have relationships that are more
than just policy decisions,
” she
explains. “I want to have people
in my life that I can invite to
Shabbat dinner and be part of
their simchahs.
”
Visit rekindlefellowship.org/
detroit to apply.
New group in Detroit aims to help communities
work together to effect change.
Rekindling the Unity of
the Black-Jewish Alliance
Tamara
Lopes
Jeff Jenks
Matt
Fieldman
Yevgeniya
Gazman
KAREN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OUR COMMUNITY