AUGUST 22 • 2024 | 35
J
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Particpants
learn about the wall that separated the Black
and white communities; Jeannie Weiner; Dwan
Dandridge and David Contorer; Jacob Smith;
Brandon Colvin and Jacob Smith, co-organizers
of the Coalition Series.
A
rguably, no one knows the
history of Black people in
Detroit better than Jamon
Jordan, the official and first City
Historian of Detroit and founder of
the Black Scroll Network. And argu-
ably no one knows the history of the
Jewish people in Detroit better than
Jeannie Weiner, the immediate past
president of the Jewish Historical
Society of Michigan and a lifelong
activist and leader in the Jewish
community. These two paired up as
guides for Project Understanding
2024.
Project Understanding is a day-
long deep dive into Detroit’s Black
and Jewish history. The first half
of the day consisted of a bus tour
with multiple stops at key Detroit
sites bringing to life the who, what,
where, when and how of Black and
Jewish history in the city.
Stops included Ed Dwight’s
Gateway to Freedom in Hart Plaza,
Breakers Covenant Church (once
home to Temple Beth El), Birwood
Wall, and the corner of 12th and
Clairmont, where Marsha Music
shared the story of her family and
Jordan taught about the 1967
uprising.
During the second half of the day,
participants gathered at the Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue for
lunch, learning and conversation.
David Contorer, executive director
of Hebrew Free Loan, and Dwan
Dandridge, co-founder and CEO of
Black Leaders Detroit, spoke to the
group about how the two learn from
one another and have been able to
share and replicate best practices
from Hebrew Free Loan in the Black
community through Black Leaders
Detroit.
Participants also learned from
Jacob Smith and Brandon Colvin,
co-organizers of the Coalition Series,
about their friendship and how it led
them toward facilitating and holding
space for the Black and Jewish com-
munities to come together around
shared experiences.
The program is a product of
the Jewish Federation of Detroit,
Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity
and Black-Jewish Fellowship for
Young Leaders. The 2024 co-chairs
of the program were Pastor Aramis
Hinds, Jacob Smith and Shawn
Young.
Project
Understanding
YEVGENIYA GAZMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY YEVGENIYA GAZMAN