AUGUST 22 • 2024 | 35
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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