DOWNTOWN DETROIT
2A — Monday, Febrary 4, 2019
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News
MAX KUANG/Daily
Visiting the historic Fox Theatre, located in downtown Detroit, before the Michigan Democratic Party Convention Saturday morning.
DESIGN BY VIVIAN HARBER
Educator
and
activist
Yavilah
McCoy
joined
Michigan Hillel for a Shabbat
dinner on Friday to talk about
social activism and the role
Judaism plays in activism.
The
event,
“Courageous
Conversation Towards Equity
and Empowerment for All
Students,” was one of a series of
events that took place Feb. 1-3
with McCoy as Hillel’s Scholar
in Residence for the weekend.
McCoy
is
the
CEO
of
Dimensions
Educational
Counseling, Inc., a nonprofit
led by women and Jewish
people of color which consults
and
trains
on
diversity,
equity and inclusion. She also
founded Ayecha, a nonprofit
organization that advocates
for Jewish people of color and
provides support for Jewish
and
multiracial
families.
McCoy spoke at Hillel in
2017 and is a member of
the leadership and steering
committee for the Women’s
March.
McCoy
focused
on
the
interplay
between
different
aspects of her identity at the
discussion Friday.
“I’m an African-American,
Jewish
woman,
and
I’ve
lived for many years saying
I’m unapologetic about my
identity,” McCoy said. “So
freedom, the idea of liberalism
is always in front of me.”
Students gathered in the
main lounge of Hillel after a
dinner with McCoy. McCoy
began the talk by teaching them
a song in the Jewish gospel,
singing
“Shabbat
Shalom”
and having attendees respond
singing the same words.
McCoy said people sing
because it brings courage.
She said activists often sing
and chant in marches to bring
about more courage.
McCoy explained the four
levels of courage: personal,
interpersonal,
system
or
institutional
and
cultural.
Through examples of leaders
showing courage, she said
oftentimes
acts
of
courage
transcend
all
four levels. The examples
she provided included the
gymnasts who spoke out
against Larry Nassar and
Starbucks closing stores
to provide racial bias
training
to
employees.
McCoy pointed out that
in
both
cases,
those
acting with courage faced
several risks.
“What’s
at
stake
around having courage?”
she asked. “It’s not just
about you and me. There’s
huge losses that can come
as a result of a lack of
courage.”
The
conversation
transitioned into small
group discussions, where
McCoy
had
attendees
break
into
pairs
to
analyze a Jewish religious
text. The discussion style
was in the chavruta form,
a
traditional
rabbinic
approach where pairs of
students
examine
and
debate Jewish texts.
An
overarching
concept
of chavruta is that no single
person
ever
has
a
full
understanding of any idea.
Using
the
text,
attendees
discussed which characters
in stories were perpetrators
of violence and which were
targets, bystanders and allies.
LSA senior Ali Rosenblatt
has heard McCoy speak three
times and was part of the
student committee at Hillel
who organized the talk. One
of her key takeaways from
the discussion was the idea of
people playing different roles in
social justice situations and the
importance of joining together
with other communities to
address social justice issues.
“At any one time, we’re not
just the perpetrator, target or
bystander,” Rosenblatt said.
“It’s something I recognized
and want to bring more into the
Jewish community. How do we
get students to talk more about
issues affecting non-Jewish
communities and not just the
Jewish community? And how
can we work together with
these communities?”
When debriefing as a group,
attendees pointed out people
could play multiple roles in
conflicts, often not realizing
they could be a perpetrator and
an ally at the same time. McCoy
agreed and said leadership
requires courage to make the
right choices in defending
personal beliefs, especially if
it means going against cultural
norms. McCoy said this was
especially relevant today in
a world she believes is led by
leaders oppressing those with
less power.
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Activist Yavilah McCoy gives talk at
Hillel about identity, social justice
Educator shares personal experiences of interplay of religion and race
SONIA LEE
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