Aiding the Fight Against Racism

OUR COMMUNITY

Aiding the Fight Against Racism

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Racial Justice nonprofit New Detroit Inc. has named Jodee Fishman Raines as its first-ever COO.

Raines joins New Detroit after 12 years with the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.

At New Detroit, she will be responsible for overseeing strategic planning of the nonprofit’s project initiatives and programs and for cultivating relationships with funders.

Prior to the Erb Foundation, Raines held roles at the Jewish Fund, Skillman Foundation and Bodman PLC. She was recognized as one of Detroit’s Most Influential Women by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2007.

New Detroit is shifting how it works toward racial equity, with Michael Rafferty, who succeeded longtime CEO Shirley Stancato in May 2019.

“I’m excited about working with Michael Rafferty,” Raines said. “I’ve worked with Michael before, and I think highly of him as a leader and look forward to being his partner.”

New Detroit is focusing on improving interpersonal behavior and addressing structural racism in more tangible, measurable ways with a coalition of leaders from civil rights and advocacy organizations, human services, community health organizations, business, education, media and more.

“New Detroit is a historic organization going through a redo, so I’m looking to bring a lot of my experience working with nonprofit organizations and on systemic change in Detroit to New Detroit, redefining their future strategies and approaches to eliminating racism,” Raines said. “This is a chance to help reshape a legacy organization.”

With an “open mind and open ears,” Raines began March 8. “It’s hard to imagine having a job you don’t feel personally passionate about,” Raines said.

Raines said her Jewish values will influence how she approaches the job in the same way her human values will.

“My family raised me with very strong values, I’ve always been able to apply my values to my work, being a servant leader, being humble and caring about other people,” she said.

“The fight for racial and social justice isn’t just about prejudice, but also about systems and policies that create inequities,” Raines continued. “Racism has been a long serious issue in our country ... and I think there’s real momentum now to make a difference.”

NEW DETROIT INC.

Jodee Fishman Raines

Look for a more in-depth feature on Raines in an upcoming JN.

Camp Petosega Alumni to Host a Zoom Reunion

In these times of COVID, a lot of socially distanced people are finding the time to cull through years of pictures, scan them, toss them and catalogue them. Facebook searches for old friends and Google searches fill empty moments of isolation.

Memories surface. To many, there are memories of packing a trunk, catching a bus at the Mercury Theater in Detroit, singing “Petosega Hail to Thee” and riding up to Petoskey to Camp Petosega.

Nestled on Pickerel Lake, Camp Petosega welcomed campers from 1956 to 1972. Housed in six girl cabins — Ruth, Miriam, Deborah, Naomi, Esther and Leah — and across the stream six boy cabins — Daniel, Akiba, Joshua, David, Maccabee and Samson — 100-plus campers shared a summer of sailing, swimming and riding with a good dose of Yiddishkeit. On Shabbat, campers dressed in their camp bests, lit Shabbat candles and sang traditional tunes.

Now, 50 years later, Petosegans will once again gather on March 14 at 4 p.m., not in upper lower Michigan but on Zoom and revisit Color Wars, College Nights and Shabbats.

Interested campers can go to the Camp Petosega Alumni 1956 to 1972 on Facebook and/or email camppetosegareunion@ gmail.com.

N.J. Teen Confesses to Spearheading Plot to Vandalize U.P. Synagogue

(JTA) — A 19-year-old from New Jersey admitted he coordinated with members of the neo-Nazi group the Base in attacks on at least two Midwestern synagogues.

Richard Tobin, of Brooklawn, pleaded guilty Feb. 26 to conspiracy charges, the Associated Press reported. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

In the September 2019 attacks, a synagogue in Hancock, Mich., was daubed with swastikas and SS symbols and a synagogue in Racine, Wisc., was defaced with an antisemitic slogan and the insignia of the Base.

Tobin said he called his efforts “Operation Kristallnacht,” a reference to the pogrom throughout Nazi Germany in 1938 that many refer to as the start of the Holocaust.

He added that he was “triggered by the state of the country” and described feeling angry after seeing large crowds of Black people at a New Jersey mall.