Jews in the D
MAYA GOLDMAN/JEWISH NEWS
jews and racial justice
‘White Silence is
Violence’ Weekend protests in suburban neighborhoods support Black Lives Matter. JN STAFF
Across Metro Detroit, many protesters in majority-white suburbs with large Jewish populations mobilized on foot and in vehicles in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Jewish News staffers reported from several of these scenes. WEST BLOOMFIELD About 500 people gathered at a police reform protest in West Bloomfield Friday afternoon, June 5. As the crowd amassed, volunteers walked around to help attendees register to vote. Protesters stood on either side of Orchard Lake Road between 14 and 15 Mile roads. Cars honked in solidarity as they passed. It was organized by college students Thomas Callahan of Southfield and Raniyah Reynolds of Detroit. The pair founded an organization called Black Leader’s Reformative Institute. Reynolds, a junior at Michigan State University, said it was important to her and Callahan that the
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police reform movement have a presence in the Detroit suburbs. “I just wanted to make sure that we took it outside to places that are not necessarily known for police brutality but making sure that we’re all united, we’re all a community, we all understand that this is not OK,” Reynolds said. “We wanted to make sure that West Bloomfield had a voice as well.” While many organizers across the country — including in Detroit and Ann Arbor — are demanding that their cities defund police forces and instead invest in other community services, Reynolds and Callahan organized their march around police reform. People from across West Bloomfield and surrounding cities came out to protest. Nancy Cohen, a West Bloomfield resident and a Hillel Day School teacher, said she came to the event to send a message to her students and her own children. “As a woman in her 50s, I’ve never felt so
disheartened by the events and the political divide of our country,” she said. “You can’t sit quietly. You’ve got to be involved.” Teri Weingarden, who serves as the treasurer of West Bloomfield Township, said she felt the Jewish presence at the event was important because of Judaism’s belief in tikkun olam. “It is our responsibility to repair the world,” she said. Weingarden believes the township board would fund additional anti-bias training for their police department if a proposal were to be made. The crowd marched down Orchard Lake to the West Bloomfield Police Department for a short rally. Rabbi Rachel Lawson Shere of Adat Shalom Synagogue held two signs — one with a Hebrew verse from the Torah and the other saying “I Can’t Breathe,” the final words of George Floyd. “The word in Hebrew for ‘breathe’ is the same word for ‘spirit,’” Shere said. “People’s
