Philadelphia, May 4-6, 2018

There are times when you attend a workshop and you acquire useful information.  And then there are times you attend a workshop that engages more than your cortex!  

On Wednesday, May 2nd, over 30 people joined us at Delite Cafe & Deli for hummus, tabbouleh, and a thoughtful conversation with DJJ leader Dana Kornberg - centered on her article "The Structural Origins of Territorial Stigma: Water and Racial Politics in Metropolitan Detroit, 1950s–2010s," which the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR) editorial board awarded the prize of the best article in the journal of 2016. DJJ'nik Lee Schottenfels shares his reflections on the event below:

DJJ leader Chris Harrison reflects on March's dinner with Aurora Levins Morales and other Jews of Color!

Last week, I spent the afternoon in St. Peter’s Church training for the Poor People’s Campaign. Answering the question of what brought him there, the fellow next to me said, “people are suffering, and it’s past time that churches stepped up.” So when it came my turn I said, “people are suffering, and it’s past time that synagogues stepped up!”

“Anti-Democratic.” “Informative.” “Sad.” “Overwhelmed. “ “Heartbreaking.” “Frustrated.”

These were some of the one-word reactions after 8 DJJ leaders and supporters watched the powerful documentary “I Do Mind Dying” by Kate Levy on Tuesday April 24, 2018 at the Breakers Covenant Church. (Just downstairs from the new DJJ office!)

Thanks to Hazon & Midtown Composting, we're setting up a weekly vegetarian composting pickup at our new office.

From the Detroit Jewish News: "When the 2016 presidential election didn’t go the way they had hoped, dozens of Detroit-area Jewish women not only got mad, they got active." DJJ Community Organizer Eleanor was one of those powerful ladies!

Aurora captivated the entire room!  She is a very gifted author who writes directly from the heart.  Her self-proclaimed “medicinal stories” are exactly that—restorative words that have healing power through a kinship and affinity to those living on the margins of society.  

Friends,

We just got the news that the City of Detroit will resume water shutoffs next month -- over 17,000 homes are at risk -- 

17,000 elderly, parents and children at risk of diseases that should be unheard of in this century; 17,000 Detroiters at risk of criminalization and loss of child custody; 17,000 networks of neighbors, classmates and coworkers whose health will be compromised.

And that’s millions of dollars to Homrich, the company hired to execute shutoffs. In honor of Passover, please consider making a monthly gift or one-time donation so Detroit Jews for Justice can fight these unjust and unwise shutoffs.

My journey to Lansing to observe World Water Day proved to be a trip filled with engaging, ever-changing emotions.  Along with DJJ leaders Sureena, Rondi, Hannah L, Eleanor and Rabbi Alana, we learned, marched, sang, shouted, felt anger and laughed.  We shared all this with about 300 other Michiganders committed to bringing attention to water justice issues.