DJJ Vision & Mission Statement
Vision Statement
Detroit Jews for Justice envisions a just and joyful future where we and our neighbors live with equal rights, dignity, safety, and access to the resources we all need to thrive.
Mission Statement
We advance racial and economic justice by developing Metro Detroit Jews as community organizers who fight for transformative policy change in deep partnership with our neighbors.
Connecting Mission to Vision
Why we organize in social movements: Social movements respond nimbly to present conditions and challenge existing systems of power. Grassroots communities are best positioned to elevate the leadership of those most impacted by injustice. When we build trusting relationships, we model the world we want and create powerful bonds that sustain our organizing. We focus on progressive policy change to transform the political and economic systems that shape how power and wealth are distributed.
Why we organize as Jews: Organizing as Jews brings a deep well of wisdom, resources, and resilience to our movements. We look to our tradition for sustenance, inspiration, and challenge. We look to our community for supportive relationships and resources for mobilization. We look to our lived experiences and our multitude of identities – some privileged and some marginalized – as sources of strength and insight into the complex ways that systems of oppression hurt us all.
Why we organize for collective liberation: As Jews and as human beings, we are motivated by our responsibility to fight for the well-being of all people, across lines of identity. Antisemitism is designed to alienate Jews from our neighbors, manipulating us into choosing conditional safety over mutual solidarity. Even when we are grappling with painful and complex disagreements, we reject the forces that aim to divide us and weaken our collective power. Only by acknowledging that we have a shared stake in dismantling all systems of oppression can we build honest and mutually accountable relationships to achieve lasting safety for everyone.
Below are some documents that lay out the what, why, and how of our work. Our Core Principles were written as DJJ was getting off the ground in 2015/2016. Since then, we have done a lot of thinking and work to sharpen our analysis of DJJ's role in the ecosystem of social justice movements, resulting in our Theory of Change, our revised mission statement (above) and Israel/Palestine policy, all of which were finalized in 2024.