2019 Ramadan
"Seeking Justice Together"
“O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.” (5:8)
Welcome to the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion 2019 Ramadan Appeal homepage.
This is the fifth consecutive Ramadan Appeal, begun by our former board chair and dear colleague, Ghalib Begg.
During the 78 years, the Roundtable has been standing against harm to our neighbors because of their religion, race or other identities, we have enjoyed a long history with the Muslim community.
Remeber us on
What a year this has been for those of us standing allied with people being harmed because of their race, religion or other identity. A few of our many engagements included:
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Inviting the Royal Oak Police Chief to ALPACT to help him hear from the range of voices in the Black community after a racial profiling incident occurred in the City of Royal Oak.
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Writing a joint statement with Regional Youth Intern Graduate Crystal Bernard, a current student at Michigan State University, after nooses were found on a dorm room door of two Black students and were dismissed as a prank (article).
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Listening to the residents of the city of Detroit who have not been heard in Detroit’s ongoing redevelopment at our monthly community race conversations.
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Gathering Diversity and Inclusion professionals for a daylong conference to help learn solutions to eliminating microaggressions and unconscious bias in the workplace.
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Organizing with the residents of Benton Harbor to speak out against their high school being closed by the State of Michigan.
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Leading a workshop at a gathering of Muslim residents and leaders at the Michigan State Capitol to help get their demands heard by their elected officials.
On Nov. 20th the Detroit Free Press reported “FBI: Hate crimes against people are up in Michigan!” While this hate is the result of years of people being strangers to one another and unjust systems serving to disadvantage people of color, we have been working with young people for over 65 years to help them understand and develop the skills to one-day end racism. We thank Donnell Campbell, Executive at Aerotek and past participant in the Michigan Roundtable Youth Leadership Program, for his support. Will you join Donnell in helping us stop this hate and oppression experienced by our neighbors and co-workers because of their race, religion or other identity?
Over the years the Roundtable has been helping Michigan communities like Troy, Milford, Farmington, St. Clair Shores, Mt. Pleasant, Flint, Benton Harbor and Kalkaska. Each community has its own story of how it honored it’s diversity by working to advance inclusion and equity as they organized against a long history of being essentially homogenous and exclusive places.
We thank Mike Wright, long-time businessman and former mayor of the City of Plymouth for his support and engaging the Roundtable in developing the “Know our Neighbor” projects.
While the 17% increase from the previous year is startling, it is grossly under-reported due to embarrassment, shame, and belief that nothing will be done to stop the hate. The Roundtable understands the source of hate is deeply embedded in our way of life due to hundreds of years of decisions, policies, laws, and practices rooted in racism. This systemic racism is more daunting than individual acts of hate and has led to the scandalous wealth gap between Blacks and whites; shorter life expectancies and health disparities for Blacks, Indigenous, and People of Color; lack of adequate public transportation; and racial inequity experienced in every aspect of life in Southeast Michigan.
We thank Judy and Don Schlueter, long-time Detroiters and Roundtable partners, whom we first met in our Interfaith work in the 80s and 90s and continue to engage in our current community conversations about spatial racism.