Follow up to "Fomenting Fear and Division in Montgomery County" (May 2020)

The power of the press combined with the power of the truth is still potent, at least in our community.

Follow up to https://davidfishback.blogspot.com/2020/05/fomenting-fear-and-division-in.html, which contained the May 1 Maryland Matters guest commentary I coauthored with Karen Chenowith:

In the weeks after the publication, a number of elected office holders in Montgomery County took the unprecedented step of specifically urging their constituents to NOT vote for a particular candidate (Stephen Austin).  See https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/05/25/montgomery-co-elected-officials-warn-voters-about-school-board-candidate/

Stephen Austin only received 13% of the vote in the primary, coming in a distant third, so he was not on the general election ballot.  My preferred candidate, Sunil Dasgupta, came in second -- and again came in second to the eventual winner, Lynne Harris (who I likely would have voted for in the primary had Sunil not been running.)

In January 2021, Maryland Matters listed our May 1 piece as its sixth-most read article of 2021, and the follow-up piece from the MoCo electeds as the eighth-most read.  https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/01/04/one-last-look-back-our-most-read-stories-of-2020/

MLK Shabbat Service at Temple Emanuel

Annual MLK Shabbat Service

Temple Emanuel of Kensington, Maryland
January 15, 2021, 6:30pm on Zoom and Facebook Live

Temple Emanuel of Kensington MD will hold its annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Shabbat Service on Friday evening, January 15, 2021, at 6:30pm (virtually, of course). We are pleased and proud to announce that our guest speaker will be Yolanda Savage-Narva, the new Director of Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) programs for the Union of Reform Judaism. Her topic will be: Striving to Create Dr. King's Beloved Community: Reform Judaism's Quest for Racial Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. 

In her role as REDI Director, Ms. Savage-Narva is leading the URJ's efforts to address racial justice and equity in all its forms, as well as other kinds of oppression -- looking not only to do what we can in the wider world, but also to what we need to do in our own congregations, as we seek to fulfill Dr. King's vision of building a Beloved Community and to follow the ancient admonition of Tikkun Olam, "Repairing the World." She also serves as Vice-Chair of the URJ's Commission on Social Action, and as Co-Chair of the Religious Action Center's Racial Justice Task Force.

Before joining the URJ staff, she was Executive Director of Operation Understanding (oudc.org), a non-profit whose mission is to create a generation of young leaders to promote respect, understanding, and cooperation while fighting to eradicate racism, anti-Semitism, and all other forms of discrimination. Earlier in her career, she worked in public health and education.

A member of Temple Micah in Washington, D.C. and of Delta Sigma Theta (an international Black sorority dedicated to community service and education), Ms. Savage-Narva is a graduate of Tougaloo College and has a masters degree in education from Jackson State University.

Please join us on January 15. For Zoom login information please contact the Temple Office at 301-942-2000 or office@templeemanuelmd.org.  Or it may be viewed on Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/TempleEmanuelMD