April 2020 eNews
How fast did our world change in the last few weeks?

Sundown marks the beginning of the Passover holiday and as many of us come together, many virtually, to celebrate, may we all find connection, joy and meaning around the story of Passover.

As NIOT leader, Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe of  Moses Montefiore Temple  in Bloomington, Ill. , told her local NPR station in an interview this week , at one level Passover is a liberation story, chronicling the escape of the Jews from slavery in Egypt — one that really resonates this year.

“We recall what is was like for our ancestors in captivity. We are somehow to put ourselves into that experience as well. It’s not just a passage between activities, but it is more of an active listening ritual that we do,” said Dubowe. “Coming from captivity to liberation is a measure of hope that does not just apply to people observing the Passover, but it is for all of us.”

In this NIOT eNews, we share advice about lockdowns, caring for neighbors, and other COVID-19 community resources, including a bystander intervention training session and ways to report hate crimes and bias incidents that are now surging against Asians and immigrants in the wake of the virus.

What we do to stop hate and racism in our communities is a life and death issue, both immediately and in the long term. The virus is painfully surfacing our disparities and the health impacts of racism. A disturbing new report indicates that African Americans are contracting and dying of the virus at alarming rates. See below the powerful reporting from our friends at ProPublica.

In the meantime, we want to learn from you. Let us know if you have resources we can add to our COVID-19 Community Resources page and drop us a line to let us know how your town is coping and responding to the virus. 

Stay Safe and Well. We have so much to do together. 

The NIOT Team
Webinar: How to Stand Up to Hate Targeting Asian/Americans

How Do We Tackle COVID-19? Community by Community
TIMING is crucial. For many communities, the next three to four weeks will make the difference between being overwhelmed with a huge number of infections all at once versus spreading out the same number of infections slowly over the next 2 to 3 months.

If your community goes into lockdown, here is some powerful advice from a physician who is also the block captain of her neighborhood. We need leaders like her who can mobilize our communities and neighborhoods to take care of each other.

Feel free to copy and paste parts of this letter she sent around our neighborhood and take ideas from it to share with your neighbors.

Check out our listing of virtual trainings, downloadable guides, reporting hotlines and other resources to help communities with COVID-19. We'll be adding to this list of resources throughout the crisis. Stay safe!  
The coronavirus entered Milwaukee from a white, affluent suburb. Then it took root in the city’s black community and erupted.

As of Friday morning, African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County’s 945 cases and 81% of its 27 deaths in a county whose population is 26% black. Milwaukee is one of the few places in the United States that is tracking the racial breakdown of people who have been infected by the novel coronavirus, offering a glimpse at the disproportionate destruction it is inflicting on black communities nationwide.


(Reprinted with permission of ProPublica)

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), based in Montgomery, Alabama, is a nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1971 and dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. Every spring, the SPLC publishes an annual hate report that looks at the number of hate groups in the country and an analysis of their activity from the year before.

We love to share stories and profiles from around the country, let us know about all your great work so we can highlight it!

Please stay in touch via  info@niot.org  or  facebook.com/notinourtown  and let us know your news and the actions that are keeping you connected and strong.

Questions, concerns, or ideas? We'd love to hear from you!