In June, the Detroit 2 Darfur Coalition met with Mr. Larry Wallach, Michigan Director of Senator Debbie Stabenow's office. Larry is wearing a blue shirt, clasped hands, sitting on the right. That's me on the far left, by the window, talking with my hands.

Representatives from "FIBA," an initiative of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and Glenn Plummer Ministries, participated in the meeting with Mr. Wallach. FIBA stands for the Fellowship of Israel and Black America. FIBA was created recently for the purpose of nurturing, developing, expanding and calling upon the African American community into its natural friendship and spiritual alliance with Israel and American Jews and vice-versa. We first met representatives from FIBA at the "Soul Seder" in April.

And coming up . . . A delegation of rabbis will attend an upcoming ministerial luncheon to discuss the crisis in Darfur and the Detroit2Darfur Coalition's activist efforts. Expanding into a more broad-based interfaith effort will make our pleas that much more credible and effective.

We are in contact with Congressman Joe Knollenberg's office and hope to meet with him directly next month to discuss Darfur.