CURE Targets Michigan Black Voters With Pro-Israel Billboards

The Center for Urban Renewal and Education, a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit, is distributing yard signs and billboards to Black voters in Michigan. The campaign promotes a message of Black-Jewish solidarity and supports Israel in the days leading up to the U.S. Senate election. CURE director Star Parker stated by email that the effort aims to remind Black Christian voters of their historical reasons for supporting Israel.

The signs are distributed in cities with large Black populations, specifically Detroit, Flint, and Ypsilanti. The billboards assert Israel’s right to exist and reject the characterization of its self-defense as genocide. Although the displays do not name specific candidates, they appear during a period of difficulty for Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. His statements regarding Israel and Jewish safety have alienated many Jewish voters, while many Black Detroit voters previously backed his primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens.

A poll commissioned by the Detroit News suggests that 87% of likely Black voters in Michigan would support El-Sayed near the campaign’s close. Republican nominee Mike Rogers is also pursuing these constituencies. Advertising supporting Rogers has emphasized friction between local Black and Arab communities. A new super PAC linked to Rogers has spent heavily on advertisements accusing El-Sayed of dishonesty and disrespect toward Black voters.

CURE’s signage emerged during the campaign’s final week. This timing follows an interfaith roundtable the organization hosted in Detroit on Oct. 22. Black pastors and Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom in Farmington Hills participated in the discussion. Bergman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the event was intended primarily to educate participants about antisemitism rather than to focus on politics.

El-Sayed has devoted much of his closing campaign to strengthening Black support through church visits. He has also held events with former President Barack Obama and Rep. Jim Clyburn. Turnout in Black communities is considered central to his prospects of winning the seat. Stevens introduced another uncertainty by endorsing Rogers late in the race. Parker told JTA that she expected many Black Christian voters to follow Stevens’ example and believed the endorsement would help Rogers secure their backing.

Other developments suggest Palestinian rights may carry greater weight among Michigan’s Black voters this year. In August, pro-Palestinian state Rep. Donavan McKinney defeated a pro-Israel incumbent in a congressional primary in a majority-Black district near Detroit. A Black community organizer also confronted Stevens about her support for Israel during one of her Detroit primary campaign appearances.