A transformative friendship from PEACE Birmingham

By Richard Friedman and Kiara Dunlap

An unlikely friendship between an older Jewish couple and a younger Black leader has sparked change in their communities — and transformed their lives.

And if you know these three folks, it’s easy to see why. They are passionate, personable and persistent in their dedication to making the world a better place.

David and Lois Cohen, activists in the Birmingham Jewish community, over the past three decades, have developed a deep and inspiring friendship with Barry McNealy, an African American historian and educator well-known throughout the city.

The deep bond the Cohens and McNealy have developed has been built on camaraderie, love and mutual respect. They’ve also created a program that has changed the lives of young people throughout our city and birthed ideas that have brought Jews and Blacks in Birmingham closer together, deepening ties between the two groups.

The framework through which they have made this impact is PEACE Birmingham. Started in the 1990s, People Engaged in A Cultural Exchange initially focused on providing a safe space for teens from the Black and Jewish communities to know each other better, share experiences and perspectives, and become allies. Hundreds of teens have gone through the program as it has evolved.

It was crucial, though, that in PEACE Birmingham’s formative years that an environment was created where the participants could talk openly and freely, sharing their inner thoughts and, at times, their pain, speaking from the heart.

To do that, it was necessary to create an atmosphere where all participants could talk honestly. Through the experience Lois, at time the Director of Education at Temple Emanu-El and one of the architects of the project, and David connected with McNealy, at the time an emerging leader in Birmingham’s African American community.

Talking to the Cohens and McNealy today, 30 years later, one sees the enduring impact of their friendship.

At a 2022 program, for example, which featured the play “Anne and Emmett” at the Birmingham Museum of Art, McNealy was on a panel discussion. The play imagines Emmett Till, murdered in the Civil Rights era, and Anne Frank, famed diarist who died in the Holocaust, meeting in the afterlife. The evening was sponsored by the Birmingham Jewish Federation and McNealy was on a small panel after the show, interpreting the production for his mainly Jewish audience.

During his remarks, he talked movingly about his long-time friendship with the Cohens and how transformative it has been for him, referring to

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