Weinstock, Elias David
Get safe space to deal with injustice
2001 - 2021
Elias David Weinstock, age 20, of Bexley, died unexpectedly at his college residence in Washington D.C. on March 3, 2021. He was born on February 10, 2001 at Riverside Methodist Hospital, to parents Michael and Beth Weinstock. From that moment forward, he was loved more than any son or brother ever was, and he knew that love every moment of his too-short life. In order to survive this grief, his family will remember his swift and sharp wit, his appetite for experience and connection with people, and his loyalty to his beloved family. Eli recently bought his family a Monopoly game for the holidays, just so we could spend more time together— or maybe so he could beat his siblings—but either way the game and his presence brought us so much joy. Eli was in his sophomore year at American University, majoring in marketing and communications. He loved to explore the capital (sometimes on a dirt bike), lift weights, and skateboard. Eli had a kind heart and was fiercely protective
of the people he loved. He completed an internship in the preschool room of a Spanish-speaking community center in Washington D.C., and said this was the best part of college. In high school, he won the Temple Israel Madrichim of the Year award for his powerful and compassionate connection with young children, and we know he was really proud of this award. He truly packed so much into only twenty years – he was an avid snowboarder, explorer,
filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino aficionado, Lego master,
and friend to all who crossed his path. He and his mom rode 100 miles for Pelotonia; he backpacked through the Tetons with his dad. He had an uncanny ability to move between different groups of friends, and make those groups connect; perhaps he knew
how fleeting and precious
human connection can be. Eli is survived by his parents; and his siblings, Olivia (21), Theo (16), and Annie (13); his grandmother, Carole Johnson; grandparents, Frank and Saragale Weinstock of Florida; his aunt and uncle, Dave and Nicole Johnson; aunt and uncle, Lillian Archbold and Jeffrey Weinstock; aunt and uncle, Jill and Ted Deutch; and beloved cousins, Della, Perry, and Harper Johnson, Kyle and Ryan Weinstock, Cole and Serena and Gabby Deutch; as well as many other relatives. He is preceded in death by his grandfather David Johnson, after whom he is named. We would love to list all of his friends but thankfully the list is too long. A private graveside funeral service will be held with family members at 11am on Sunday, March 7. To receive a link to the Zoom please email zoom2@epsteinmemorial.com The family requests donations be made to Bexley Education Foundation at bexleyeducationfoundation.org in memory of Eli Weinstock, to provide future need-based scholarship opportunities. Online guest book at www. epsteinmemorial.com
Lily Cunningham didn’t think twice about taking her oldest daughter, Zoe, to protests when she was just a baby.
Cunningham said she and Zoe, who is now 8, frequently attended protests when the two lived in Cleveland. Zoe was barely a toddler when they marched for Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Black boy, killed in Cleveland by a white police officer in 2014.
In normal times, Cunningham, who now lives in Dublin and has two girls, would’ve joined the thousands of protesters who made their way to Downtown Columbus last summer to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, racial reckoning and rising tensions between law enforcement and demonstrators, Cunningham said she just didn’t feel safe bringing her girls Downtown.
“It used to be safe to bring your kids to protests,” she said. “It’s not (now) because of the protesters; it’s because of the police.”
Still, Cunningham said she wanted to find ways to engage her daughters — Zoe and 4-year-old Olive — on issues such as racism and police brutality that they were seeing on the news.
It wasn’t until she saw a Facebook group for moms post by Gahanna mother Jamille Jones earlier last summer about wanting to create a familyfriendly space for people to get involved in the Black Lives Matter movement that Cunningham found her answer.
“I said, ‘Oh my god, that’s it!’” she said. “That’s revolutionary, that’s mindful, that’s teaching.”
A safe space to fight injustice
Jones, 38, started the group Pint Size Protesters alongside her husband, Jebel, in July 2020 as a response to protests for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people who died at the hands of police officers.
Jones and her husband attended the Downtown protests last summer with their 6-year-old daughter, Zuli, and had demonstrated as a family before after the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, two other Black men killed by police in 2014. in Staten Island, New York, and Ferguson, Missouri, respectively.
It was during one of those hot summer protests, crowded among hundreds of people with Zuli at their side, that the couple knew this was some
thing they wanted others to be a part of, Jones said. But they also recognized that while many families wanted to take part in such momentous history-making moments, they didn’t necessarily feel safe going Downtown with their kids.
“We asked, ‘How can we make something from this?’” she said.
The Joneses wanted to create a space where families could learn about the Black Lives Matter movement together, educate one another and involve their children in social justice work and advocacy.
So, she started putting out feelers on social media and in conversations with friends. The response was overwhelmingly positive and supportive, she said.
Jones made a Facebook group for Pint Size Protesters in July and expected a few parents to join. But word spread quickly and today more than 240 people are now members of the private group. Most live in central Ohio, but several live outside the state as far as New York and Germany.
Kids of all ages are welcome in Pint Size Protesters but the group currently skews in the 5- to 11-year-old age range, Jones said. A core group of about 20 local parents regularly meets and discusses plans.
Giving kids voices
Pint Size Protesters isn’t only about protesting though, Jones said.
They’ve talked about voting with local candidates and passed out snacks at early voting centers in November. They’ve written letters to city officials calling for change following the deaths of Casey Goodson and Andre Hill in December. And they held a virtual Black History Month bingo night with prizes in February.
Jones said it’s important to talk about community service and uplift the Black community all the time — not just in times of crisis.
The group held its first big event in August when families read “A Kids Book about Racism” by Jelani Memory and discussed what they learned together over Zoom. Then they made signs for a community protest they planned for a few days later in Dublin.
Cunningham, who is white, said that first meeting was eye-opening for her two daughters and led to some great family discussion. Both of her daughters are from previous relationships: Zoe is white, and Olive is biracial and has a Southeast Asian father.
“When it’s not your mom explaining it to you, it hits differently. It just clicked for them,” Cunningham said. “One of my children definitely has white skin and one of my children definitely doesn’t, so it’s a topic for us. It’s something I want them to be aware of and I wouldn’t be able to do this without Pint Size Protesters.” Protesting in Dublin was a great experience for Christina Wallace’s family. She took her two sons — 8-year-old Charlie and 2-year-old Theo — to walk along Dublin’s Bridge Park in a march for racial justice. Charlie colored his own handmade sign that read: “I want my friends to feel safe.”
“We are the change, but our kids are going to be the ones that see our change through,” said Wallace, 38, of the Northwest Side. “It’s everything that my husband and I are trying to instill in our sons. How can we set them up and see the importance of speaking up and doing the right thing?”
Wallace said the protest was fun and safe, with attendees socially distanced and masked. The kids used sidewalk chalk and sang songs and chants. There were plenty of snacks, water bottles and hand sanitizer to go around. And passing motorists honked their horns in support.
“It was great for the kids to see people supporting us,” Wallace said. “We left and my son asked when we were doing the next one.”
Striking the right balance
Not every protest experience has been that positive, though. Another demonstration that Pint Size Protesters attended a few weeks later in Hilliard was more adversarial, Wallace said. Some people yelled racist words and phrases at some of the kids, she said.
“We don’t want to shield the kids, but the question is what is the follow-up conversation after that?” Wallace asked.
There’s a balance to strike between exposing your kids to some of the harsh realities of racism and remembering that they’re just kids, Jones said.
“We had a moment in October when she was with my mom, and she had a moment of worry that her daddy might not pick her up if a police officer pulled him over,” Jones said. “We had to ask ourselves, ‘Are we stressing her little mind out?’”
Pint Size Protesters, however, can help parents find the right balance, Jones said. Parents often share tips about what’s worked for them while not ignoring what’s going on in the world.
“We’ve just worked really hard to find the sweet spot, to really help her understand
what’s going on, but that doesn’t mean that every police officer is bad and that you should be afraid of them,” she said.
Wallace said she’s received some backlash from family members who have told her it’s not safe to take them to protests and that her boys are too young to talk about race.
She couldn’t disagree more. Kids notice differences, Wallace said, and they want answers to their questions.
“Charlie comes to me when he sees things that he doesn’t think is right, whether it’s racism or someone not treating someone nice,” Wallace said. “If
you aren’t ready to talk about it, how are they ever going to learn and understand what is the right thing? They either hear it from school or their friends or they don’t care about it at all. That’s how you end up with complicit people.”
Cunningham agreed. She never talked about race growing up, so she said it’s important she doesn’t make that mistake now with her daughters.
“For me, one of the more anti-racist things I can do is raise my kids to be better than me and have to unlearn less than me,” she said. shendrix@dispatch.com @sheridan