Celebrating Dr. Shari Rogers at the Women of Tomorrow Inspiring Detroit Dinner

Dr. Shari Rogers was honored at the Women of Tomorrow’s Inspired Detroit Dinner on May 15, 2025. Here's is her speech from that celebration.

 Spill the honey means to use one’s pain to inspire empathy and action that heals all. Spill the honey means to recognize that just by being born you have that honey within you – a goodness that sweetens the world. Spill the honey is about connection and community.

Thank you, Lisa, and to Women of Tomorrow for this incredible honor. I’m humbled to be in a room filled with change-makers committed to mentoring the next generation of women leaders.

On this night, I want to honor a woman of the past. The mother of Eliezer Ayalon, a Holocaust survivor, whose last act before her son was deported was to give him a cup of honey. Eliezer’s entire family was murdered by the Nazis but that cup of honey – his mother’s gift, along with her prayer that he would survive and live a sweet life, would sustain him.  The cup would break but the goodness within it would fuel Eliezer’s drive to live, to one day marry and to create a family and future. Despite the most horrific tragedy, she wanted him to remain kind and see the world as a good place.

On this night, I want to honor and thank three women of the present.

My dear friend Lisa Phillips is not only one of the most nationally recognized principals at Cass Tech in Detroit, but she leads with her heart believing in each of her student’s intrinsic excellence. And she believes in her friends of which I am so blessed to be counted. Lisa is not only happy for my success but wants others to see what she sees in me and my foundation. That is her gift.

I want to honor my mother who is always doing what is right and has always shown up for me – even taking the long journey to be here tonight.  As a woman of strength, my mother has taught me how to stay in the game, even when life doesn’t deal you a perfect hand.

I want to honor my Aunt Helen, who is also here today inspires me and all those around her daily with her joy and gratitude even as she has had to live with cancer for most of her adult life.

Eliezer’s mom, who shared that cup of honey, knew it was meant to be carried forward.

To all my friends who are here—you have each carried me forward in ways that words can’t fully express. There is nothing like women friends. Shoshana Janer is front and center. She is not only a steadfast friend but a pillar with Spill the Honey. I feel especially honored to share this celebration with one of my oldest, dearest friends, Amy Nederlander, who has encouraged me every step of the way. Shared Legacies, the film, would not have been successful without Shari Ferber Kaufman, Judith Etkin, Nancy Katzman, Hilary Shaw, and more recently, Michelle Perez. You all gave generously and graciously and I am indebted to you.

While tonight is about women of yesterday and today and most of all about women of tomorrow, there are men beside them.

To my son Seth, thank you for being here tonight—and to my sons Chase and Ross (and my daughter-in-law Anna, and my grandchildren Slade and Steele) —being your mother and grandmother is the greatest role of my life. 

The Shared Legacies documentary that I was blessed to birth, teaches that the historic Black–Jewish alliance isn’t just a story—it’s a template. A universal reminder that we all belong to the same human family.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. mothered and fathered an entire nation and the world. He lit the fire of Black America to believe in themselves and to see in them what they could not see. His words like honey dripped into the conscience and sparked a movement of strength to love and to see the Jewish community as natural allies in the struggle for justice and equality.

There is a famous rebbe who said, “How can you say you love me, if you do not know what causes me pain?”

Even while leading the African American community in a battle for civil rights, Dr. King spoke out for Jews suffering in the former Soviet Union and he spoke out against antisemitism. In his letter from Birmingham Jail, he stated that he would have broken Nazi laws to stand with his Jewish siblings.

In the same way, despairing Holocaust refugees who had survived unspeakable persecution stood arm-in-arm with MLK and the Black Community. That alliance shaped a better America. We cannot forget our gratitude to the historic Black colleges who hired Jewish professors whom others would not hire.

Spill the honey means to use one’s pain to inspire empathy and action that heals all.

Spill the honey means to recognize that just by being born you have that honey within you – a goodness that sweetens the world.

Spill the honey is about connection and community.

It stands at the heart of everything I aim to do, using film, music and education to teach a new generation that solidarity is powerful – and possible.

What you might not know is that I’ve faced plenty of hardship. I lost my husband of 40 years tragically -- the father of my children. And my father has had frontotemporal dementia that has created a multitude of problems for me and my family. 

But I draw strength from those around me—from my family, from survivors, from history’s great leaders, and grassroots activists -- who used their struggle to make the world a better place. 

I had a fire in me that said, “keep going.”

Believe me, along the way, I had a lot of people who called me crazy. My husband thought I was spilling the money, not the honey. I’d be remiss though if I didn’t thank my husband, of blessed of memory. In truth he laid the foundation that helped me soar. 

Each of one of us can spill the honey.  You don’t have to be a doctor or lawyer, you can simply be your best you.  Look around you. Be proud of how you spill the honey every day and how this organization, Women of Tomorrow, embodies that value by giving of themselves.

And now, something full circle. The Jackson House in Selma, where I did the core filming for our documentary ten years ago, was recently acquired by the Henry Ford Museum. In 2026, Shared Legacies will screen there. I hope you’ll join us—and be part of this continued movement.

Despite the divisiveness of our world, we need to stick together so show the power of what sharing the honey pot can achieve.

Let’s keep Spilling the Honey—together. Join me.

Thank you.