The Power of a 21st Century Black-Jewish-Faith Partnership

Since the turbulent days of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel joined hands as brothers in the struggle, the Black and Jewish communities have lost their desire to collaborate in any meaningful way. The most pressing question is whether the collaboration of Blacks and Jews can be revitalized and reenergized? Some in the Jewish community believe reestablishing this relationship will create a formidable partnership. Some of Boston’s Black leadership, while supportive of the Jewish community’s struggles, see little value in resurrecting a vestige of the past.

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The Jewish, Black and Faith communities face some of the same challenges, like increasing attendance in synagogues and churches and mobilizing their communities to fight inequalities of injustice and antisemitism. Both the Black and Jewish communities need allies in their fight for freedom and equality, and what better way to do that than to reenergize the historic partnership of these two communities.

So how do we do that? Frankly, there have been no real ‘boots on the ground’ initiative to mobilize Black and Jewish leadership to work together for a common goal. To initiate some type of visible presence of supporting our Jewish partners, the Black community must identify a dynamic issue for the world to see. Given the unsettling rise in antisemitism and the Israeli government’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, some Black leaders are apprehensive about standing in brotherhood with the Jewish community like our Black and Jewish ancestors of the past. In the same breath, Black Americans are still stuck with the historic problems from the 1960’s. Blacks now have the right to vote but fail to exercise that right in a meaningful way. It’s almost as though the Civil Rights Movement never existed.

Our current voter activism initiative, called the Reverend Dr. M.L. King and Rabbi Joshua Heschel New Civil Rights Movement Black Voting Initiative, is reminiscent of the historic successes of past civil rights efforts. This is precisely the kind of initiative that will repair and strengthen our collaboration and reenergize our partnership. For this new strategy to be truly effective, it’s time to think ‘outside the box’, roll up our sleeves and begin a dialogue to create real and effective change. Shame on us if we go down the same road again and fail to take advantage of this opportunity.