1942 - 2024
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6 | FEBRUARY 22 • 2024 J
N
PURELY COMMENTARY
column
Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity
Kicks Off Leadership Academy
A
few weeks ago, I
attended a speech
given by Jonathon
Greenblatt, the director
of the Anti-Defamation
League (ADL).
Afterwards, he
was asked if he’s
been disappoint-
ed in the Black
community’s
response since
the Oct. 7 mas-
sacre in Israel.
His answer seemed to surprise
everyone.
“
Actually,” he said, “some of
the very first calls I received
that day were from Rev. Al
Sharpton, Martin Luther King
III and other Black leaders.
They all wanted to know how
they could help.”
He explained that he wasn’t
trying to sugarcoat the issue
of Black and Jewish relations.
He specifically called out the
Black Lives Matter movement
as fomenting antisemitism
among its supporters. But, he
added, there are also plenty
of heartwarming examples of
solidarity, as was evident from
those Black leaders on Oct. 7,
who immediately prepared a
statement of support of Israel.
I get it. As a co-founder and
co-director of the Coalition for
Black and Jewish Unity, I often
experience beautiful moments
of solidarity, friendship and
even love between both com-
munities. But my colleagues
and I are not naive. The history
of Black and Jewish relations
in this country has ebbed and
flowed over the years, and
these days — especially since
Oct. 7 — are particularly chal-
lenging.
To strengthen that relation-
ship for the next generation,
the Coalition is kicking off our
most exciting and ambitious
project yet: the formation
of the Coalition Leadership
Academy. Shortly after return-
ing from our Civil Rights
trip in the South last spring,
we formed a Task Force to
begin planning the Academy,
and later this month we will
hold our first class of our pilot
year.
The Academy’s students,
ages 14-16, are an equal num-
ber of Black and Jewish kids
who all share a passion for
social advocacy and develop-
ing leadership skills. They will
experience a curriculum that
will be held at rotating venues
each month, including the
Zekelman Holocaust Center,
the Charles H. Wright Museum
of African American History,
churches and synagogues. They
will be exposed to educational,
historical, spiritual and social
insights from students with
whom they may never have
encountered.
The semester will be capped
off with a trip to Washington,
D.C., where they’ll tour educa-
tional sights of the Black and
Jewish struggle and then meet
with lawmakers to discuss their
experience.
Mark Jacobs and Rev. Kenneth
Flowers, co-founders of the
Coalition for Black and Jewish
Unity
Mark Jacobs