10 | JUNE 13 • 2024
they give us a warm reception? This is a
great thing.”
Immediately upon arrival, the group
went straight to the U.S. Capitol for a
meeting with an ADL staffer and staffers
of the co-chairs of the Congressional
Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations. The
Caucus was formally launched in 2019
(at a ceremony in which the Coalition
participated) with a mission to fight
white supremacy ideology by backing
hate crime legislation and bringing the
two communities together.
The speakers gave the students a
valuable behind-the-scenes look at the
practicalities of converting ideas into
legislation, and how inevitable obstacles
can be overcome through alliances,
creativity and persistence.
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
From there, the group quickly bused
off to the day’s primary destination, a
visit to the U.S. Holocaust Museum. The
moment the students entered the door
the enthusiastic mood of the morning
instantly shifted, replaced by the
sobering reality of the darkest chapter in
Jewish history.
For most of the students — and some
faculty members — this was their first
trip to the museum. Many stated that
their Holocaust education was scant, so
the museum was their first immersion
into the horrors of the Shoah. Within
moments, the group was walking the
somber, darkened hallways, surrounded
by haunting videos of massive Nazi
rally’s shouting “Sieg Heil” and
Hitler’s ominous voice booming in the
background.
The exhibits trace the chronological
descent of a modern nation that, in just
a short number of years, transitioned
from accepting its Jewish neighbors,
to discriminating against them, to
detaining them and then, ultimately,
to exterminating as many of them as
they could. The photos and artifacts
spare nothing, from graphic scenes of
the dead, to bales of human hair, to
an actual crematorium. An authentic
boxcar sits in a small dimly lit room,
alongside a photo of terrified Jews
stuffed inside as they were transported
to their deaths.
The students who had never been
to a Holocaust museum before were
overwhelmed, often stopping and saying
things like: “I’m blown away” or “How
could this happen?”
One student, an African American
high school sophomore, lingered in
OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY
continued from page 9
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Lilly Moss and
Kerrington Fields-McCurdy having a good
time. Pastor Aramis D. Hinds debriefs with
the students on the lessons of the trip.
The Leadership Academy visited ADL in
Washington, D.C.