by Lee Pierre
The choirs from Temple Emanuel and Loudon Avenue Christian Church set the tone for a thought-provoking presentation held at the Grandin Theater Thursday, April 16th co-sponsored by the Harrison Museum of African American Culture.
Both choirs sang spiritual songs that spoke to the program’s theme – the historic and ongoing strife and horrors that Jewish and American Blacks have experienced due to racism. The hymns, “Mi Chamocha” and “Ride On, King Jesus,” deeply resonated with the audience that chimed in.
The Roanoke Jewish Federation presented “Spill the Honey – Shared Legacies,” a profoundly vivid film exploring Black and Jewish Alliances that showed the incredible importance of the shared history and strengths that flow from the African American – Jewish Civil Rights Alliance.
Dr. Dennis Weiserbs introduced the speakers for the panel discussion. Rabbi Dr. Judy Schindler, Sklut Professor of Jewish Studies at Queens University Charlotte and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., activist, author, journalist, and current president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
“This partnership and friendship where understanding growth and change happened.” Schindler remarked. “I thought about all the Jews who came down south to help. Why Birmingham? I think that was due to a history of oppression.”
“I found out later in life that the person I was named after, Judy Schindler, was taken from her home along with her husband and five children and all seven were shot,” Schindler said, speaking candidly about her relatives as some of the millions of Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
In America the Jews that came from the north to the south were welcomed with grace whereas some paid with their lives working to help Blacks get the right to vote during the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1968.
The film, “Shared Legacies” told the story of two ethnic groups and the shared struggle with discrimination that bonded them. This educational film is an informative visual experience that blends the stark realities of racism in America featuring documented brutal events, spirited commentary and life stories from many significant Black and Jewish figures who were at the forefront leading up to and through the civil rights movement.
“In my hometown in eastern North Carolina, a young Black person getting ready for prom couldn’t buy a suit in the big department stores. Bergman Store, a Jewish owned store, was the only place that sold to Blacks,” said Chavis who spoke from decades of experiences as a seasoned civil rights activist.
He also mentioned how crosses were burned in the yard of the owners of the store as retaliation because Blacks were allowed to shop in their stores. “If surviving Lions don’t tell their stories, the Hunters will get all the credit.” (African proverb)
“My great grandfather had been in slavery, and it has an effect on you,” Rev. C. T. Vivian, American minister, author and close friend and lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., stated in the opening segment of the film. “You don’t just get rid of it simply because there are no chains on you.”
The clear message is the affects of slavery are generational and present-day African Americans continue to suffer psychosomatically as well as socially. The effects of the Holocaust are still very prominent as an age-old sore not just on the Jewish community but humanity itself.
Dr. Clarence B. Jones, scholar in residence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Institute at Stanford University in California, said, “The Jewish people have the DNA in their soul to look ‘up close’ to what happened to African Americans after slavery.
Jews came to the South – young Jews, rabbis, refugees from Nazi Germany – and were impressed when they heard Dr. Martin Luther King speak, quoting the proverbs giving them a new take on what was happening with the racial unrest in the south.
Among those featured in the film was Bayard Rustin who was the principal organizer of the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” which had more than 200,000 participants. Rustin, who died at 75 in 1987, was a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. regarding his embrace of nonviolent resistance. The demonstration encouraged people to put aside their differences and come together for the march – celebrated as one of the greatest of its kind in history. Many whites and black people came together due to the urgency for change in the nation.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “the future of America would depend on how it responds to Dr. King.”
“We could not have gotten anywhere had not Catholics, Protestants, and Jews showed up from all over the world.” remarked Andrew Young referring to the marches and sit-ins.
Rabbi Joachim Prinz was the speaker before Martin Luther Jr. at the March on Washington in 1963. He boldly stated, “The most shameful and most tragic problem is silence.”
Rabbi Heschel was one of a dynamic plethora of civic rights advocates who were documented in the presentation. The story of Americans who sacrificed everything in the pursuit of human rights included commentary from a host of notable personalities, such as Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Congressman John Lewis, Rabbi Everett Gendler, Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Louis Gossett Jr., Rabbi Capers Funnye and others.
The documentary was compelling in that it expressed how two different ethnic groups not only survived oppression; but have gone on rising to great heights. The physical scars may no longer be there however for some, the emotional pains remain and will continue to be passed on.
Following the movie Schindler and Chavis engaged in a most inspiring dialogue session. The event tapered as E. B. Smith, executive director of the Harrison Museum of African American Culture joined them on stage for a Q&A with the audience. Smith, who identifies as both African American and Jewish opened his comments with heart-felt words.
Visibly moved, referencing the holocaust E.B said “…a generational memory of child slavery, lynching, bombings, and beatings mingles with squealing train wheels, starvation, and seclusion. It stems with watching my Black community wrestle with gun violence and drugs in the 80s and the crack epidemic. All while my Jewish community shatters with the decisions of their government in terms of what is happening in the holy land, Gaza. Watching this film, I struggled with duality. I pray for our leaders to return to sanity and to remember how important life is.”
“The Jews need fewer enemies and more friends, and the Black community needs fewer enemies and more friends,” said Rabbi Schindler delicately adding a witty remark to the program’s close.
