JOIN EVENT
American Jewish culture in the Twentieth Century included an assumption that there is a deep affinity and commonality of interests and aspirations between the African-American and Jewish communities. The Exodus story is a central focus in the religious tradition of both our faith and the Black church, serving as a touchstone for that narrative. American Jews point with pride to the role of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel as an associate of Martin Luther King, and the Jewishly informed commitment to equal rights, the alleviation of poverty and other social justice causes as proof of this allyship. Black leaders in turn have often been the first to defend Jews against anti-Semitism. But events in the last twenty years, and a change of consciousness in a younger generation of Black Americans requires us to examine afresh this cherished alliance. How can we renew our commitment to a beloved community based on an updated view of history and cultural norms?

This program is made possible by The Amor Lane Adult Education Fund

About the speakers:

Terrence L. Johnson is Associate Professor of Religion and Politics in the Department of Government, affiliate faculty member of the Department of African American Studies and senior faculty fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. His research interests include African American political thought, American religions and ethics. He is the author of the forthcoming We Testify with Our Lives: How Religion Transformed Radical Thought From Black Power to Black Lives Matter (Columbia University Press, 2021), co-author of the forthcoming Blacks and Jews: An Introduction to a Dialogue (Georgetown University Press, 2021) and Tragic Soul-Life: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Moral Crisis Facing American Democracy (Oxford 2012).

A graduate of Morehouse College, Johnson received his M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Brown University.
Read more about Professor Johnson here

Meryl Chertoff is the Executive Director of SALPAL (Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law) and an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law.  From 2009 to 2019 she served as the Executive Director of The Aspen Institute’s Justice and Society Program. Among her notable work at Aspen was the direction of seminars for judges, lawyers, and state government officials, creation of the Inclusive America Project, and direction of the Sandra Day O’Connor Conversation. With the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she directed two cohorts of the Excellence in State Public Health Law program.  

Read more about Meryl Chertoff here