Martin Luther King Jr. Day & Black History Month
The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding organizes and sponsors events in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy through concerts and conferences celebrating the Black and Jewish experiences in America and the common struggle of the two communities against hatred and bigotry during the Civil Rights Era and beyond.
Civil Rights Leaders Series and events on Black-Jewish Relations
FFEU brings to bear the full force of the expertise and commitment of some of the United States’ most prominent civil rights leaders in an unprecedented series centered on the Black and Jewish communities’ responsibilities to each
another. The events which frequently feature President and CEO of the National Urban League Marc Morial, NAACP President and CEO Mr. Derrick Johnson, National Action Network Rev. Al Sharpton, Rainbow PUSH Coalition Founder and President Rev. Jesse Jackson and Southern Christian Leadership Conference President and CEO Dr. Charles Steele, magnify the importance of FFEU’s mission. Among the new programs initiated and launched is the historic Civil Rights Leadership series featuring five of the top US leaders in the field. The program centers on how the Black community would like the Jewish community to further demonstrate its support, and how interfaith leaders can advance civil rights as a means of inspiring needed changing and healing today.
Watch here the conversation between Rabbi Schneier and NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson
Watch here the conversation between Rabbi Schneier and National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial
Celebrating Black-Jewish Relations with Dr. Martin Luther King’s Legacy
Soul to Soul concert
Held at the Edmond Safra Hall at the Museum of the Jewish Heritage in New York under the aegis of the National Yiddish Theatre-Folsbiene, the concert featured stirring songs in Yiddish and in English, culminating in a high-energy collection of enthralling songs from the Civil Rights era. This concert was performed by Lisa Fishman (The Golden Bride), Cantor Magda Fishman (Temple Beth El of Stamford, CT), Elmore James (Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast) and Tony Perry (Five Guys Named Moe). The musical direction was conceived by NYTF Artistic Director, Zalmen Mlotek.
Conferences
FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier, author of Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King Jr. & the Jewish Community has been for three decades, a keynote speaker on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day and during Black History Month discussing Black-Jewish relations with leaders including Martin Luther King III, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Calvin Butts III, Rev. Jesse Jackson. Rabbi Schneier also addresses young audiences about the historic relationships between Jews and African Americans.
Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Summits
In February 2018, as it is the case every year, FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier offered blessings and opening remarks at Reverend Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition & Citizenship Education Fund’s Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summits at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York.
Sr. Rabbi Schneier and Rev. Jackson, now celebrating 30 years of friendship, have collaborated on a host of national programs to strengthen Black-Jewish relations in the United States.
The leaders in attendance explored how faith-based organizations could be more actively involved in the development and re-development of their communities.
Black History month Celebration
In 2016 FFEU leadership co-chaired the Let the Freedom Ring Project, a project led by The First Baptist Church and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in celebration of Black History month.