By Barrett Holman Leak in San Diego
History reveals who we are and who we are becoming.
Join historian Marc Dollinger for a live conversation on his groundbreaking book Black Power Jewish Politics with an afterword by Ilana Kaufman, the CEO of Jews of Color Initiative. Susannah Heschel, a preeminent scholar and the daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (z’’l), also joins the conversation.
Dollinger reexamines the encounter between the American Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power movement, revealing how the rise of Black self-determination reshaped Jewish identity (inspiring Jews to go to Israel to help build the indigenous homeland), political activism, and the language of justice in America.
Dollinger fundamentally shifts his approach to address the erasure of Black Jews and the pitfalls of binary thinking. He addresses the traditional “Black-Jewish relations” framework, which historically positioned “Blacks” and “Jews” as two distinct, mutually exclusive groups. He argues that this binary inherently implies Jewish whiteness and fails to account for those who exist at the intersection of both identities.
● The “Binary” Fallacy: He critiques the tendency to view the relationship as a transactional alliance between two separate communities, which often ignores the internal diversity of the Jewish community itself.
● Historiographic Erasure: In his new preface, Dollinger acknowledges his own past complicity in this erasure, stating that Jews of Color, particularly Black Jews, have been largely left out of the historical narrative—including in the first edition of his own book.
Addressing the Existence of Black Jews. The latest edition moves away from a purely “white Jewish” lens by centering the presence and experiences of Jews of Color (JoCs). This timely discussion explores race, identity, allyship, and accountability within the Jewish community and beyond.
You can join the live Zoom event on Tuesday, March 24, at 4:30 PM PT
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Barrett Holman Leak is a freelance writer based in San Diego.