By Barrett Holman Leak in Chicago, Illinois
For decades, the story of the American civil rights movement has been told through faded photographs of Selma marches and shared pulpits—an alliance forged in fire during the 1960s, but one that many feared had fractured beyond repair in the decades since. For 25 years, a profound silence settled over the national leadership of this partnership.
That silence was broken this year – in Miami five months ago and this week in Chicago.
From October 12 to 14, nearly 200 Black Christian, Black Jewish (like me), and Jewish leaders—including rabbis, ministers, organizers, philanthropists, artists, educators, Hillel student leaders, and representatives from national organizations like the AJC, the ADL and Hillel International—convened at the JW Marriott for a historic national summit hosted by the Exodus Leadership Forum.
Funded by major philanthropic efforts including The Redstone Family Foundation (led by Shari Redstone, who was present) and The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (Blue Square Alliance), and brought together by CNN commentator Van Jones and the Dream Machine team, this gathering marked only the second time this national alliance has formally met this year after a quarter-century hiatus.
The mission of the convening was clear: to move beyond superficial, transactional false narratives like the ones I have personally heard (“Black people abandoned Jews after the 1960s”, “Large number of Jews enslaved Africans”, “Jews are imposters or usurpers who have stolen the true biblical identity and heritage of Black people”, “Black people only got high positions because of unfair DEI and they have taken those positions from those of us who have deserved them. Meritocracy is what’s right”), form transformational relationships, and firmly acknowledge and center Black Jews in the Black/Jewish alliance.
Centering Black Jewish Leadership
Crucially, the summit kicked off with an exclusive pre-convening gathering dedicated entirely to Black Jewish leaders and students. Participants emphasized a hard truth: for the alliance to be truly effective today, Black Jewish voices cannot be an afterthought or an institutional footnote. They must be at the forefront of decision-making, strategy, and leadership. Without centering Black Jewish leadership, any national movement aimed at defeating the twin surges of antisemitism and anti-Black racism risks talking past the very people who live at the intersection of both identities.
A Powerful Moment
Among the powerful moments in Chicago was a short reflection by Black Jewish student Ashley Jackson, the daughter of the famed civil right leader Jesse Jackson z’’l, a testimony from civil rights veteran Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., who recounted a profound historical link. In September 1978, while unjustly imprisoned in North Carolina as a member of the Wilmington Ten, Dr. Chavis wrote a letter from his cell to Soviet refusenik Anatoly Shcharansky (now Natan Sharansky), condemning racism and antisemitism as twin crimes against humanity. He told fellow inmates that he had to get a letter to his brother in Russia. Soviet guards never gave Sharansky the letter. Nearly 47 years later, in July 2025, the two men finally met in person at Oxford University and Chavis was able to read the copy he kept for all those years and read that letter aloud to him—a breathtaking reminder that our struggles for liberation have always been intertwined. It reminded me of how my mother helped settle and befriend Soviet Jews who came to the USA and moved into our neighborhood.
Moving Beyond the Divides
At the summit, leaders addressed the virulent rise of hate across the United States, building upon strategic pillars designed to foster grassroots impact. We grappled with how external forces—whether violent extremist terrorists, political right-wing white supremacists, or simply silent, complicit bad actors—actively seek to drive a wedge between Black Americans and American Jews for their own ends.
We are not repeating the past or about superficial transactional positions of ‘we did this for you then what will you do for us now?’ or stopping when it gets hard; we are now building a stronger, deeper alliance of relationships that will powerfully impact future generations. We committed to staying connected when it gets hard, and to getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, continuing to journey together and not run away or put up walls.
Dr. Susannah Heschel, the daughter of esteemed Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and a Jewish history scholar in her own right, came to be with us and talk about the depth of the friendship, the authentic relationship between her father and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther Kings, Jr.
We also examined successful regional models, highlighting how communities in three places — Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles — are bridging divides through grassroots work. That work is deeply personal to me. Through my role leading the San Diego-based non-profit Playing Together Project for the last nearly five years, our mission is to center Jews of Color while uniting African American and American Jewish San Diegans through a common love of food, film, music, and art.
Unity, Prayers and Wobbles
The summit culminated in a powerful unity dinner joining the participants with 200 more Chicago Black and Jewish leaders. National figures, including Rabbi Jonah Pesner of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, joined 400 leaders to light candles and say the names of the 1,200 Israelis murdered and 251 taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, alongside the nearly 900 African Americans killed by law enforcement over the last three years. This solemn act honored the sacred value of life and underscored the shared grief that anchors our commitment to justice.
Philanthropist Lee “Rosy” Rosenberg and Pastor Chris Harris, co-founders of The Unity Forum, hosted us. They spoke of the awesome work they have been doing between the Black and Jewish communities. As I had at other times during the conference, I got to link arms with my Modern Orthodox table partner Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and learn what is happening in his area with Black/Jewish relations. After eating a delicious meal, the DJ fired up the music. Lee “Rosy” Rosenberg may be in his 70s but he danced “The Wobble” better than all of us!
A Local Call to Action
Here in San Diego, we are blessed with immense cultural, spiritual, and intellectual wealth. Yet, we also know that building a more cohesive, resilient community requires intentional effort. National momentum means very little if it does not take root in our own neighborhoods, synagogues, and community centers.
Playing Together Project is issuing an open invitation to San Diego’s Jewish and African American communities—our local clergy, rabbis, congregants, Black Christian ministers, business owners, philanthropists, and grassroots organizers—to help rebuild and strengthen this alliance locally.
Rebuilding this bridge does not happen in a boardroom; it happens when we open our doors to one another. We are not free to desist from this justice work—our clergy, business owners, and community champions—must step forward, open their doors and hearts, share meals, and actively shape this vital movement right here in our city. We cannot take pride in being the Alabama of the West Coast as San Diego was described to me by several at the conference. Whether by hosting small-group dinners or workshops, bringing in speakers, offering social media or organizing skills, sharing business expertise or strategic insights, providing a resource to make things happen, or joining our local leadership team at the Playing Together Project, there is a place for everyone at this table.
To get involved in our local San Diego Black/Jewish programming, contact Playing Together Project by email at playtogethersd@gmail.com, visit playingtogether.org, or text/call (619) 354-0523.
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Barrett Holman Leak is a freelance writer based in San Diego.