Alliance brings South Florida Jews and Blacks together

Jewish and Black South Floridians have come together to form an initiative.

The Alliance of Black & Jews, which is headquartered in Miami, launched in December 2019 in efforts to response to the rise of anti- Semitism in the United States and confront the economic hardships that Black people face. It also seeks to renew a bond that Blacks and Jews have had historically.

Two of the organization’s founders, Julius Jackson and Pastor Billy Thompson, feel that people born after 1970 may not know how instrumental the Jewish community was in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Rabbis and Jewish leaders marched hand-in-hand with Martin Luther King and other Black leaders during that era.

Keith Wasserstrom, a Jewish co-founder of the organization who lives in Hollywood, said the inspiration for the initiative came about when he met Jackson at a Zionist Organization of America event in the fall of 2019.

"He and I decided to try to work together, as Jews and Blacks have a shared history of oppression, slavery, genocide and all kinds of stuff, " Wasserstrom said.

Wasserstrom continued, "The idea was to improve the Black communities here in South Florida and eventually the United States as well with the help of the Jewish communities."

A meeting at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens in which a potential collaboration between organization members, Israeli companies and historically Black colleges and universities was discussed, took place before the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the crisis, the organization is still planning projects. As an initial tangible project, it intends to focus on economic challenges of Blacks in the U.S. and Africa by using free market principles. It is raising money to launch Africa Bonds, which would be similar to Israel Bonds.

"Just like Jews have a connection with Israel and we care about what's going on in Israel, Julius opened my eyes to the fact that Black people have a connection to Africa," Wasserstrom said. "That's how we came up with the idea for Africa Bonds."

Jackson, who lives in Miami Gardens and became an activist in 1964 as a 17-year-old marching with King in St. Augustine, said, “The main objective [for the organization] is to bring about a cultural relationship between all people while doing it through love and mutual respect.”

“We wanted to start out with the Black and Jewish communities because I personally have a close relationship with the Jewish people from growing up in St. Augustine,” Jackson said.

Jackson remembers that when he was growing up in St. Augustine, the Ku Klux Klan would chase Black children as they walked from downtown to the west side. The Black youth would often seek refuge at a grocery store whose Jewish owners would provide refuge for them until they could leave without fear. He also recalls the story of Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, who used his wealth to build schools for Black children in the Deep South.

“What we’re also trying to demonstrate with this initiative is that, given what the Jewish community has done for us, we as a Black-faith community should also support the Jewish community as well,” Jackson said. “We need to take a stand against anti-Semitism, the BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] movement and other hate actions.”

Liz Brauser, a Jewish board member for the organization who lives in Hollywood, said, "The Jewish and Black relationship was very strong when my father marched with Civil Rights players."

Brauser said both Black and Jewish people can see each other as brothers and sisters with this initiative.

“We both have gone through tremendous oppression,” she continued.

Black athletes are also part of the organization. Among them are Thompson, who is a former basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and the Israeli basketball team Hapoel Jerusalem, and Charles Johnson, a former baseball player for the Marlins, who is an owner for the alliance.

Visit abj2020.com/ for more information on the organization.

———

©2020 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.