On Dr. Martin Luther Jr. Day this year, JUFJ hosted an event with 20+ organizations across Baltimore*. Students from the Baltimore School for the Arts delivered portions of the Letter as dramatic readings. Then Pulitzer-prize winning author and King scholar Taylor Branch, grantmaker and pastor Tara Huffman, and community organizer Tre’ Murphy discussed the relevance of the Letter today–including its religious and organizing implications.
Over 200 people from across Baltimore joined the event. See below for a recording from the event, as well as a reflection post written by Jackie Oldham, a community partner of Beth Am Synagogue.
*This event was co-sponsored by: Jews United for Justice, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, Baltimore Interfaith Coalition to Dismantle Racism, Baltimore Jewish Council, Baltimore Jewish Cultural Chavurah, Beth Am Synagogue, Bolton Street Synagogue, Chevrei Tzedek, Chizuk Amuno Congregation & Schools, Goucher College Hillel, Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom, JPRIDE Baltimore, the Jewish Community Center for Greater Baltimore (JCC), Jewish Volunteer Connection, Jews of Color Mishpacha Project, Kol HaLev, Pearlstone Center, Repair the World, Towson University Hillel and UMBC Hillel.
My strongest reaction, shared with the group, was validation of my childhood experiences, growing up in the 1960s—I experienced the effects of inequality in Baltimore, and I was a witness to that era of the Civil Rights Movement, both locally and nationally.
As we continue this centuries-old struggle for Civil Rights, Equality, and Equal Quality of Life, I am tired, yet determined to press on.
-Excerpts from Jackie Oldham’s blog post, on her blog entitled “Baltimore Black Woman”
