Taking our place as the heirs to the original March on Washington
“We are the advance guard of a massive moral revolution for jobs and freedom.”
By ISAIAH ROTHSTEINON AUGUST 28, 1963, nearly 250,000 people joined the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
This weekend, as we watched the news about Jacob Blake, the protests in Kenosha, and more abhorrent and preventable violence, we also marked a historic moment in our nation’s history. Fifty-seven years ago, August 28, 1963, nearly 250,000 people joined the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs. It was a march for racial equity and justice – for Black lives – and also a national cry demanding that America live up to its own high expectations and address a long list of grave social and economic inequities.Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, A. Philip Randolph, Rabbi Joachim Prinz and other civil rights leaders showed us the way.Randolph said, “We are the advance guard of a massive moral revolution for jobs and freedom.” On that same day, Rabbi Prinz told the world that “bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.”Through their wisdom, they imparted a clear path and purpose. Despite the evils of racism they had suffered, they believed we could do better. They gave voice to hope and faith – two attributes I hold close to my heart.I am an Orthodox Rabbi and a Person of Color. Both my maternal and paternal ancestors were slaves: as Hebrews in the desert hills of Egypt, and as Africans on the southern plantations of Alabama.The interracial marriage of my grandparents in Chicago during the 1940s took courage – it was not until Loving v. Virginia in 1967 that the Supreme Court struck down laws banning interracial marriage. Grateful for their union, they brought into existence a woman – my mother – who would become a righteous convert to Judaism. That is why I celebrate the work of the Civil Rights leaders of the 20th century – because my family’s American love story would have never come to fruition without the hope and the community that the movement created.The Great March on Washington can be best understood by the freedom songs that rang through the streets: “Everybody Wants Freedom!” Despite the sufferings of my two peoples, it is the God-given right to freedom that fills my heart, and it is this freedom that fueled all of my ancestors. We have an opportunity in this moment to renew the pledge made 57 years ago to live up to our own high expectations.WE MUST RECOMMIT to supporting our own community and those with whom we share aspirations and struggle, or the work before us will not be achievable. For example, while all are impacted by COVID-19, the health and economic impacts disproportionately affect communities of color. This is all of our concern.WE MUST REIGNITE our focus on finding solutions to education, healthcare, food, housing and a law enforcement system that protects all of us equally. As the founders of that March on Washington reminded us, true racial equity and justice require us to look beyond civil rights, though they are critical, to the challenge of economic opportunity for all.WE MUST REIMAGINE who sent us to do this work. We are not standing in the valley, but we are still not standing on the mountain top. By remembering our past and the legacy our ancestors sent us to uphold, let us reimagine our generation’s role in building a world, together, upon love and freedom.
There is a lot of work ahead of us.I joined the staff of The Jewish Federations of North America to build on the foundation delivered to us in 1963. As Jews, we know that the success of any one community is dependent on the strength of the civil society in which we live. We will continue to work, community by community, to forge partnerships, to listen, learn and support.The 431st of 613 commandments in the Hebrew Bible is to love the stranger and those who are seen as the “societal other.” This commandment is mentioned over 36 ways throughout the Bible because the Jewish people hold the trauma and hardship of slavery and persistent persecution, but they also hold a belief in a world redeemed from oppression.On this anniversary of the Great March, I am humbled to join in this sacred work.The writer is Rabbinic Scholar and Public Affairs Officer of The Jewish Federation of North America.
