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New PBS docuseries examines the ‘interwoven history’ of Black and Jewish Americans
(RNS) — A new four-part PBS documentary series traces the history between Black and Jewish Americans, examining their connection through shared experiences of persecution and tests to the relationship involving politics and societal dynamics.
“Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History,” which premieres at 9 p.m. EST on Tuesday (Feb. 3) and is hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., explores the two communities from the era of slavery to present day. The series spotlights religious leaders who have promoted intercommunal cooperation, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, as well as those who have sown discord, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.
The documentary opens with a Passover Seder that gathered prominent Black Americans and Jews in Manhattan, including Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi and cantor; Gates; and writer Jamaica Kincaid and chef Michael Twitty, both who are Black and converted to Judaism. The group met last spring to reflect on the Exodus story, share their personal histories and, of course, eat.
“It was such a rich discussion, and it’s a shame we could only, in the end, use bits and pieces in the first episode,” documentary co-director Sara Wolitzky said in a recent interview, adding that the goal of the Seder and the entire series is to “bring everyone to the table.”
The first episode, “Let My People Go,” covers the 1909 founding of the NAACP by Black and Jewish activists, and the partnership between Jewish businessman Julius Rosenwald and Black educational leader Booker T. Washington that led to the establishment of thousands of schools for Black children across the South between the 1910s and the 1960s. The second, “Strange Fruit,” highlights collaborations between Black jazz musicians and Jewish songwriters, managers and club owners who boosted their careers.
The third episode focuses on the so-called grand alliance during the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement, considered a high point in Black-Jewish solidarity. Some of the stories, like one surrounding the Ku Klux Klan murders of Black and Jewish civil rights activists working together, are well known. Other stories, like that of the Monson Motor Lodge protest, have largely been forgotten.
In June 1964, King invited white rabbis to join protests against segregation in St. Augustine, Florida, believing their presence would help generate press coverage, according to the documentary. Sixteen Reform rabbis gathered with local protesters outside of a segregated motel to pray and were arrested. It was the largest mass arrest of rabbis in American history at that time, and the press was all over it. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act less than a month later.
Rabbi Israel Dresner, a close friend of King’s, was among those who were jailed. His son, Avi Dresner, says in the episode that many rabbis felt compelled to participate in the Civil Rights Movement because of the Holocaust.
“My dad said to Dr. King, ‘Jews were slaves 17 years ago in the death camps and concentration camps of Europe, so this is not ancient history for us,’” he says, adding that the comment “really made an impression on Dr. King.”
The fourth episode, “Crossroads,” covers the 1970s to the present, a period marked by strife between the communities over the resignation of Andrew Young as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under pressure from Jewish leaders; the 1991 Crown Heights riots; and the Israel-Hamas war.
The series shows that despite both having a history of persecution, the groups’ alliance has repeatedly been tested by political differences and by dynamics that allowed white Jews to advance in society much faster than African Americans.
Gates, a Harvard University professor and host of the popular “Finding Your Roots” genealogy show on PBS, conceived of the series in the wake of three tragic events – the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting; the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; and the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. During the Seder, Gates notes that antisemitism and anti-Black racism have been ever-present in Western culture.
“By tracing the long arc of Black and Jewish history in America, I hope we can see each other more clearly, more honestly, and find hope in our mutual stories of survival, resilience, and solidarity,” Gates said in a news release. “But this series is not only about the past. It is about us – and how, together, we can prevail over the forces of hatred that seek to divide us.”
Susannah Heschel, the chair of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and daughter of the late Rabbi Heschel, said she believes both communities have lost power in recent years and must revive their alliance for their mutual benefit.
“I don’t feel they have a goal or much of a voice other than expressing tremendous fear and concern about what’s developing in this country,” Heschel, who appears in the series, said in an interview. “That’s not a strategy. We have to get together because this is a very crucial moment in our history.”
A diverse group of filmmakers worked on the project, said co-director Phil Bertelsen.
“We very intentionally designed our teams to be both Black and Jewish, modeled after Henry Hampton’s Blackside productions, which gave you ‘Eyes on the Prize’ and other series,” he said, referring to the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and his landmark PBS series about the Civil Rights Movement. The goal was “to be sure that the history was told from a more balanced perspective.”
Among the dozens of scholars, activists and artists who provide commentary in the series are a handful of clergy members, including the Rev. Al Sharpton; Rabbi Capers Funnye, the spiritual leader of a predominantly Black synagogue in Chicago; and Tree of Life’s Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers.
The documentary arrives on PBS during a challenging time for the broadcaster. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a major funder of local PBS stations, voted last month to dissolve after Congress cut more than $1 billion in support. A PBS spokesperson said funding for “Black and Jewish America” was granted prior to CPB’s closure.
The host and directors will discuss the series with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker on Thursday at 92NY in New York City. The event will also be livestreamed.
For the Seder meal shown at the beginning of the series, Twitty prepared West African brisket, collard greens, creole-spiced kugel and other recipes from his book “Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew,” which won the 2022 National Jewish Book Award.
“I think this is a monumental moment in telling the story of Blacks and Jews in America,” said Twitty, who lives in Virginia. “There’s a diversity of voices represented, and people who think it’s the same old material will be surprised by the attempt at nuance.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi announces 2 more arrests in the St. Paul church protest
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday announced two more arrests following a protest at a Minnesota church against the immigration crackdown, bringing the number of people arrested to nine.
The nine were named in a grand jury indictment unsealed Friday. Independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were among four people arrested Friday. Three others were arrested earlier in the week, including prominent local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong.
A grand jury in Minnesota indicted all nine on federal civil rights charges of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers during the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul. A pastor at the church is also a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. The protest generated strong objections from the Trump administration,
In a social media post Monday, Bondi named the latest two arrestees as Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson. She gave no details of their arrests.
Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023 following a bumpy run as a morning host, has said he had no affiliation to the group that disrupted Sunday service by entering the church. He has described himself as an independent journalist chronicling protesters.
The indictment alleges that Richardson traveled to the church with Lemon while he was streaming and that Richardson told Lemon they needed to catch up to the others. It also alleges that Austin stood in the aisles of the church and loudly berated a pastor with questions about Christian nationalism.
Online jail records show Austin was arrested Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear when Richardson was taken into custody.
Austin’s attorney, Sarah Gad, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Court records don’t list an attorney for Richardson who could comment on his behalf.
The Justice Department began its investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who leads ICE’s St. Paul field office.
Turkey seeks to broker US-Iran talks by week’s end
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Turkey is attempting to bring U.S. and Iranian officials to the negotiating table in hopes of easing the threat of U.S. military action against Iran.
Neither the U.S. nor Iran has confirmed whether they plan to take part in any negotiations. Two Turkish officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Turkey is trying to organize a meeting between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian leaders. The meeting could take place as soon as the end of the week, one of the officials said.
The U.S. military has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Middle East, but it remains unclear whether U.S. President Donald Trump would decide to use force against the Iranian government, as he has suggested he might do in retribution for their devastating crackdown on last month’s protests and as he presses for a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
“We have talks going on with Iran, we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Asked what his threshold was for military action against Iran, he declined to elaborate.
“I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” Trump said. “Right now, we’re talking to them, we’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked by reporters during a trip to Florida if “regime change” was possible in Iran. He said, “Not right now.”
An Arab diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not been confirmed said there had been discussions about Turkey hosting a high-level meeting to bring Arab and Muslim countries together with the United States and Iran.
Turkey’s role
Trump also has sought to pressure Iran to make a deal that would constrain its nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Witkoff met multiple times last year in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program in Rome and Oman but never finalized a deal.
On June 13, Israel launched attacks on Iran that sparked a 12-day war between the countries, effectively halting those talks. The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites during the war.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declined to give any specifics about the possibility of talks in Ankara. The U.S. didn’t immediately comment on the possible talks.
Witkoff is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli security officials on Tuesday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. He will travel to Abu Dhabi later in the week for Russia-Ukraine talks, the official said.
EU sanctions
Also Monday, Iran said it had summoned all European Union ambassadors in the country to protest the bloc’s listing of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terror group.
The 27-nation bloc agreed to list the Guard as a terror group last week over its part in the crackdown on nationwide protests in January that killed thousands of people and saw tens of thousands of others detained.
Other countries, including the U.S. and Canada, have previously designated the Guard as a terrorist organization. While the move is largely symbolic, it adds to the economic pressure squeezing Iran.
Baghaei of the Iranian Foreign Ministry told journalists that the ambassadors had begun to be summoned Sunday and went into Monday.
“We think that in coming days, a decision will be made about a reciprocal action,” Baghaei said.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker said Sunday that the Islamic Republic now considers all EU militaries to be terrorist groups, citing a 2019 law. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, said it was keeping diplomatic channels open with Tehran, despite the tensions, and urged restraint from military action.
The Guard emerged from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force meant to protect the Shiite cleric-overseen government and was later enshrined in its constitution. It operates in parallel with the regular armed forces and has expanded into private enterprise, allowing it to thrive.
The Guard’s Basij force likely was key in putting down the demonstrations, starting in earnest from Jan. 8, when authorities cut off the internet and international telephone calls for the nation of 85 million people. Videos that have come out of Iran via Starlink satellite dishes and other means show men likely belonging to its forces shooting and beating protesters.
On Monday, the U.K. government joined a number of countries that sanctioned Iran’s interior minister, who oversees the country’s police, and nine other Iranians for their alleged role in facilitating the crackdown. They were subjected to immediate asset freezes and travel bans.
Strait of Hormuz drill
Baghaei also said an exercise by the Guard in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all of the global oil trade passes, was “ongoing based on its timetable.”
Iran warned ships last week that a drill would be carried out on Sunday and Monday, but prior to Baghaei’s comments hadn’t acknowledged it taking place. U.S. Central Command issued a strong warning to Iran not to harass its warships and aircraft or impede commercial vessels moving through the strait.
Satellite photos taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press showed small vessels moving at speed in the strait between Iran’s Qeshm and Hengam islands, some distance away from the corridor commercial vessels take. The Guard relies on a fleet of small, fast-attack ships in the strait.
Asked whether Iran could face a war, Baghaei told the public “don’t worry at all.” He declined to discuss whether Trump set a deadline for Iran to respond to Washington’s demands regarding the protests and Iran’s nuclear program.
State television host
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on Monday that prosecutors in Tehran filed charges against the head of state television’s Ofogh channel, as well as producers and the host of a program who mocked those killed in the crackdown.
The program, which aired Saturday, saw the host reference allegations made abroad about Iran hiding bodies of the dead in freezers to bring out as victims if the U.S. attacks the country. The host asked viewers a multiple-choice question about where Iran would hide the bodies, listing things like ice cream freezers and supermarket refrigerators.
The crackdown on the demonstrations killed at least 6,848 people, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in other rounds of unrest in Iran. It fears more may be dead. The AP has been unable to independently assess the death toll. An additional 49,930 people have been arrested, the Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
As of Jan. 21, Iran’s government put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, labeling the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest. However, the country’s presidency published a list of names Sunday it said belonged to 2,986 of those killed, something it hasn’t done in past protests.
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Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. AP writers Sam McNeil in Brussels, Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.
Garrett Seminary launches bold new platform for theological education
The Garrett Collective offers a Netflix-style library of free and low-cost resources, classes, prayers, liturgies, trainings, videos, and more
In January, Garrett Seminary launched the Garrett Collective, an all-new ecosystem designed to make seminary-quality education accessible and affordable to communities throughout the United States and across the globe. “The Garrett Collective extends the academic excellence and spiritual formation of Garrett Seminary beyond the classroom, offering learners around the world access to theological resources in multiple languages and formats” says Garrett President Javier Viera. “The Collective gathers wisdom from across the church and academy, forging new relationships and missional partnerships.” This initiative is just the latest way that Garrett is connecting people to life-giving programs. “We’ve already expanded access and affordability to Garrett’s formal degrees,” says President Viera. “Now we’re offering a completely new, flexible, globally-accessible way for people to expand their ministries, deepen their faith, and meet the real needs of communities and leaders.”
A browse across the platform, built by software developer and poet Dr. José Delpino, reveals a wide array of materials organized in an attractive and intuitive interface. Streaming service users will readily identify the neat rows of icons, nestled onto thematic shelves, each paired to a darling illustration that indicates what lies within. Prayers are a cheerful robin-egg blue, offering options like “A Blessing for the Body” or “A Prayer for Discerning the Spirit.” Liturgies are yellow, sharing ready-made materials for Advent, Dia de los Muertos, Pride, or everyday services. Deeper options are marked in purple; webinars and cohorts that will help users delve into a subject like “Financial Leadership for Congregations,” or “Tenderness and Refuge: Ministry with and for Young Adults.” Each is just a click away, and can be saved to your own personal library so whatever you use most is easily at hand.
This growing collection will bridge fundamental gaps in access. There are millions of Christians who live far away from traditional seminaries, and some will never be able to afford the cost of seminary education. Others aren’t interested in pursuing a masters degree. The Garrett Collective moves into that breach, so everyone from rural pastors in India to laity in Appalachia or Christian social workers in Chicago can delve deeper into theological education. Moreover, users can download resources to their device for off-line use—an invaluable benefit for regions where internet access is often intermittent and/or unreliable, or for users who are on the move. The resources and mini-courses are also a helpful gift to traditionally ordained pastors who seek continuing education. In most churches, ministers have copious demands on their time and need institutional support. Ready-to-use liturgies, Bible studies, and prayers can lighten that burden, and the ability to asynchronously participate in mini-courses lets pastors weave study where it fits their schedule.
But the Collective’s purpose is also tied to who creates theological resources. “Seminary professors or formally ordained ministers aren’t the only people who have crucial insights and skills to offer the world,” says the Reverend Dr. Jennifer Harvey, Garrett’s Vice President for Academic Affairs. “The Collective absolutely features content created by those formally-recognized teachers, but it’s also a home for lessons people across the church can provide, drawn from their faith and lived experiences.” Artists, activists, elders, subject-matter experts, and more also form its “faculty,” creating a vibrant, multi-disciplinary learning hub. Currently, there are resources available in both Spanish and English, but the Collective plans to quickly expand the number of languages.
This gap in the creation of theological resources meets a particularly stark need across international contexts. “When we visit our overseas partners and describe the Collective, leaders are thrilled by the potential its grassroots format creates to help them both collect and disseminate local knowledge,” Dr. Harvey explains. “Whether we’re talking about religion and public health initiatives in Zimbabwe or indigenous language reclamation projects in Chile, there’s so much we can learn from global colleagues. And we’re delighted that the Collective can make their work both easier and more far-reaching.”
Contextually-sourced course material is paired with education by Garrett faculty, who are transforming some of their traditional classroom offerings into Collective mini-courses, eventually letting participants stack them for seminary credit. “I’m excited about partnering with Garrett professors,” says rev. dr. abby mohaupt, who serves as the Collective’s director. “This spring, we’re releasing three mini-courses on ethical engagement with technology for ministry. These courses are taught by Dr. Rolf Nolasco and by Dr. Kate Ott. We’re also releasing a course on antiracism for white Christians by Dr. Harvey—which will meet the Episcopal Church’s standards for antiracism training—and one on Sexual Ethics and Boundaries with Dr. Ott, which exceeds most denominations’ requirements for boundary training.”
Understanding that different people will seek different resources from the Garrett Collective, the platform offers a variety of materials. Some content, like videos, short interviews, music playlists, and liturgy are totally free. More comprehensive offerings—like mini-courses and cohorts—cost money, but are priced on a needs-based sliding scale. “The cohorts are a longer-term way for people to gather and build community online, spending time together moving through content,” dr. mohaupt says. “One course that we piloted this spring is on trauma-informed ministry taught by Dr. Lallene Rector, Professor of Religion and Psychology and Garrett President Emerita. What we found, in light of the sold-out class, was that people are hungry to learn practical skills to be trauma-informed and keep showing up to learn together. ”
Building a platform of this scale and magnitude is a formidable task, so Garrett is blessed to co-create the necessary infrastructure with a host of institutional partners. Leaders from Garrett’s Centers (like Center for the Church and the Black Experience, Centro Raices Latinas, the Job Institute for Spiritual Formation, and the Center for Asian and Asian-American Ministries) have contributed material, as have groups across and beyond the Church like the Association for Hispanic Theological Education, Hindus for Human Rights, and many conferences around the United Methodist Church. “The Garrett Collective reflects a deliberate commitment to collaboration rather than competition,” says President Viera, “allowing institutions and scholars to share expertise, expand reach, and strengthen the overall quality of theological education being offered to a broader public.” The goal, over time, is for more and more partners to join the effort, building an even greater wealth of shared resources. To ensure sound academic and theological integrity, all additions will be approved by a committee of Garrett faculty and staff, who will also suggest new instructors with whom we can partner, drawn from Garrett’s wide-reaching network.
The Collective’s true impact will be measured by the ways it ripples outward and shapes community life. Leaders are already employing the resources to strengthen their ministries: This fall, Rev. Jeff Lehn used a Collective community organizing class to help both his own congregation and wider community discern how they could respond in this political moment in the United States. After a day-long training, five congregations partnered on a joint effort that led their town to expand civic safeguards that protect migrant neighbors. An expanded version of that community organizing class will be available on the Collective as a cohort starting March 15, so more congregations can find ways to transform God’s love into concrete, transformative action.
“The Collective will live in every person whose prayer life is refreshed, breathing through churches who worship with its liturgies,” President Viera reflects. “It will bear new life in every learner who joins the digital community and discovers they do not have to do this work alone.” How will you use the Collective for the flourishing of the church? That’s an answer only you can determine, but the table is set. Go to GarrettCollective.com and feast.
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Contact:
Benjamin Perry
Garrett Seminary
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RNS or Religion News Foundation.