Racial Justice Salon of West End Synagogue
chronological list of monthly readings and media
Please CLICK HERE for the readings/media
for the most current session.
Feb. 20, 2020: Criminal justice
“Just Mercy,” directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and based on the book by Bryan Stevenson
“Just Mercy,” by Bryan Stevenson (Spiegel & Grau, 2014)
March 5, 2020: American history
New York Times’ 1619 Project: “Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
April 2, 2020: No assigned readings
Sharing relevant articles that address how COVID-19 is being felt and experienced through the lens of race, structural inequalities or access.
May 7, 2020: The slavery economy
The New York Times’1619 Project, podcast episode 2, “The Economy That Slavery Built”
The New York Times’ 1619 Project, “In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation” by Matthew Desmond
June 4, 2020: Health care
The New York Times’ 1619 Project, podcast episode 4, “How the Bad Blood Started”
The New York Times’ 1619 Project, “Why doesn’t the United States have universal health care? The answer has everything to do with race,” by Jeneen Interlandi
July 2, 2000: Policing and criminal justice
“13th,” a documentary by Ava DuVernay
The New York Times’ 1619 Project, “Slavery gave America a fear of black people and a taste for violent punishment. Both still define our criminal-justice system,” by Bryan Stevenson
Equal Justice Initiative’s Racial Justice website
The New York Times, opinion video “Jay Z: ‘The War on Drugs Is an Epic Fail,’” by Jay Z, Molly Crabapple, Jim Batt, Kim Boekbinder and Dream Hampton
Aug. 6, 2020: Housing
The New York Times’ 1619 Project, “A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation redlining evictions and exclusion, separates black and white America,” by Trymaine Lee
NPR’s Code Switch, video “Housing Segregation In Everything”
The Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, parts I, II, V, VI
“NPR Fresh Air, “A ‘Forgotten History’ of How the U.S. Government Segregated America”
“The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein (W.W. Norton, 2017)
Sept. 3, 2020: Education
U.S. Courts, “History — Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment”
This American Life, “Prologue,” “The Problem We All Live With — Part One” and “The Problem We All Live With — Part Two,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
TEDx Beacon Street, video “How America’s Schools Keep Kids in Poverty,” by Kandice Sumner
The New York Times, five-part podcast series “Nice White Parents”
The Atlantic, “The Data Are Damning: How Race Influences School Funding,” by Gillian B. White
The Atlantic, “Why Are American Schools Still Segregated?” by Eleanor Barkhorn
WNYC’s The Takeaway, “School Segregation is Getting Worse 65 Years After Brown v. Board of Education”
The New York Times Magazine, “Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
Oct. 1, 2020: Voting rights
Center for American Progress, “Systematic Inequality and American Democracy”
HuffPost Opinion, “Welcome To Jim Crow 2.0” by Carole Anderson
KQED Radio, “Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression, Past and Present Our Democracy,”
“All In: The Fight for Democracy,” directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes, starring Stacy Abrams and others
Nov. 5, 2020: Antiracism education
“How to Be an Antiracist,” by Ibram X. Kendi (Penguin Random House: August 2019)
YouTube video from Aspen Ideas Festival, “How to Be an Antiracist,” an interview of Ibram X. Kendi
Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us, podcast “Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist”
Dec. 3, 2020: Reparations
The Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations,” by Ta Nehisi-Coates
NPR’s Fresh Air, “A Call for Reparations: How America Might Narrow The Racial Wealth Gap,” interview of Nikole Hannah-Jones
Freakonomics, podcast episode 427, “The Pros and Cons of Reparations”
The New York Times Magazine, “What Is Owed,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
Jan. 7, 2021: Experiences of Jews of color
ELI Talks, video “Who Counts? Race and the Jewish Future” with Elana Kaufman
ELI Talks, video “What Makes This Jew Different,” with Shais Rishon
JewToo, podcast episode 15, “But You Don’t Look Jewish”
Jewish Multiracial Network, Privilege Checklist
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl’s Yom Kippur 2020 talk, “We Are Family: Rethinking Race in the Jewish Community,” posted on YouTube
Feb. 5, 2021: Caste, our system of racial hierarchy
The New York Times Magazine, “America’s Enduring Caste System” by Isabel Wilkerson
NPR’s Fresh Air, “It’s More Than Racism: Isabel Wilkerson Explains America’s ‘Caste’ System”
“Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson (Penguin Random House, 2020)
March 11, 2021: Talking about race
“So You Want to Talk About Race,” by Ijeoma Oluo (Seal Press, 2018), chapter 3
Talks at Google, “So You Want to Talk About Race,” by Ijeoma Oluo
Dr. Steve Silvestro’s Child Repair Guide, podcast episode 49, “How to Talk to Children About Race,” with psychologist Beverly Daniel Tatum
Tedx Talk, “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race” by Jay Smooth
April 8, 2021: Black synagogues
Medium, “In the Footsteps of the Black Jews of Harlem,” a series by Isaac Fried, originally published in WAX Digital Magazine
Sacred Matters, “Religious Cultures Under the Radar: Jews of African Descent,” by Judith Weisenfeld
Black Jews, Israelites . . . and Our Friends website
“We are the Ethiopian Hebrews, Brothers to the Fair White Jew: Race, Religion, and Jewish Identity in Harlem,” (YouTube) Lecture by Judith Weisenfeld, part of the “Jews, Race, and Religion” lecture series offered by the University of Pennsylvania’s Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and the Center for Jewish Ethics in 2021
American Quarterly, “The Black Jews of Harlem: Representation, Identity, and Race, 1920-1939” by Roberta Gold
May 6, 2021: Reconstruction
PBS, “Reconstruction: America After the Civil War,” a four-part series presented by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
This is available on PBS “Passport” if you are a member of your local station ($60 per year); the full documentary is also available as a rental on Amazon for $4.99.
The Equal Justice Initiative, “Reconstruction in America: Racial Violence After the Civil War, 1865-1876
June 3, 2021: Voter suppression
Washington Post video, “Opinion | Voter suppression never went away. It evolved,” with Carol Anderson
Brennan Center for Justice, “Voting Laws Roundup: March 2021”
CNN, “America’s Long History of Black Voter Suppression,” a timeline of new and old efforts to limit the political power of Black Americans and other voters of color, with analysis by Brandon Tensley
“One Person, No Vote, How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy,” by Carol Anderson (Bloomsbury, 2018), Chapter 1
Aug. 5, 2021: Police Violence
“Two Distant Strangers,” a film directed by Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
Mapping Police Violence website
Brookings Institute, “A better path forward for criminal justice: Police reform,” by Rashawn Ray and Clark Neily
Sept. 2 and Oct. 7, 2021: the Great Migration
“The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House, 2010)
Nov. 4, 2021: Jews of color
“Beyond the Count: Perspectives and Lived Experiences of Jews of Color,” commissioned by the Jews of Color Initiative
Jan. 6, 2022: Jews of color (continued...)
“Beyond the Count: Perspectives and Lived Experiences of Jews of Color,” commissioned by the Jews of Color Initiative
“Storytime: Racism in the Jewish Community” video series by Rabbi Sandra Lawson, shared on YouTube