This is the Forward’s coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement for racial equality.
Black Lives Matter
The Latest
-
Community How USYers gave over $20,000 to racial justice organizations
As two white, Ashkenazi Jewish teenagers, it could be easy for us to turn a blind eye to systemic racism. Our privilege has shielded us from ever having to fear the police, being left out of school curricula or feeling alienated in our daily lives. The easy route would be to look away and pretend…
-
Fast Forward Meghan Markle counseled Black and Jewish hate crime victim Althea Bernstein
On Saturday, Meghan Markle spoke for 40 minutes with Althea Bernstein, the Black and Jewish victim of an alleged hate crime in Madison, Wisconsin. Michael Johnson, president and CEO of a local Boys and Girls Club chapter, who is acting as Berstein’s spokesman, said that after hearing about the hate crime, Markle contacted him about…
-
Community A Juneteenth Haggadah for a new ritual meal
As Black Lives Matter demonstrations are being held across the globe with unusually large numbers of participants of different colors and ages, we are also witnessing an increasing awareness of the continuing impact of our shared histories of slavery and colonialism and their aftermaths. Ignited by the police brutality against persons of color, many people…
-
News Criticizing Cuomo, de Blasio, judge loosens COVID restrictions on religious gatherings
A federal judge in Syracuse issued a preliminary injunction Friday preventing New York officials from enforcing different coronavirus restrictions for houses of worship than for secular nonessential businesses. Senior U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe wrote that Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James and Mayor Bill de Blasio had made decisions that led to…
-
Community Zionism is the Jewish Black Lives Matter
There is a particular irony when I hear those in the mainstream Jewish community touting the specious “All Lives Matter” slogan. No, this isn’t just about a betrayal of our ethical tradition demanding that we uplift the oppressed. Rather it is an irony that cuts so deep that this slogan actually undermines a belief shared…
-
Culture Can Jewish schools meet the challenge of Black Lives Matter?
Editor’s note: In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Forward is resurfacing some of our recent coverage related to the Black-Jewish experience and racial justice. Barthelemy Atsin had his first encounter with the police when he was 13 years old: They pulled over as he walked down a street with friends, and subjected…
-
News A call for a board quota for Jews of color is inspiring talk but not action — so far
Four national organizations and three prominent synagogues have signed onto a letter that seized on a national debate about racism to push for change in the Jewish community. The letter commits them to increasing their representation of Jews of color by reserving 20% of board seats for them, among other things. However, the biggest, most…
-
Life ‘I feel I must be vocal:’ a budding activist talks racism in Jewish spaces
A light rain was falling by the time the convoy of cars arrived at Nishuane Park in Montclair, N.J., where a stone memorial commemorates the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But the masked demonstrators who emerged to lay bouquets and notes near the plinth were reluctant to disperse. The mobile protest had gathered…
Most Popular
- 1
Culture RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s
- 2
News DNA test kits spark a surge of online conversions to Judaism in the U.S.
- 3
Opinion What does Mamdani’s response to synagogue protests mean for Jews? No one will like the answer.
- 4
Culture She was a dancer who leapt to the top of her field — then the Trump administration fired her
In Case You Missed It
-
News Shabbat dinners for young adults were the new thing. Now OneTable is laying off staff.
-
Fast Forward Amid campus tensions, CUNY steps up outreach to Brooklyn yeshivas
-
Opinion I was interrogated by Israeli authorities — I know why they’re terrified of peace activists like me
-
Film & TV Israel’s 2025 Oscar entry is a story of grief, sex and looming national tragedy
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism