Juneteenth celebrates one of the most important events in American history: the end of slavery. June 19, 1865, was Galveston, Texas, finally freed its enslaved people — the last place in the United States to do so. Now, 155 years later, the country is convulsed by a critical conversation about the systemic racism that is…
Unlike for the rest of the world, summer is when Jews mourn — the destruction of our last ancient Temple, our subsequent diaspora, and our most recent devastating near-ruin. It is also the season when African Americans commemorate the Juneteenth anniversary of their freedom on these shores — and slavery’s catastrophic legacy. There’s a place…
With fresh eyes, some might argue there is less Juneteenth to celebrate in 2019 than there was in 1865. Perhaps that is true. Perhaps not: there’s a bit of selfish audaciousness in that reflection, comparing the lives of 21st century African Americans who, at least, can exercise basic freedom of movement, to the lives of…
On June 19, 1865, the Union army arrived in Galveston, Texas with big news for the thousands of human beings who were enslaved there: They were free! It’s worth noting that these folks had actually been free ever since the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, a full two and a half…
For American Jewry, celebrating civic holidays “has symbolized our commitment to the American project,” writes Tema Smith
Genesis 15:13-14: And He said to Abram, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end, they shall go free with great wealth. African-American liberation and…
Try my variation on this classic riddle: A Jewish child gets into a terrible car accident and is rushed to the hospital. Emergency workers carry the stretcher off the ambulance and a black doctor runs over. But when the doctor lifts up the child’s oxygen mask, she gasps. “I can’t operate on her!” shouts the…
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