The Importance of Storytelling in the Black and Jewish Communities with Eric K. Ward, Nadine Epstein, Adam Mansbach and Langston Collin Wilkins

A conversation about the importance of folklore in both the Black and Jewish communities, from the golem and Anansi the Spider to Hip Hop and Jewish Jokes.

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Black-Jewish Relations: Coming Together to Fight Racism and Antisemitism with Rochelle L. Ford and Nadine Epstein

Join Dr. Rochelle L. Ford, President of Dillard University in New Orleans, for a conversation about why she made the decision to revitalize the university’s National Center for Black-Jewish Relations which was first founded in 1989 and how the two communities can build relationships to fight hate.

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Back in Time to 1909: The Black Jewish Relationship and the founding of the NAACP with Lillie J. Edwards and Nadine Epstein

W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Henry Moskowitz, Rabbi Emil Hirsch, Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise, Lillian Wald and others came together to found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), launching a historic chapter in the fight for civil rights. Dr. Lillie J. Edwards, Professor Emerita of History and African American studies at Drew University discusses what was going on in 1909, the importance of this Black-Jewish coalition, and how the Black and Jewish communities can continue to work together to counter racism.

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Blacks, Jews, Jazz & Blues with Loren Schoenberg, Eric K. Ward and Nadine Epstein

In the 19th century Black spirituals were inspired by biblical stories in the Old Testament, especially those we remember during Passover. In the early decades of the 20th century, Black and Jewish musicians, often living side by side in the same impoverished neighborhoods, connected through legacies of oppression. With the music industry one of the few fields open to them both, it’s no surprise that blues and jazz became rich, crossover genres. Join Loren Schoenberg, senior scholar at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Eric K. Ward, executive director of Western States Center and Nadine Epstein, Moment editor-in-chief, for a conversation about these musical connections, the bonds and tensions, and a taste of the music itself including Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho and Go Down Moses to Bei Mir Bist Du Shein.

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Black and Jewish views on Critical Race Theory with Janet Dewart Bell, Mia Brett, Eric K. Ward and Nadine Epstein

Nothing shines a light on the political divide in the United States more than three words – critical race theory. What is CRT and why has it become a lightning rod issue at school board meetings, state capitols and around dinner tables across the country? Is systemic racism something we should be worried about, even in the Jewish community? What are memory laws and are they a threat to our democracy? And shouldn’t we all feel uncomfortable when learning about uncomfortable issues? Dr. Janet Dewart Bell, author of Race, Rights, and Redemption: The Derrick Bell Lectures on Law and Critical Race Theory and writer Dr. Mia Brett, joins Eric K. Ward, executive director of Western States Center and Moment editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein to discuss how intellectual conversations about the intersection of race and law developed in the 1970s have been misunderstood and led to this latest buzzword tearing communities apart. Our thinkers also discuss how CRT fits into the Black – Jewish conversation.

This program is part of The Wide River Project, a yearlong, joint initiative of Western States Center and Moment that will take a deep dive—and fresh look—into the art, history and issues that both unite and divide the Black and Jewish communities.

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Head shots of Nadine Eptein and Eric K. Ward

The Holocaust Through the Lens of Black-Jewish Relations with Eric K. Ward and Nadine Epstein

Eric K. Ward, executive director of Western States Center and senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Nadine Epstein, Moment editor-in-chief, grapple with the complicated conversations taking place around the Holocaust today and lay out some of the many “channels” of the complex relationship between Blacks and Jews in the U.S., starting in the early 20th century through today. Ward and Epstein introduce The Wide River Project, a yearlong, joint initiative of Western States Center and Moment that will take a deep dive—and fresh look—into the art, history and issues that both unite and divide the Black and Jewish communities.

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