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“At the turn of the century, both communities developed similar ways of evading White discrimination. Both communities built their own institutions, … ” which “… deepens the connection between them. Cooperation in other areas built ties that would eventually lead to the well-known actions of the later Civil Rights era in the 1960´s.”
–Excerpt : (p. 17, 18) of “Stayed on Freedom’s Call: Cooperation Between Jewish And African-American Communities In Washington, DC” is a contribution to the shared history of Black and Jewish Washington, DC that should be shared among all communities, in every city. This story of cooperation is the story of humanity, which shows that Dr. King’s Dream, Gandhi’s ideals, and our potential, indeed can overcome.
Check the book out -read it online for free at The Open Library:
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25439796M/Stayed_on_Freedom%27s_Call
Posted on Meow Date 22 March, 12014 H.E.
In discussing Community Cooperation, a fellow Cooperator suggested these comments:
“Here is a recap, or intro, to the Martin Luther King, Jr. excerpt. I trust you’ll find it useful.
Very best,
Kriste
If we want to create a better world for future generations, then it’s imperative that we start that process now. Whoever coined the phrase, ‘Think globally and act locally” summed up my sentiments precisely. Instead of wasting energy feeling powerless about what seems like an impossible task of saving the world, I’m suggesting we begin by looking around our own lives to make important, immediate changes in our actions that will ripple outward to our families and friends, our neighbors and communities, and around the globe. From the smallest acts of kindness to strangers, to generously offering our time and talents to benefit worthy causes, we must keep in mind that every action matters; no good deed goes unnoticed.
We’re presented with opportunities on a daily basis to improve and heal our relationships, our lives, and by extension, the world we live in. Although virtual networks would have us believe there’s no distance that can’t be crossed by a mouse click, the truth is that forging real bonds within our communities can not only bridge the void of alienation we often feel between each other, but it can heal it us, too.
I’m reminded of the wise words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose deep understanding of this principle speaks volumes about the healing power of community and true connection.
“All life is interrelated, that somehow we’re caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” ”
Quite good food for thought,
In Service to Community,
ShiraDestinie
William-James-MEOW Date: 8 Aug. 12,014 H.E. (Holocene or Human Era)
Here is a longer excerpt from an early stage in the writing process:
Section Title: Shared Strategies: Cooperating To Resist Oppression
“Said Property shall not be sold, conveyed, granted or leased, in whole or in part, to any Hebrew … or any person or family not of the white race. ” –
http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants.htm…
In many ways, shared oppression can be seen as a shared
mandate. Imagine listening, in the summer of the year 1860, to
Parashat Re´eh being read to the congregation. You shall not
oppress the runaway slave, let alone return him to his cruel
master. So what, then, could you make of the growing
tensions over the Fugitive Slave Act, now nearly ten years in
effect across the country, including in slave holding
Washington City and County? The slave trade had been
banished in the Capital, but replaced with something perhaps
worse. That Biblical mandate for freedom must have led many
in the Jewish community to wonder what they could do,
particularly given the history of persecution of Jews even in
the United States moving forward as late as 1884 with the
rumored lynching of Leo Max Frank. Thus, shared histories
led to cooperation between the two communities in a variety of
ways, at first private, and later more public. The Jewish
community grows in Washington, DC, opening shops and
businesses, mingling with working class families, colored and
white, of pre-Urban Renewal SW. With the Navy Yard one of
the very few employers in the city willing to hire based on
ability alone, both communities faced difficulty in finding jobs
and housing. The new railroad and streetcar suburbs of the
1880s and turn of the 20th century, advertising to “the better
classes,” frequently employed racially restrictive housing
covenants barring both Jews and Negroes. These shared
burdens, combined with the complementing religious and
labor roles of the two communities, threw their lots together
while preventing the rivalries seen between colored and Irish
workers, whose competition for jobs certainly contributed to
the Snow Riots of 1835, the city’s first race riot. Having similar
burdens while being subject to rather different cultural and
ethnic constraints, it seems only natural that alliances would
form between the two communities to facilitate resistance to
their mutual oppression. Such alliances would inspire
communities to cooperate to make positive changes for the
benefit of all citizens. And cooperate they did, both in private
and in public.
(c) Shira Destinie Jones, 2013, from “Stayed on Freedom’s
Call: Cooperation Between Jewish And African-American
Communities In Washington, DC”
Gregorian Date: Monday, April 21, 2014
MEOW Date: Friday, April 20, 12014 H.E. (Holocene Era)