New book on Community Cooperation to Share

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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.

About ShiraHoloceneEraDest

Shira Destinie Jones Landrac is a published poet and academic author, former Washington DC Tour Guide, founder of SHIR Tours Community Cooperation Tours, and freelance writer and educator. She has organized community events such as film discussions, multi-ethnic song events, and cooperative presentations. She now lives in France, and continues to work for community cooperation and health for all. She is on LinkedIn and on Academia.edu LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/univhealthcareshirad and Academia.Edu: http://bath.academia.edu/DestinieLandrac
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2 Responses to New book on Community Cooperation to Share

  1. 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)

  2. 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)

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