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CRCC Initiatives

Allied Against Hate: Black-Jewish Relations in America

Allied Against Hate: A University-Community Project

Black/African American and Jewish American people in the U.S. have had varying relations over the years.  From consensus-based cooperation in social justice efforts to disengagement to outright hostility, relationships have shifted with changes in each group’s social location on the American landscape.  Through ups and downs, the situation has taken on new urgency in our current environment.  With generous funding from the Russell Berrie Foundation, Drew University’s Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict has initiated a program centered on the Teaneck and Tenafly area in New Jersey that explores the past, present, and future of relations between Black and Jewish people in an effort to build comity and community.

This program includes a traditional classroom component where students have opportunities to learn about the parallel and intersecting histories of Black/African American and Jewish experiences in the United States, while engaging with broader questions about race, class and religion in America.  This program also includes a community-based learning component where Drew students engage directly with members of the Teaneck community, particularly high school students from the Idea School and Teaneck High School.  The community-oriented dimension of this program aims to promote trust, empathy, and cooperation through shared community service in northern New Jersey.  Overall, this program is designed to prepare a next generation of leaders and changemakers with the skills and knowledge needed to build lasting and productive relationships with people of all backgrounds.

As our work continues, we are hopeful that this approach could serve as a model for race relations and the social and racial justice movement more broadly.

Professors Donald Proby and Jonathan Golden, Drew University

Community-Based Learning: In Conversation with Students.

Drew University and Teaneck-area High School students reflected on their experiences in “Allied Against Hate: Black-Jewish Relations in America” community-based learning class and projects.

Special Guests: NAACP President, Richard Smith, ADL NY/NJ President, Scott Richman, Sen. Gordon Johnson, Hon. Loretta Weinberg

March 2, 2022 at 4pm

Film Screening and Discussion: “They Ain’t Ready for Me.”

Virtual and Live Discussion with Tamar Manasseh and Brad Rothschild (Director / Producer).

Co-sponsored by Drew University Hillel and CRCC

Sunday, October 3, 2021 @ 7pm

Panel Discussion. The Imam and the Rabbi: Friendship, Partnership, Allyship.

The Civil Rights Era is remembered as a time when Jewish and Black leaders worked together for social justice and equality.  These partnerships have continued all along, and in fact have taken on new urgency in our current environment.

Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz and Imam Wahy-ud Deen Shareef are exemplars of this alliance, working together as partners in the fight for justice and equality today.  The Rabbi and Imam shared their stories of friendship and hope.

Learn more about our Panelists here.

Co-sponsored by Drew University’s Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict, Black Student Union, Hillel, Diversity and Inclusion, and Student Activities, with the Russell Berrie Foundation.

Tuesday February 16, 2021

The New Neighbors School Success Service Project

The CRCC continues this important initiative with Drew University undergraduate students.

The current global refugee crisis poses one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Today, there are more refugees than at any time since WWII, and many of these refugees are children. In Syria alone, six years of conflict has kept nearly three million Syrian children out of school. While leading nations of the world struggle to address this refugee crisis, children around the globe are being deprived of a basic human right: education.

Drew University’s Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict, together with the Center for Civic Engagement, is leading an effort to help to address this need, collecting school supplies and offering English tutoring and homework support to our new neighbors!

Want to help out? Check back to read more about our initiative and make a gift to CRCC to support our work!

Community-Oriented Policing: The Safer Communities Initiative

“There is no better time than now for police and the communities they serve to come together, and there is no better way than to join hands in working together toward this common goal. We feel it is our duty to help these communities in any way we can, and we invite you to play a significant part in this effort.”—Jonathan Golden, Director, CRCC

As we at Drew University’s Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict have learned from our extensive local, regional and global peacebuilding work, with perseverance and sustained efforts involving effective methods and strategies, trust can be built and rebuilt. It begins with small steps and gestures aimed at demonstrating goodwill, as well as activities that encourage empathy and understanding.

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