The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding launched its most ambitious Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Program yet in the year 2004.

Op-Eds and Media Coverage

Foundation President Rabbi Marc Schneier and Chairman Russell Simmons co-authored an Op-Ed for the Daily News on January 19, 2004, calling for members of all ethnicities to speak out against racial injustice. Rabbi Schneier and Mr. Simmons co-wrote a separate Op-Ed for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency asking African-Americans to stand by Jews against the recent wave of anti-Semitism around the globe. This Op-Ed was distributed to more than fifty Jewish, African-American and Latino newspapers across the country, and was published in ethnic newspapers in many cities, including Atlanta, Cleveland, New York City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington, DC.

In addition, The Foundation's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Program was featured in articles in The Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz.

Curriculum Guide Program

The Foundation distributed its landmark book, SHARED DREAMS: Martin Luther King, Jr. & The Jewish Community, and curriculum guides to more than 120 boards of Jewish education, Jewish community centers and Jewish high schools across the country. The materials focus on the Jewish community's relationship with Dr. King during the Civil Rights era. The program was a joint project with JESNA-Jewish Education Service of North America.

"Through this project, we hope to enlighten a new generation to the history between the Jewish and African-American communities, as they struggled together to fight for justice and civil rights for our nation," said Rabbi Schneier and Mr. Simmons. "It is a message and a story that should not be forgotten."

"The era of African-American/Jewish collaboration in pursuing civil rights for all Americans, which Dr. King epitomized, is not only one we can be proud of, but one that should inspire and challenge us today as we consider our place in American society," said JESNA President Dr. Jonathan Woocher.

Ad Campaign

The Foundation repeated its successful program from a year before, compiling and publishing a commemorative ad listing special programs and activities in the New York Metropolitan area held at synagogues, day schools, community-based organizations, JCCs and Ys honoring Dr. King and his legacy. The ad, listing 34 such events, was produced in cooperation with the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. It appeared in the Forward, Jewish Week, Jewish Press, Jewish Sentinel and Long Island Jewish World.

Foundation Event

The Foundation co-sponsored a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event with the American Jewish Historical Society on January 13. Eugene Dattel and Clifton Taulbert presented "Parallel Lives: Growing up Black and Jewish in the Mississippi Delta on the 1950s," comparing their childhoods to an audience of more than 150 people. Following the presentation, they joined a panel discussion on the current state of Black/Jewish relations that featured Rabbi Schneier, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields and Center for Jewish History Executive Director Peter Geffen.

Speaking Tour

Rabbi Schneier also once again conducted a speaking tour in the New York Metropolitan area surrounding the holiday. On January 15, he joined Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Rainbow/PUSH Wall Street Project, giving the opening remarks at the conference's ecumenical prayer breakfast. Also on January 15, Rabbi Schneier spoke at the New York Urban League's Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium. Also taking part was New York City Public School Chancellor Joel Klein. At Rabbi Schneier's New York Synagogue on January 17, the Rabbi and Rev. James Forbes spoke about Dr. King's legacy. On January 18, Rabbi Schneier was the keynote speaker at The Greater Long Island Jewish Community's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. Finally on January 29, Rabbi Schneier gave the invocation at the NAACP's Measure of a Man Annual Reception.

Copyright © 2004 The Foundation For Ethnic Understanding
The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the late Joseph Papp. We are committed to the belief that direct, face-to-face, dialogue between leaders of ethnic communities is the most effective path toward the reduction of bigotry and the promotion of reconciliation and understanding.

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