SHARED LEGACIES: The African-American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance

This timely documentary tells the story of the alliance and friendship between the Jewish and African-American communities during the long history of the civil rights struggle in America, revisiting pivotal moments and key figures dating back to the founding of the NAACP in 1909. With both groups having endured racism and bigotry, common cause was found during the turbulent ’60s Civil Rights era, as Jewish leaders backed Martin Luther King’s efforts at achieving racial equality. Although that relationship has frayed in recent years, as a once mighty bond of support and respect has seemingly faded and been forgotten, the stories of cooperation, empathy and brotherhood from that era remain a source of inspiration today. The lessons learned from that proud chapter in modern American history, when two communities of different backgrounds collaborated to transform the moral conscience of a nation, remain as relevant as ever today amidst the divisive seeds of hate taking root anew in the American landscape and the Black Lives Matter movement’s outcry against racial injustice that has swept across cities in North America and around the world in recent months.