July 2020
Moriyah Kleiman
Miriam Sager

In light of the recent increase in awareness of anti-Black racism around the world, including within Jewish communities, we have put together a list of resources that cover topics such as racism, the Black Lives Matter movement, and what we can do in our own communities to continue these discussions and actions.

We are both light-skinned or white Ashkenazi Jews who did not always know about these topics – and we are still constantly learning! We think a good way to start or continue this learning is through books, movies, articles, and other media, especially if we are looking for more ways to pass the time at home during COVID-19. Our list also includes organizations and businesses to know about and support, and action steps to take with ourselves and our community. We have tried to make this compilation extra unique and informative by putting this together specifically for a Jewish audience, as well as attempting to focus on Canada and even Hamilton.

As members of the Jewish community, we cannot ignore this important opportunity to further our commitment to racial justice. Not only because it is the Jewish thing to do, but because the Jews of colour among us, and their loved ones, may be identifying with the call for racial justice on a whole different level than the white Jews in our community such as ourselves. They deserve the community's full support through a commitment to educating ourselves and making our spaces safer and making everyone feel like they belong. As well, although white Jews are usually treated better than people of colour, and specifically Black people, by our systems (police, education, health etc.), we actually are natural allies against the larger White supremacist forces which propagate both racism and antisemitism.

The list is available as a Google doc. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, you can email Moriyah at riakleiman@gmail.com.