“As Jews and in the spirit of many Jewish values and laws, we should work to ensure that our lives move us and our society in the direction of justice and are not complicit in the systemic harming of people based upon their identity and or appearance.” - April N. Baskin
Read MoreIn this week’s episode, we talk about the importance of affinity groups, which are spaces for people with shared identity to safely unpack dynamics around oppression. Though it may feel counter-intuitive, affinity spaces are actually important tools as we develop our liberatory consciousness.
Read MoreIn this week’s episode April and Tracie reflect on Juneteenth and continue to think about how liberation from enslavement looked different for Jews and Black people. April also shares the ways in which the importance of rest from labour is an important lesson that resonated with her this Juneteenth.
Read More“What I did was actually try to prepare myself for when it happened again is practice saying out loud, ‘You know what, that's not funny,’ so that if it was a joke, that I actually had on the tip of my tongue - ‘That's not funny.’” - Tracie Guy-Decker
Read More“What would it feel like for us to get the healing we need and for us to start to just enjoy and savor the diversity of our religion and the diversity of our communities of all the folks who are Jewish adjacent, who may not be Jewish?” - April N. Baskin
Read MoreWay back in episode 2, April and Tracie spoke about better alternatives to some of the micro-aggressive things white-identified Jews often say to Jews of Color. So what happens if you overhear someone else trot out a micro-aggressive question or comment? What can you do? What should you do? How can you interrupt the oppression without falling into saviorism? April and Tracie dig into this question and offer some strategies for both disrupting the oppression and supporting the person on the receiving end of it.
Read More“In terms of oppression, we're all swimming and navigating through this sea of unhealed harm. And it's a distraction, it's a distraction, and a disempowerment, a tool of disempowerment, for us to say, who has it worse, rather than us working to support each other through this and lift each other up.” - April N. Baskin
Read MoreApril and Tracie unpack the idea that "publicly addressing an organization's mistakes does more harm than good." Though there are some who would advise against drawing attention to past mistakes, April and Tracie argue that accountability and honesty are the only way to create and maintain trust.
Read MoreIn another episode tied to their "Flip the Script" resource, April and Tracie investigate the notion that the presence of antisemitism in progressive movements disqualifies those movements from Jewish involvement. Recognizing that, like all systemic oppressions, antisemitism is everywhere, Jews Talk Racial Justice wonders why engagement in progressive spaces feels optional to some when engagement in other spaces where antisemitism is equally present is not.
Read MoreApril and Tracie explore the ways the messiness of spring contributes to its beauty and potential. The also notice how structure--whether the practice of counting the Omer, a vine's trellis or their online course Awareness Accelerator--can support the important and messy work of growth.
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