February is Black History Month - Why does that matter at a Jewish museum?

From the Desk of Lynn Davis, Director, Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project

February is Black History Month, an exploration and celebration of Black culture that has been observed in the Black community since the early twentieth century and nationally since 1976.

At Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, Black History Month invites us to reflect on the ways that our work fits into a broader context. When we tell the stories of Jews in Southern Arizona since the late 1800s, it’s important to situate Jewish experiences alongside those of their neighbors. Museum exhibits such as Antisemitism and Exclusion do that by sharing ways in which a diverse array of community members – Black, Hispanic, female, LGBTQ, Native American and Muslim as well as Jewish – have all experienced discrimination in our community. These first-hand accounts tell us that antisemitism does not exist in a vacuum, but is part of a broader dynamic of identity-based hatred and exclusion.

We’re also inspired by the work of Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner, who led Temple Emanu-El in our building from 1941 – 1946. Rabbi Gumbiner worked closely with our good neighbors at Prince Chapel, the only African Methodist Episcopal church in Tucson; helped found the Tucson Inter-Racial Council, which worked to desegregate local schools; and fought for voting rights by helping plan the first March on Montgomery. So many of the issues he fought for are still under attack today, and a Jewish museum (a Holocaust center, in particular), is well positioned to explore how systems of hate operate across time and targets, and how communities have resisted them together.

From Jewish involvement in the Civil Rights Movement to shared experiences of antisemitism and anti-Black racism, our community’s histories are not parallel: they intersect and overlap, often merging in a single family or a single person. Tomorrow night, TJMHC welcomes Ilana Kaufman, CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, as part of our Lakin Lecture Series on Antisemitism. Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and an African American father, Ilana has drawn on her own lived experience, along with a wealth of data, to celebrate diversity and advocate for inclusivity in the American Jewish community. We encourage you to come hear her story and think about the ways that it might inform your own. Registration information is below.

 TJMHC belongs to our community. Acknowledging Black History Month signals to visitors - all visitors - that their stories belong in the broader narrative of memory, justice, and human rights. It reinforces that the museum is not only about the past, but about the ethical choices we face now.

To learn more:

The Shabbat Drop shares a list of Black and Jewish voices that they find educational and inspiring.

 Explore this list of Black Jewish memoirs compiled by the New York Public Library.