Unity Dinners
Building bridges between historic allies
Black and Jewish Leaders of Tomorrow is collaborating with the Anti-Defamation League, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, Hillel International, and the United Negro College Fund to put on a series of “Unity Dinners” on college campuses throughout the United States.
Our goal: to bring Black and Jewish students together to forge new relationships and understanding. We hope to spark students’ eagerness to learn more about each other. Moreover, Unity Dinners seek to teach how Black and Jewish communities, who have a long history together, can work to fight anti-Black racism, antisemitism and bigotries of all kinds.
On the evening of March 28, 2024, a remarkable event took place at the Temple in Atlanta that brought together nearly 40 black and Jewish college students in a spirit of unity and collaboration. This Unity Dinner, hosted by prominent organizations such as Black and Jewish Leaders of Tomorrow, Hillel International, Hillels of Georgia, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, Gratz College, and the United Negro College Fund, aimed to create a platform for dialogue and understanding between these two diverse communities.
Unity Dinners will take place in 20 cities, hosted by 20 colleges, by the end of 2024.
The inaugural event took place at Dillard University on January 30th and was a joy for all involved. Other hosting institutions will include Emory University, Howard University, Morgan State University, and Gratz College.
Each Unity Dinner will involve 30-40 Black and Jewish college students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and campus Hillels at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) per location site. The goal is 15-20 Black students, 15-20 Jewish students, and a small group of Black-Jewish students at each event.
Each dinner will include:
Welcome
Discussion
Dinner
Survey
A special welcome by Dr. John Eaves, founder of Black and Jewish Leaders of Tomorrow, or another leader from the local Black and/or Jewish community
Facilitated discussions and activities designed to get participants thinking about the deep issues affecting these communities historically and in the present day
A delicious multi-course dinner designed to continue facilitating discussion and relationship-building
A brief post-program survey to highlight what worked and what didn’t, capture the thoughts of student leaders, and help us improve our dinners throughout this year and the many we hope will follow!
Please keep your eye on this page for upcoming Unity Dinner dates. We hope to see you there!
