This Wednesday, the United States will celebrate its newest federal holiday — Juneteenth.
Juneteenth, which takes place on June 19, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. The holiday is described by the National Museum of African American History and Culture as “our country’s second Independence Day.”
While Juneteenth is a time for celebration, it’s also a time for reflection — on how far society has come and how far it must go in fighting racism.
In 2021, the Jews of Color Initiative released the results from a survey of more than 1,000 Jews of Color. In this survey, 80% of respondents said that they had experienced discrimination in Jewish settings.
“At the same time, these people who had experienced discrimination were incredibly committed to their Jewish lives,” Kohenet Harriette Wimms said of the survey results. “I wanted to create a space where people could be proudly Jewish and also proudly people of color across denomination and across multiple identity factors.”
Wimms brought the vision for this space to life through her role as founder and executive director of the Jews of Color Mishpacha Project.
JOC Mishpacha Project
The JOC Mishpacha Project offers educational workshops, advocacy, outreach and a gathering space for Jewish people of color and their families, allies and accomplices according to their mission statement.
The term “accomplice” in the activism space refers to a person who is fighting an injustice alongside a marginalized group — often on an institutional level.
The idea for the project was sparked when Wimms stood up to ask a question at a speaking event with the executive director of JoCI.
“I turned around and noticed Jews of Color I had never met in my own community, and so in that moment I said, ‘I can’t believe that I don’t know you all and we’re family,’” Wimms said.
The project is now in its fourth year of offering its annual Shabbaton, its third at Pearlstone, and is expanding its programming in the new Third Space, located by Druid Hill Park. At the time of Wimms’ interview, the project was still preparing to move into Third Space, where she said it will be able to provide programs throughout the year.
Wimms said that the project has faced no opposition but that the biggest challenge is funding.
Community Connectors for Jews of Color
The Community Connectors program works to strengthen community bonds by helping Jewish people with similar interests or life stages get connected to friends and programs. Wimms is one of two “Jews of Color Connectors” currently working with the Jewish Connection Network, an agency of The Associated. The other is KeSean Johnson.
While Johnson could not be reached for comment, he contributed a story to the Baltimore Jewish Times in 2023 about his experience as a Black American Jewish man.
In that piece, he wrote about occasions in Jewish spaces where people talk about inclusion — but failing when it comes to listening to and welcoming the same people they talk about including.
Johnson, who co-founded the Black Lives Matter Interfaith Coalition, told the Baltimore Jewish Times in 2021 that he found the term “JOC” offensive because it doesn’t allow him his full identity and holds being a white Jew as the norm.
In the same article, Johnson was quoted as saying that to be inclusive as a society, people need to be exposed to different people and share stories.
Not knowing where to connect and share stories is one barrier that Wimms is acutely aware of.
According to Wimms, one of the primary barriers JCN identified through a 2023 study was the idea that people need to know more about Judaism to participate in Jewish life.
“Forty percent of the people who participated in this study were proudly Jewish but felt that they didn’t know enough to participate in the Jewish world and the Jewish community — which is a truly heartbreaking statistic,” Wimms said.
In addition to her identity as a Jewish person of color, Wimms also identifies as a person with disabilities and as a Jew by choice.
“I try to build connections with other Jewish people who are in the community who may not feel connected and invite them to programming and to events so that they can realize that all they need to show up is just themselves and nothing more,” Wimms said.
Resources
Wimms isn’t alone in her ongoing quest to bring people together. Through local partners and national organizations, she said the JOC Mishpacha Project has been able to reach more people and provide often marginalized groups with a sense of home.
This year the JOC Mishpacha Project’s “We are Family” JOCSM Shabbaton will take place at Pearlstone Retreat Center from July 12-14.
Last year, local partners included Beth Am, Bolton Street Synagogue, Repair the World’s local chapter, Jewish Educational Services, Hinenu and more.
JoCI, Khazbar, Keshet and JOC Mishpacha Project’s other national partners also offer resources for people to learn, exchange ideas, heal and gather.
