• Journey Together

     

    An antiracism course for British Jews and Jewish communities

     

    Glitch and the Jewish Justice Centre have put this together as an act of love for our communities – and a contribution to the struggle for collective liberation.

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  • What’s it all about?

    This is a course and strategy designed for Jews and Jewish organisations who want to participate in the fight for racial justice, are thinking about how to do the work to become actively antiracist, and want guidance, pointers, structure, and resources on what kind of work they should and could be doing.

    Maybe you want to do something but don’t know where to start. Maybe you are scared of ‘getting it wrong’.

     

    Maybe you feel nervous to begin hard conversations, or trying to open this space in your synagogue, school, Jewish community centre, care home, or youth movement.

     

    Maybe going on an antiracist journey is something you and your community are committed to – but it’s something you’re inexperienced in and you’re looking for some guidance and support.

     

    We are here because we want to make sure that those very common feelings don’t result in your organisation freezing, not doing anything, or doing less than you could – which then results in no change. We’ve built this course for people who want to take those feelings, together with their desire to make the world better, and channel them into learning – and repairing the world.

     

    This training is not a quick fix. It doesn’t function as a magic wand or complete guide, but as a starting step and framework to begin mapping a journey towards becoming an actively antiracist organisation. We’re never done with the work of being antiracist, but our training is designed to help Jewish communities – whether they be synagogues, schools or youth movements – take the first steps in that journey.

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    This is a course not just for learning’s sake – but as the opening section of a four part strategy focused on supporting the British Jewish community to play our role in the antiracist struggles of our country, including within and beyond our own communities. The Jewish Justice Centre’s racial justice strategy goes from learning, to acting in our own communities, to being able to be an effective partner in the call for justice in the world.

    This as an offering to our own community, to help Jewish communities who are willing and able to be an effective part of that.

  • Who is this course for?

    • You want to bring your community on a sustainable learning (and unlearning!) journey but don’t know where to start
       
    • Want to move beyond performative, short, ‘unconscious bias’ trainings to actually learn how to go on an antiracist journey
       
    • Are troubled by the playing off of Jewish and Black communities, which harms everyone in each, and in particular harms Black Jews, and want our communities to be united in the fight against racism and antisemitism
       
    • Want a space to grow, hear, learn, be empowered,  be motivated  - and be challenged!
  • Watch our video

    Take a look and enjoy!

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  • What is in this training?

    This training is a series of seven video recorded sessions, co-delivered by Charlotte Fischer, an Ashkenazi Jewish organiser and antisemitism trainer, and Seyi Akiwowo, a Black non Jewish antiracism trainer and founder of Glitch.

     

    It is designed to be engaged with by a group of people together – people can watch the videos at their time or together as a group, and then engage with the session learning packs, including Jewish content. There are ‘homework assignments’ and reflections to do and then discuss as a team, and the two trainers Zoom in to certain sessions to unpack, reflect and answer questions on the work being done.

     

    The modules are as follows:

    1. The invention of race
    2. How racism works
    3.  A look at whiteness: white fragility, white saviourism, the white moderate
    4. Racist tropes and behaviour
    5. A history of racism and racial justice activism in the UK
    6. Jewish communities, race, antisemitism and racism 
    7. Tools and practises to help us be better antiracists
  • Who created the programme?

    Meet the trainers

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    Seyi Akiwowo

    CEO of Glitch

    Seyi Akiwowo is a multi-award winning founder and CEO of a newly formed charity, Glitch. Glitch’s mission is to awaken a generation of digital citizens equipped to create and demand for safe online spaces for all. Akiwowo founded the charity during her time as a local politician in East London (2014-2018), after she faced hideous online abuse and violence. Seyi is an expert workshop and training designer and facilitator, delivering training for over 10 years on political leadership, democracy and inclusion in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Using her lived experience and expertise, Seyi co-designs practical solutions with Governments, NGOs, UN Human Rights Council and tech companies to protect public online public spaces from hate and abuse.

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    Charlotte Fischer

    Senior Community Organiser, Citizens UK

    Charlotte Fischer works for Citizens UK as the Senior Community Organiser with the Jewish community and leading the national campaign to make misogyny a hate crime. Charlotte grew up in south east London and read history and politics at Oxford. She studied Arabic in Damascus and then worked in political mediation in Geneva before changing track to work in conflict history. A dual national, she lived in South Africa, co-authoring a book on the history of South African education and as the executive director of the South African Religious Action Centre, where she refuted a ban placed on Jewish women singing. In 2014 she won the Annemarie Schimmel Award at the Muslim News Awards for her work with synagogues and the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association after their building was burnt down in an arson attack, in 2015 she was ranked in the Jewish News ’40 Jews under 40′ and in 2019 won a Paul Hamlyn Foundation ‘Ideas and Pioneers’ award for feminist organising. She has co-founded two organisations - L’Taken, an antisemitism training organisation, and Love & Power, a new feminist organisation.

  • FAQs

    Some of your frequently asked questions:

    How does it work?

    This course is for Jewish communities, whether they be schools, synagogues, care homes, youth movements, activist groups, or chavurot, who want to learn together about antiracism, work together to build a culture of antiracism in your community, and play your role in the antracist struggles of our country.

    What does it include?

    The modules include: The invention of race, How racism works, Racist tropes and behaviour, A look at whiteness: white fragility, white saviourism, the white moderate, A history of racism and racial justice activism in the UK, Jewish communities, race, antisemitism and racism, Tools and practises to help us be better antiracists.

    How much will it cost?

    We operate on a sliding scale depending on the size of your organisation and how much support you need from us, between £1500-4000. Shorthand module description

    Where does the money go?

    Any proceeds from the course are divided 50:50 between Glitch’s work supporting people experiencing online harm, and the Jewish Justice Centre. Within the Jewish Justice Centre, we are holding our share of the proceeds exclusively for work on racial justice.

     

    I am a church/mosque/other community that wants to access or adapt the course. What should I do?

    Please be in touch! Whilst this course was written with British Jewish communities in mind, many of the sessions cover topics that are generic, and we are open to groups who want to jointly fundraise with us to translate these materials into other areas – as long as the profits and proceeds continue to go towards racial justice work.

  • Ready to take action?

    You can add any link or even upload a file to this button!

  • Thank Yous

    A huge thank you to the following organisations and partners who made this work possible

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  • Contact Us

    We'd love to hear from you.
    Get in touch for more information about this programme.