By Soleil Doering ’24
Staff Writer
Mount Holyoke began its first week of the spring term with the second annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Week of Racial Justice and Reconciliation. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion partnered with the Division of Student Life to create a program of events “in recognition of the ongoing challenges with race relations in the United States.” According to the Mount Holyoke events calendar, the week’s theme was “Our Interconnectedness Binds Us Together.”
Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, vice president for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, said that she pulled the idea for this week’s theme directly from a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech to the College in 1963: “All life is interrelated; we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.”
“I think what Dr. King was saying … is that our humanity requires us to see this common bond, this interconnectedness, even in places of great division,” Sanders-McMurtry said. “For example, when you think about the events of January 6th, the white supremacists’ attack on the Capitol, one challenge is that people lose hope and operate from a place of despair. But we actually need to find ways to remind people that we are interconnected and mobilize within those moments of complete despair.”
The week-long program began on Tuesday, Jan. 18, with a call for students and faculty to volunteer in their local communities to commemorate King's birthday. On Jan. 19, the National Day of Racial Healing, the first of the week’s events took place, consisting of a faculty and staff group meeting entitled “Examining Privilege,” a MoZone workshop focused on understanding race and racism and, finally, a healing circle for Black community members facilitated by Tomiko Jenkins.
Jenkins is a licensed clinical social worker who currently serves as the senior associate dean of students at Agnes Scott College. The event she facilitated served as an opportunity for deep reflection on the topic of racial healing for both students and faculty.
Thursday’s events focused on finding interconnectedness and a common goal between communities of faith, specifically the Jewish community and the Black community. To speak on this topic, Mount Holyoke brought in rabbis Joshua Lesser and Sandra Lawson.
Lesser is an accomplished rabbi and activist who leads Congregation Bet Haverim. He founded the Rainbow Center program and is the rabbinic editor of “Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible,” an NYU Press staff pick. Lesser’s first event of the day, “The Fight Against Anti-Semitism: Supporting Jewish Students on College Campuses,” provided resources on anti-racist pedagogical and support practices for Jewish students in response to the continued acts of anti-Semitism happening around the world as well as on college campuses.
Lawson is an activist, public speaker and musician. She currently works as the associate chaplain for Jewish life at Elon University but will soon be stepping down to fill her new position as the inaugural director of racial diversity, equity and inclusion for the organization Reconstructing Judaism.
The rabbis spoke of their experiences of marginalization and privilege within and outside of the Jewish community. Lawson, a Black lesbian rabbi, and Lesser, an openly gay rabbi, focused on deconstructing the barrier between the fight against anti-Blackness and anti-Semitism.
Lawson stated, “One of the challenges is that white Jews must recognize that you can both benefit from white privilege and suffer anti-Semitism. The sooner that we can realize that anti-Semitism and racism are coming from the same place, the better we’ll be.” Lesser added, “Every time I work on issues of racial equity, I’m working on issues of anti-Semitism.”
The week concluded with an “Affinity-Based Dialogue for Jewish Community Members” with Rabbi Hilly Haber ’10. The events will continue until Friday, Jan. 29, with more guest speakers and specific events to honor and discuss the work of King and fellow activist Coretta Scott King.
“What I want students to get from this experience is that racial healing is possible,” McMurtry-Sanders said. “I actually couldn’t wake up every day if I didn’t believe that.”
“The message I hope students take is to stay engaged and to take care of themselves,” Sanders-McMurtry said. “It doesn’t mean that you have to go to every protest but … you need to find ways to take care of yourself and your community and do that work of restoration and … stay engaged with hope, resilience and possibility.”