Lemoyne-Owen and Jewish Community Ventures for Understanding

LEMOYNE-OWEN COLLEGE

LeMoyne-Owen College and the Jewish community of Memphis have undertaken a joint effort to enhance dialogue and understanding between members of the two groups. With assistance from the United Negro College Fund, members of the college faculty and administration have toured Israel, where they visited sites of historical interest and current significance, and met with political, social, civic and educational leaders. The Jewish Federation of Memphis has assisted in providing support to send African American students from LeMoyne-Owen for extensive study and community work experiences in Israel. On their return to the United States, the college students have spearheaded other programs bringing the communities together, attending dinners, meetings and other joint activities, and helping to plan the annual Israeli Cultural Day held on the campus in the fall. The Day brings Israeli ambassadors and representatives to the College for forums and classes, and concludes with a cultural celebration. Both groups offer speakers and representatives to the other, in addition to jointly sponsored activities during the year. One especially moving event was a choral evening which featured choirs from the College and the Jewish community which presented the music of two women composers both participating in the event. The piece "I Have a Dream" by the LeMoyne-Owen choir director was one she wrote in Memphis the night of the assassination of Martin Luther King. The other work was a hymn composed by a Holocaust survivor who now lives in Memphis. The evening thus symbolized the spiritual dimensions of the histories of both people in a way directly relevant to those in the room. Thus the project seeks to advance communication between two national communities which today often seem at odds with one another.