Our Story

Built upon No Silence on Race’s June 2020 Open Letter, these goals and aspirations were what brought our team together. While we come from different cultural backgrounds, our shared stories and experiences of being Black and Jewish in Canada were the ties that bound our connection. We began envisioning a new path forward, asking ourselves these three questions along the way:

After years of living and learning in Jewish spaces, why were we still being questioned and othered in spaces we were either raised in or taught to be accepting?

How can we mobilize the Canadian Jewish community to act intentionally and speak truthfully about the lack of recognition of Jewish people of colour within the community?

Knowing we were each connected to other Jews of colour in the community, how could we build new spaces to create a canon by Jews of colour for Jews of color? 

We hope that by turning No Silence on Race from a call to action into a space for community, we can together answer these questions and take meaningful steps in building Jewish spaces where looking like everyone else is no longer a prerequisite to feeling welcomed.