During Spring Break, JCSU Professors Embarked On The Deep South Pilgrimage
By GABRIELLE ISAAC ALLISON
For the past three years, two Johnson C. Smith University professors have embarked on a Spring Break trip to Jewish Temples and historic sites of the Civil Rights Movement with a group of diverse Charlotteans. The event is called the Deep South Pilgrimage and is a trip planned by the Charlotte Black Jewish Alliance (CBJA).
The group’s mission is to learn more about the intersectionality of the history of violence toward both the Black and Jewish communities.
Dr. Cindy Kistenberg, professor of Communication and Theatre, introduced Tyran Green ’13, a JCSU Criminology graduate, to the CBJA. She attended her first Deep South Pilgrimage this year and said the experience was eye-opening.
“Upon joining the group, I discovered something previously unknown to me: both communities have endured centuries of persecution and discrimination rooted in their racial or ethnic identities,” said Green. “Additionally, they have faced dispersion from their ancestral homelands. People of color were dispersed through the transatlantic slave trade, while Jewish people experienced multiple diasporas, including the Babylonian Exile and the dispersion following the destruction of the Second Temple.”
This year, the ongoing conflict in Israel-Palestine sparked conversations during the trip that the professors say will offer a unique opportunity to bridge gaps through open and honest communication.
“The beauty of this group is that we have established relationships where people feel comfortable enough to think about and question things,” said Dr. Kistenberg.
Kistenberg is Jewish American and noted that she has always articulated the significance of helping Palestinians who are facing humanitarian crises. But she also recognizes Israel’s right to exist.
According to Reuters, U.S. anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim discrimination has risen by 180 percent in the months after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Alternatively, the American Defamation League reported that U.S. antisemitic incidents had risen by 360 percent since Oct. 7, 2023.
So, when the Israel-Palestine conflict naturally progressed into a conversation during a Shabbat dinner, she was initially worried, as was her fellow JCSU faculty member, Dr. Melvin Herring, director of the Master of Social Work program.