By Barrett Holman Leak
SAN DIEGO — Heritage is part of identity and Zionism is part of the heritage of African Americans. Zionism is not a new concept; it was not invented in 1948 with the establishment of the modern State of Israel. African Americans, once held in chattel slavery by European Americans, were culturally centered in Judeo-Christian culture that has everything to do with Zion.
But in today’s geo-political atmosphere, the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians are working hard to make Black Americans forget that Palestine has never existed as a country. This was the message from a monthly seminar I attended this week that was hosted by Pastor Dumisani Washington, the author of the book Zionism and the Black Church.
The Zoom seminar, titled “From ‘Go Down Moses’ to ‘Lift Every Voice & Sing’ – The Zionism of the Negro Spirituals,” first took us on a musical journey through a variety of spirituals. Sung by several different individuals and groups from the famous balladeer Nat King Cole and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, to the group Take 6 and more.
After analyzing these songs Pastor Washington, who is the founder and Executive DIrector of the Institute for Black Solidarity With Israel, pulled out verses and references. He noted that the writers of the songs, African slaves seeking and singing about liberation, spoke specifically about
- Jerusalem
- Jordan
- Israelites
- Zion
They never sang about a “Palestine” he pointed out. They knew the word as a Romanization of the land of Judea and Samaria and that it was a Roman promise and attempt to wipe Israel off the map of the world because The Israelites would not bow down to the Roman emperor and Roman gods. To this day, there are no spirituals or hymns referring to Palestine. They only refer to Zion. One can find the many Torah (Tanakh) references to Zion in the Sefaria online research tool.
Washington noted that one of the most significant hip-hop records in history – which was awarded a stunning nine awards – “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”(1998) by Lauryn Hill, contains the song “To Zion” about her son of the same name.
His overall point was that the Black community in America, which descends from Africa, knows that: Zion is Jerusalem and that since ancient times Zion has been spoken of and written about; that African/Black Americans have always sung about Zion; and that Zion was culturally embedded in Black American culture centuries before the modern state of Israel.
He also said it clearly – “Jesus was not a Palestinian.”
All of this was not news to me or any of the other Jewish attendees of the seminar. It was simply refreshing to hear Washington speak clearly and confidently in this time when we in San Diego and across the USA are dealing with a Qatar- and Hamas-backed propaganda machine that has, with a fair amount of success, been manipulating and lying to African Americans about Palestinians and their war on Israel and American Jews.
We have seen, here in San Diego, The Black Panther Party partner with Students for Justice in Palestine and then shout through microphones in antisemitic encampments on university campuses, claiming that Israel is a “white” (meaning European”) colonizer of a country that has never existed – Palestine – and the Arab tribe that calls itself Palestinians.
The Black Church, which is historically at the center, not the periphery, of the Black community, seems to have forgotten its heritage and therefore its identity. This loss of heritage and identity is being exposed in the face of the onslaught of the pro-Palestinian propaganda that aims to destroy the country of Israel, erase it from history and eliminate we Jews from our indigenous homeland and make us despised in the USA and elsewhere.
The seminar, which was designed for clergy and lay leaders, was an excellent educational opportunity and makes one curious to read his book Zionism and the Black Church. It presents an opportunity for the Black and Jewish communities to re-examine their individual and joint heritages and identities and come to an awareness of the mutual benefit of coming together, of marching to Zion, together.
I hope both Black and Jewish Americans will read this book because Dumisani Washington points out, what few know: Arabs have been committing inhumane war crimes in Africa for many years, – such as in Sudan – where they are killing the men and boys, raping the women and girls, and starving these Africans to death. The genocide they accuse Israel of is exactly what Washington and media outlets have been documenting for many years.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
After a short Q & A, we ended and it felt uplifting, It was good to hear someone in the Black Church stand up for Israel and Jewish Americans, speaking to our common heritage.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/sudan-politics-darfur/
[2] https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-darfur-guide/
[3] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/sudan-politics-sexual-violence/
[4]https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/sudan-darfur-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war-sexual-violence-and-its-consequences/
[5] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68606201
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Barrett Holman Leak is an author, educator and community organizer.
Very interesting article
I will definitely add the book to my reading list