A Message that Resonates
By Emily Zimmern
When I first read about Heart of a Nation, I was immediately drawn to its message. Over the past couple of months, I’ve reflected on why it resonates with me so deeply, and I share the following thoughts for your consideration.
“A Path Forward, Together”
Growing up in Louisiana in the segregated South of the 1950s and 60s, I saw firsthand the costs of separation and division, the malignant harm caused by pervasive discrimination and racism. As a teenager, I was inspired by the courageous example of participants in the civil rights movement who took great risks to bring freedom to places where it had never been before.
In the process, those activists liberated not only African Americans but white people as well, opening minds and hearts to new possibilities. When I left for college in 1967, I knew I wanted to follow their example and work to shape a world vastly different from what I had known as a child.
A major part of my life has been devoted to building bridges across difference, working for equity and fairness, and ensuring that all people, regardless of background, identity, or zip code, enjoy opportunity to live life fully. I came to understand that shared stories build community, everyone’s history matters, and confronting the unvarnished truth about the past can set individuals and communities free to change and build a better future.
“Better, Not Batter, Nations We Love”
A couple of years ago I read an essay by an Israeli progressive whose disquieting message has stayed with me. Though a majority of American Jews identify as progressive or liberal, the writer observed, a great many seemed to be disengaging from Israel. If they engaged at all, their focus was on hammering away at the Israeli government.
In an essay entitled, “Overcoming the Loneliness We Feel”, Rabbi Noa Sattath, director of the Israel Religious Action Center, the social justice arm of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive
Judaism, invited American progressive Jews to engage differently: to recognize the profound moral challenges of the current situation but to come together in strategic partnership and engage with the issues that matter to progressives in the U.S and Israel.
“A Community of Purpose”
Over decades of civic engagement, I have learned firsthand the necessity of community building to tackle tough issues. There are no quick fixes to the challenges facing our societies. Social change requires broad, deep, sustained effort from committed individuals and organizations from multiple sectors. Progress happens when individuals and organizations work collaboratively and creatively. By coming together to share one another’s stories and work on common projects, participants develop relationships that lay the foundation for sustainable solutions.
Heart of a Nation is committed to just such an approach. It aims to create a unique platform for robust discussion, relationship building, and problem solving. By bringing together American, Israeli, and Palestinian progressives to focus on issues of common concern, participants can listen and learn from one another and create collective impact far greater than what would be generated operating singly or in silos of like-minded opinion.
“Why I Commit”
After moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1982, I became active in Jewish communal affairs and progressive advocacy, locally and nationally. My engagement in civic life and Jewish activism were interwoven threads that reinforced one another. When I worked for racial reconciliation, immigrant rights, and educational equity, I was living my Jewish values. I volunteered for and supported liberal and progressive political candidates whose views aligned with those values.
In recent years, I have wondered whether the interwoven threads of my life’s work might unravel. On the one hand, illiberal governments recently in power in the U.S. and Israel instituted policies undermining the ideals that I cherished. In the U.S., civil rights, immigration, and at times, the very rule of law were under assault. In Israel, anti-democratic trends grew stronger and powerful voices rejected a two-state solution.
On the other hand, and equally disturbing, growing numbers of progressives in the U.S. are voicing strong anti-Israel views that not only critique policies but demonize Israel as a nation. The recent Gaza Israel conflict and interethnic violence within Israel, along with uncertainty regarding the future of Palestinian leadership, portend continued instability and pose tough moral challenges.
“An Exciting Opportunity”
Heart of a Nation responds with an affirming, hopeful answer. By working together, American, Israeli, and Palestinian activists can cultivate fertile soil for seeds of new possibilities to sprout and grow. Learning from one another, they can explore more effective ways to battle racism and discrimination and increase support for women’s equality, LGBTQ rights, asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants, environmental justice, and other pressing issues. Deepening understanding of one another, they can expand the space for cooperation and peace building.
Innovative and cross-cultural, Heart of a Nation offers an exciting opportunity to discover what can happen when participants live the values of equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. The work ahead won’t be easy. Based on past experiences working across differences, I predict it will be as challenging and messy as it will be rewarding and worthwhile; filled with potential, and fraught with uncertainty. I’m also betting, as I approach my 73rd birthday, that each frustrating and exhilarating moment will be well worth it.
Long active in community affairs, Emily Zimmern has held leadership positions on numerous local and state nonprofit boards and civic commissions. She served as President of Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is also former President of the Charlotte Jewish Federation and Co-Chair of United Jewish Appeal’s Young Leadership Cabinet.
