Washington-Rosenwald HBCU scholarship contest explores Black-Jewish historic relationship
The Combat Antisemitism Movement and the African American Mayors Association launched the Washington-Rosenwald HBCU Scholarship Program, awarding $25,000 in scholarships, $5,000 each to five students who explore the historic relationship between the African American and Jewish communities through essays, artwork, poetry, or video submissions.
The initiative is designed to empower students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities by fostering awareness of the longstanding partnership between the African American and Jewish communities.
The program is open to current HBCU students or high school seniors planning to enroll in an HBCU. While the contest was announced in late March, it has a quick deadline of April 3. Winning scholarship recipients will be guests of AAMA and CAM at the Mayors Association annual conference in Washington in mid-April.
Scholarship winners must also commit to volunteering for a minimum of 10 hours on African American/Jewish partnership projects. Essays are a maximum of 1,000 words, videos have a five-minute maximum.
The project builds upon a legacy of unity and shared advocacy, inspired by the collaboration between Tuskegee University’s Booker T. Washington and Sears Chairman Julius Rosenwald, who together established over 5,000 schools for African American students across the segregated South in the early 20th century. There were also over 500 Rosenwald Fellowships awarded to outstanding students, including Maya Angelou and John Lewis.
The Washington-Rosenwald example set the stage for the alliance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched arm and arm for civil rights in the 1960s. The contest hopes to help spark a renewal of the historic African American-Jewish relationship in the spirit of Washington, Rosenwald, King, and Heschel: promoting education, nurturing talented young leaders, and advancing principled mutual support.
There are three potential themes for the contest submissions: Historic African American-Jewish partnerships and their impact on social progress, creative expression celebrating African American-Jewish solidarity, or possible future initiatives to strengthen African American-Jewish alliances in the fight against racism and antisemitism.
Judges include Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, president of the African American Mayors Association, Mayor Steven Meiner of Miami Beach, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity General Chaplain Rev. Cassius Rudolph and Alpha Epsilon Pi Foundation Director Emeritus Andrew Borans.
CAM Chief Government Affairs Officer Lisa Katz said “Linked by our common histories as victims of prejudice and discrimination, African Americans and Jews must stand as one in pushing back against rising hate today. By celebrating and revitalizing these ties, we can help build a better future for all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed.”
Contest information and submission procedures can be found here.
