Praying with their feet: Daughters of Martin Luther King and Rabbi Heschel reflect on the history and present of the civil rights movement

 

When Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a noted Jewish thinker marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 he was asked why such a prominent scholar would leave New York City to march in Alabama. He replied, "When I march in Selma, my feet are praying." Jewish and black activists have been longtime allies in the civil rights movement, and with the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination next month, the daughters of two American civil rights legends visited Milwaukee to talk about advancing their fathers' legacies.

Bernice King and Professor Susannah Heschel recently appeared at a free event at Milwaukee's Pabst Theater hosted jointly by the Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center and the Milwaukee Urban League that featured a discussion on the modern civil rights movement, and how two different peoples can work together in service of justice.