For the second consecutive year, Chicago’s Jewish and African-American communities stood shoulder to shoulder at a Baptist church, which was once a prominent West Side synagogue, for a rousing tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Entitled “Am I My Brother’s Keeper? Strengthening the Bonds between the African-American and Jewish Communities,” the Jan. 19 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day program answered that question with a resounding “yes.” Leaders from both communities gave stirring speeches about the continued need to help one another and build on Dr. King’s vision.

“We did not come here just to have a celebration of life, we came here to reignite the dream of a man who was a dreamer,” said Bishop Derrick M. Fitzpatrick, pastor at Stone Temple Baptist Church, which hosted the morning’s event.

The church, which for the first half of the 20th century was home to First Romanian Jewish Congregation, co-sponsored the event along with the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, The Firehouse Community Arts Center, Sinai Health System and the North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society.

In welcoming attendees, JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council Chairman Skip Schrayer introduced the theme that was echoed throughout the program. “Dr. King asked us to look out for our fellow man, to be our brother’s keeper, and to join with him in the pursuit of full equality and justice for all humankind,” Schrayer said. “Today as we reflect on his life and legacy, we must acknowledge that this work is not yet complete.” (Watch a video of his remarks.)

Other speakers included musician and motivational speaker Taylor Moore, Rabbi Wendi Geffen of North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Congressman Danny K. Davis, State Representative Art Turner Jr., and Maury Fertig, grandson of March on Washington speaker Rabbi Uri Miller.

Fertig reflected on his grandfather, saying he was a “fighter for peace, justice, and equality for all people,” and who spoke from the pulpit about collective responsibility for one’s fellow man and against segregation. Fertig referenced the Jewish community’s historical connection to North Lawndale as he reflected on the fact that “today, here we meet, 95 years later on the same street where my grandfather began his journey that would take him to Washington and where he would play a part in the Civil Rights Movement.” (Watch a video of his remarks.)

In her remarks Rabbi Geffen asked “what does it mean to be each other’s keeper? And how do we act as such in our world today?” Saying that we must reaffirm the strong relationship that existed between African Americans and Jews during the Civil Rights Movement, Geffen urged, “there is so much more we can do together, and there has not been a better moment in the last 50 years for us to come together and dream of what is possible.” Geffen closed saying, “Because not one of us is free until every last one of us is free, let us work together, my brothers and my sisters. We are each other’s keepers.” (Watch a video of her remarks.)

Moore, an award-winning jazz percussionist in her 20s who has shared her message with groups since she was a teenager, followed Geffen’s rousing words with a powerful sermon on the theme for the program. “Are we our brother’s keeper? Yes we are!” Moore implored, “when we are our brother’s keeper, we can speak life into our brother, we can encourage our brother, we can love our brother.'”

Among the speeches were songs performed by the Praetorium Signing Church Choir and Shanka and Brian Pettis. Jasmine Tanksley, 14, a member of Stone Temple Baptist Church and a ninth grade student at Michelle Clark School, also shared her thoughts on Dr. King.

Prior to the event, volunteers from both communities took part in a special service project, preparing and serving hot breakfast to more than 100 members of Stone Temple Church and the Lawndale community.

“I think it’s important for the entire community, not just the Jewish community, to get together and realize that we’re one,” said TOV volunteer Joyce Leviton Asher.

North Lawndale is a historically special place for both African-Americans and Jews in Chicago. The community was once known as “Chicago’s Jerusalem,” seeing the likes of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, musician Benny Goodman and businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, for whom JUF’s prestigious Julius Rosenwald Memorial Award is named. It was also where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived in the late 1960s during his affordable housing campaign.

Bishop Fitzpatrick gave volunteers tours of the church, highlighting the Jewish elements that have been preserved throughout the building. TOV volunteer and Gold Coast resident Bob Mednick, who lived a couple miles from North Lawndale growing up, called the experience “nostalgic” and said he was impressed with how the former synagogue, along with much of the area, has been maintained.

“With all the things going on in the world that are discouraging, this is heartening,” he said.