Thanks to detailed edits by eight Black Jewish contributors over summer & fall 2020, the Jewish Persistence pledge is now nearing its launch. Rachel Faulkner is leading us through this final round of outreach to ensure wide access by Black Jewish contributors.

Since we started this project, it has become clear that the current administration may try to use authoritarian tactics to maintain power regardless of the election results. In many countries, leaders in this situation use fearmongering about violence in the streets, painting themselves as the only force that can keep "order," so that the majority of the population is scared into passively accepting a disruption to democratic rule. We are aware that this administration could scapegoat BLM in order to achieve this.

This pledge is designed to get non-Black Jews out there organizing other non-Black Jews. We want non-Black Jews everywhere to be in a clear mindset, where they are ready to stand up to racist scapegoating & resist crackdowns on democracy  - instead of getting scared in a politically uncertain time and staying quiet. Strategically, therefore, it could be valuable to already have the pledge in use, several weeks before the election, as non-Black Jews will be better able to take in this information in the calm before a potential crisis.

However, if we prioritize launching the pledge that soon, we would need to collect our last round of feedback more quickly than we planned. We are checking in here to see how people feel.

If you need to see the current draft to better answer this question, check it the temporary website: https://www.aprilrosenblum.com/pledge-contributors-advance-access

FEEDBACK PHASE (this is the current phase):
- Continue to incorporate feedback from a wide range of Black Jewish leaders & community members. Accept feedback from a limited number of non-Black Jews whose organizing focuses on the pledge's key goal.
- Make sure all contributors have the chance to see a final version of the website 48 hours before it is launched, so that people who have asked to be named can make sure they are still comfortable with the final version.

LAUNCH PHASE (timing TBD; in early October at the earliest):
- Invite a first wave of Jewish activists (people in “Circle One” - ie, those already involved in BLM work & sympathetic to pledge goals) to a multiracial Jewish organizing call. The call will explain why the pledge was created & how to use it. Non-Black Jews on the call will be asked to commit to specific organizing tasks (below).
- Launch the pledge online, along with a web toolkit and “Frequently Asked Questions” page. Ask people to sign the pledge with their first names, or Jewish names, only. The goal is to emphasize that this is a personal commitment - not a performative public act or a source of cred.
- Collect emails of signers so that they can be followed up with for future organizing.

ORGANIZING PHASE
- The pledge will be available for online and printable use. It will be designed to resemble a page of Talmud, with space for signers to make notes to themselves about their own thoughts & questions about the ideas raised in the pledge.
- Non-Black Jews will schedule 1:1 conversations with other non-Black Jews (those in “Circle Two” - sympathetic to BLM, but more tentative, newer to taking action, or more likely to pull back from the movement when fears about antisemitism arise). Encourage people to choose conversation partners with whom they have a positive relationship, trust & good rapport. The message is, “I want to be on this path with you. Will you join me?”
- The web toolkit will also offer templates for how to set up events around the pledge in local synagogues, Jewish high schools, etc.
- The goal is not to get every person in Circle Two to sign the pledge. The goal is to use the question, “Could you see yourself signing this?” as a way to start meaningful conversations and leave new thoughts sitting in a lasting way in the minds of this wider circle of non-Black Jews. Nudging these Jews even slightly - toward a new vision of how to fight antisemitism, toward considering more serious commitment to solidarity with Black Jews and gentiles and other targeted communities - will position them to respond in a different way the next time fearmongering and divisive tactics are used to draw their support away from BLM and other critical issues.
- Encourage signers to stay connected locally, support each other, work together on the ground, and use what they learn to help their local Jewish communities follow "best practices" when concerns (or false charges) of antisemitism arise.