Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Logo of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
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| Motto | "To combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with Chicago’s diverse communities." |
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| Formation | 1964 |
| Type | Social justice |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
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Board President
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Peggy Slater |
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Executive Director
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Judith Levey |
| Website | www |
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) is a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, Ill., that works with diverse neighborhoods and community groups to battle discrimination, antisemitism, poverty and other forms of oppression. Jane Ramsey was the organization’s executive director from 1980 - 2012. Judy Levey is the current executive director.
According to Slingshot, a Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation, “For 45 years, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) has been perceived by many as the social consciousness of the Chicago-area Jewish community”. According to Sojourners magazine, JCUA is the preeminent model for today’s Jewish social justice organizations. As a Chicago-based organization, JCUA pioneered the American Jewish community’s participation in social justice work. Since 1964, JCUA has been working with neighborhoods targeted by social and economic depression and collaborates actively with immigrant communities to promote human rights and social justice. Working with other community-based organizations, JCUA focuses on issues that affect urban communities, such as “poverty, education, employment, housing, transportation and crime”. JCUA mobilizes the Chicago-area Jewish community in an effort to build partnerships and to advocate on behalf of disenfranchised Chicago residents.
JCUA was founded in 1964 by Rabbi Robert Marx, who at the time was the Midwest Director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism) and a committed civil rights activist.
JCUA’s origins can be traced to the civil rights movement of the 1960s when Rabbi Robert Marx marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Open Housing March in Marquette Park. JCUA was established as a Jewish voice promoting human rights and social justice for Chicago’s neighborhoods. In its early years, JCUA worked with the Contract Buyers League to fight unfair real estate practices in Westside homes that were causing excessive fines and evictions of black homeowners.
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Wikipedia