Black and Jewish Youth Build Bridges Through Basketball, On the Court and Beyond

More than 50 youth participated last week in a Nike basketball camp at the JCC of Greater Baltimore that featured educational workshops facilitated by the Elijah Cummings Youth Program (ECYP) and Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).

The camp was run by the Chase Your Dreams Academy (CYDA), led by former WNBA and University of Maryland star and Olympic gold medalist Sonia Chase.

The participants, ranging in age from 8-17, were largely drawn from the local Jewish and Black communities.

The daily program integrated Nike basketball instruction with leadership development sessions and interactive workshops on topics including conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and antisemitism and racism awareness, with an emphasis on the power of sports to strengthen solidarity and unity between peoples of different backgrounds.

“We have a responsibility to feed the hearts and minds of children, so that they can repair the world together,” said CAM African-American Alliance Manager Dazia Wallerson, who coordinated CAM’s involvement in the camp. “Every young person here and every relationship forged is the next chapter of the historic Black-Jewish alliance.”