Good evening Shalomies, my name is Cydney Wallace, JCUA’s Board President.

I found my home in JCUA back in 2016, before this handsome guy was with us, when I think many of us realized no amount of respectability politics was going to save us from what was coming. I was excited to find a Jewish home where I could live my values, and work to make the world better for everyone.

So I dove headfirst into learning, unlearning, and taking action. I started leading trainings for JCUA and other organizations. I cofounded Kol Or, our Jews of Color Caucus. I worked on the GAPA campaign that, after 7 years of hard work, created the most powerful system of police oversight in the country. I joined the Board, then the Executive Board, to now stand before you today as President. Then last year, because of relationships that grew from my work with JCUA, I was appointed to the Chicago Board of Education.

The work I’ve done with JCUA hasn’t just allowed me to make the world a better place for others. They’ve made the world a better place for me. The relationships, education, and tools I’ve gained here have empowered me, as I know they’ve empowered many of you.

JCUA’s fight is more than 60 years old now. We were born out of the Civil Rights Movement, with a simple belief that has never changed. Our safety and freedom as Jews is bound up with the safety and freedom of our neighbors next door, across the street, in the next town over, and throughout our state. We do not and CANNOT have one without the other.

About a decade ago, JCUA became what it is today — a member driven, community organizing powerhouse. We now have about two thousand members, 17 congregation partners, dozens of coalition partners in Chicagoland, and hundreds across the country. So when I’m telling you we’re all in this together, I mean it. We are genuinely all in this together.

And clearly we need each other, right? Look at the moment we find ourselves in. The Trump administration is working double-time to entrench minority rule and dismantle the Voting Rights Act. It has intensified anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant rhetoric. It has spread antisemitism and weaponized it to gut our civil rights and weaken the institutions that hold our democracy together.

But here’s the thing. The people in this room, we have a track record of rising to the occasion. At Acts of Change last year, we highlighted JCUA’s work for immigration justice, honoring our partners at ICIRR and HIAS, and raising the money that powered our organizing. Three short months later, the Trump regime launched Operation Midway Blitz, and ICE and CBP invaded Chicago with such cruelty that it left our immigrant neighbors afraid to step out of their homes. We didn’t have the luxury of being unprepared. And because of JCUA’s deep relationships, our organizing power, and the resources you’ve given us – because of all of you, we weren’t.

We ran Know Your Rights and rapid response trainings in our synagogues. Our teens canvassed door to door. Along with our coalition partners at ICIRR, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and ONE Northside, we led the rapid response network on the North side, documenting ICE activity, and warning families in real time. 

While we were taking action in our neighborhoods, we were also advocating in Springfield to pass instrumental legislative protections for immigrants and refugees. We learned, made connections, and got stronger, so if those punks come back, we’ll be ready. This is the type of dynamic, relevant, and multi-pronged work we are supporting tonight.

As we confront the individuals and agencies who led the invasion, we have to be clear about the larger movements and ideologies behind them. The MAGA movement and the white supremacist ideology behind it are a threat to every one of us in this room – Jews, immigrants, Muslims, Black people, Latinos, Queer folks, working class people, everyone. 

And the whole thing depends on keeping us divided, fighting amongst ourselves, getting us to point at our brothers and sisters suffering alongside us instead of those who are actually causing the harm. Take a moment to gaze around the room, look at who is here in the fight with you. We are multiracial, multifaith, intergenerational. Jews and neighbors showing up for one another. This is something they told us doesn’t exist. This is exactly what they don’t WANT to exist. We will not and cannot be divided; even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. Together we will do some of my favorite things: we’ll dismantle white supremacy, anti-Blackness, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of oppression!

Sometimes I’m asked by people what is something they can do. Some seem eager to make a big impact, others seem worried their efforts won’t make a difference. I often reference marches, like the ones in Selma, or Marquette Park. When you look at photos from those marches, you see the heavy hitters, usually five to ten people; you know their names, you’ve memorized their faces. But are they really what make the march impressive? Or is it the hundreds and thousands of nameless and faceless people behind them?

You don’t have to be the one MC-ing an event, you don’t need to be the keynote speaker. You can spread the word about an event or campaign. You can have hard conversations with your friends and colleagues. You can make a donation. You can raise children who believe in the worth of other people. All of those seemingly small things have sustained this work since the march on Marquette Park, 60 years ago this summer. Our work is still needed, the fight still rages on, and I’m honored to be in it with all of you.

So thank you again for being here tonight, for supporting JCUA, and for continuing to fight for justice.