March | 2021 | DeSean Jackson Foundation

Tags

Peel District School Board, Stronger Than Hate, USC Shoah Foundation

**PRESS RELEASE**

**Live, Virtual Program**
A presentation by the Toronto District School Board’s African Heritage Committee, Jewish Heritage Committee, Liberation75, USC Shoah Foundation, and Peel District School Board
was televised on
**February 25th, 2021, 1-2 pm**

**Surprise Guest Host/Student Panel**
Moderator
Dr. Stephen D. Smith
Executive Director Chair, USC Shoah Foundation

Special Guest
**Max Eisen**
Holocaust Survivor from the Greater Toronto Area

Special Guest
**Joe Wilson Jr**
Author of “The 761st “Black Panther” Tank Battalion in World War II, Son of Joe Wilson Sr, a member of the 761st Tank Battalion

Special Guest
**DeSean William Jackson**
CEO/Co-Founder, DeSean Jackson Foundation, Philanthropist, Entrepreneur
NFL All Pro Wide Receiver, Free Agent

Special Guest
**John L. Withers II**
Author of “Balm in Gilead”, former UN Ambassador to Albania and
Son of Lieutenant John L. Withers, a WWII soldier who befriended and saved two Jewish Holocaust Survivors

Students participated in this program (Grades 6-12) to explore how stories create the possibility to learn about themselves and others, and how we can affect change right now.

The 761st Tank Battalion was the first all African-American Tank Battalion in World War II. They were instrumental in helping defeat the Nazis as well as liberating several concentration camps. Holocaust survivor, Max Eisen, was in one of the camps they liberated.

Our world has seen an increase in Anti-Black racism and Anti-semitism. This conversation helped us consider what we have learned from history and witnesses to genocide; and, reflect on how that knowledge can help us take action to counteract hate.

Link to the webinar recording is here: https://youtu.be/rqCy5S_V3as