Black Jewish Reconciliation: Rebuilding The Bridge

Donzaleigh Abernathy is the youngest daughter of Rev. Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Co-Founder of the American Civil Rights Movement and Mrs. Juanita Jones Abernathy. She and her sister are Goddaughters of their parents’ best friend, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She authored Partners To History: Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy And The Civil Rights Movement, nominated by the American Library Association as one of the “Best Books” for Young Adults in 2003. As an actress, she starred in the Emmy Award winning HBO films “Don King - Only In America” and “Miss Evers’ Boys”.

Avi Dresner is a journalist, documentary filmmaker and screenwriter. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, and he is a two-time winner of the Rockower Award (aka "the Jewlitzer") from the American Jewish Press Association. He is Executive Producer of the documentary-in-progress, “The Rabbi & The Reverend” and co-screenwriter of the feature film script “King’s Rabbi”, both of which tell the story of his father, Rabbi Israel Dresner, the most arrested and jailed rabbi during the Civil Rights Movement and an ally and friend of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Reverend Dr. Willard Ashley, Sr. leads the Abundant Joy Community Church in Jersey City. He has served over four decades in the ordained ministry. Beyond the pulpit, he is a psychoanalyst, group psychotherapist, and esteemed clinical fellow in the American Association of Marriage & Family Therapists. Ashley maintains a private practice in psychoanalysis in Upper Montclair. In academia, he contributes as a board member of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School and as a retired Professor of Pastoral Theology at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Dr. Ashley made history as the first African American Dean of NBTS. He imparts his wisdom in mental health circles at Rutgers University, the Blanton Peale Institute, and the NYU Silver School of Social Work DSW Program. He is an accomplished author of four books and a contributor to numerous books and articles.