By Christopher Johns ’26
As a first-generation African American male from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I have long been shaped by the intersections of culture, race, and community. Growing up in one of the most segregated cities in the country made me deeply aware of the systemic challenges faced by African Americans, but also of the resilience and creativity that define our communities. At the same time, I also attended high school in Wisconsin, where I was immersed in both Black and Jewish spaces. That experience sparked an early curiosity about how these historically resilient groups have navigated identity, oppression, and belonging in American society.
I also became familiar with the legacy of the Milwaukee Jewish Community Center, where Esther Leah Medalie Ritz served as the first woman president. My friends and I often went there after school to play basketball, and experiencing a place where the community thrived made her legacy feel real and inspiring. Her example of leadership and service continues to influence my own goals.
In middle school, I first learned about Jewish history and culture through classmates and close friends who shared stories about their traditions, holidays, and family heritage. At the same time, I was shaping my own identity as a young Black man growing up with aspirations that often felt larger than what society expected for people like me. Those experiences developed into a lasting academic interest in the historical and cultural intersections between African American and Jewish communities.
At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I have pursued this interest through coursework in both African American Studies and Jewish Studies. In Cultural Cross Currents: West African Dance/Music in the Americas, I studied the origins of African American dance and music traditions and learned how enslaved Africans preserved culture through spirituals, Ring Shout dances, and call-and-response traditions despite the brutality of slavery. In Race and Mass Incarceration in U.S. History, I examined the history of mass incarceration and its connections to slavery and Black Codes. Studying figures such as Angela Davis deepened my understanding of how systemic oppression evolves over time and reinforced the importance of confronting injustice.
At the same time, the course Modern Jewish Literature introduced me to Jewish history and resilience through works such as The Memoirs of Glikl of Hameln and The Ethical Will of Judah Ibn Tibbon. These texts explored immigration, exclusion, and the preservation of identity across generations. I was struck by the parallels between Jewish and African American experiences, particularly the ways both communities have relied on storytelling, faith, and cultural continuity to endure hardship.
Through these courses, a clear theme emerged: while African American and Jewish experiences are distinct, both communities have responded to oppression with remarkable resilience. This realization strengthened my commitment to studying both fields together.
Beyond academics, this work connects directly to my leadership on campus. As founder and president of the Madison Alliance for Excellence (MAE), I have worked to create inclusive spaces for students from all backgrounds. Our organization has hosted mental health seminars, organized a 5K run supporting the American Heart Association, written holiday cards for hospitalized children, and donated over 1,500 pounds of food and menstrual products to the River Food Pantry.
My long-term goal is to become a civil rights attorney. I believe studying African American and Jewish histories together will strengthen my ability to advocate for marginalized communities and build bridges across differences. In a time when antisemitism, anti-Blackness, and hate crimes continue to rise, we need leaders who understand both history and the interconnectedness of our struggles.
Esther Leah Medalie Ritz once said, “If injustice is the product of humankind, so are justice and compassion, and they can be mobilized as change agents.” I hope to follow that example through a career grounded in leadership, empathy, and justice.