{"id":59119,"date":"2025-11-24T18:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T18:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/59119\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T18:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T18:56:13","slug":"how-jacksonville-is-learning-and-uniting-through-conversation-104-5-wokv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/59119\/","title":{"rendered":"How Jacksonville Is Learning \u2014 and Uniting \u2014 Through Conversation \u2013 104.5 WOKV"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a time when communities across the country are seeing division and misinformation grow louder, two Jacksonville organizations are bringing people together to listen, learn, and build understanding.<\/p>\n

The First Coast YMCA<\/a> and the Jewish Community Alliance (JCA)<\/a> are now in their third year of Together Against Hate: Promoting Unity in the Community \u2014 a powerful series designed to break down stereotypes and foster meaningful dialogue. The initiative focuses on education, culture, and connection, with each monthly event spotlighting a different population or form of discrimination. <\/p>\n

The idea began after a hateful incident in Jacksonville sparked a call to action. YMCA CEO Eric Mann and JCA CEO Adam Chaskin agreed that silence wasn\u2019t an option \u2014 and their partnership quickly blossomed into something much bigger than expected. <\/p>\n

\u201cOrganizations that partner have to have trust,\u201d Mann said. \u201cWe really wanted to be a part of the solution to this hatred conversation.\u201d <\/p>\n

What makes the series unique is its wide range of topics \u2014 from youth mental health to Indigenous culture to the experiences of Ethiopian Jews. The goal isn\u2019t to reach only those already informed. It\u2019s to welcome \u2014 and engage \u2014 people who want to understand more. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted new faces,\u201d said Eleanor Blair, Vice President of Strategic Communications and Connections at the YMCA. \u201cPeople who may not know much about a subject but are willing to learn.\u201d <\/p>\n

Up Next: Understanding Jew-Hatred<\/p>\n

The next event takes place Monday, November 24 at 7 p.m. at Riverside Presbyterian Church and will feature Rabbi Raphael Shore, author of \u201cWho Is Afraid of the Big Bad Jew?\u201d The conversation will explore the long, complicated history of antisemitism \u2014 and why it remains so prevalent today. <\/p>\n

Chaskin emphasizes the importance of broader community participation: \u201cEven if someone says, \u2018I\u2019m not Jewish, I don\u2019t know anybody who is Jewish,\u2019 this is exactly the type of person who should be at the event\u2026 It does affect everybody.\u201d <\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s event is free and open to every member of the community \u2014 people of all beliefs and backgrounds who simply want to learn, ask questions, and better understand their neighbors. <\/p>\n

Unity Begins With Showing Up<\/p>\n

Mann says the Y\u2019s mission makes this work not only appropriate, but essential: \u201cAny hate, any discrimination against anyone \u2014 that\u2019s not who we are.\u201d <\/p>\n

The progress, organizers say, is real. People who attend one event often return for more \u2014 because they leave with a more open mind than when they arrived.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no cost, no obligation \u2014 just an opportunity to learn from one another and strengthen Jacksonville together.<\/p>\n

How to Participate<\/p>\n

View the full schedule and register at: TogetherAgainstHateJax.org<\/p>\n

Monday, Nov. 24 \u2014 7:00 PM\ud83d\udccd Riverside Presbyterian Church \u2014 Park Street, Jacksonville\ud83c\udf9f FREE | All are welcome<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Together Against Hate 2025 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a time when communities across the country are seeing division and misinformation grow louder, two Jacksonville organizations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3022,3017,684,116,118,117,3023,115,510,349,3024,99,3018,3016,3020,3019,3021],"class_list":["post-59119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-104-5-wokv","tag-america","tag-events","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonvilles-news","tag-news","tag-north-florida","tag-northeast-florida","tag-northeast-florida-events","tag-politics","tag-ponte-vedra-concert-hall","tag-salute-america","tag-salute-america-tickets","tag-tickets","tag-wokv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}