Inside PBS’ 'BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA' Docuseries – EURweb

Home » News » Top News » Phil Bertelsen and Sara Wolitzky on Telling the Shared Story of ‘Black And Jewish America: An Interwoven History’ | EUR Exclusive

*“Black And Jewish America: An Interwoven History” examines the complex relationship between Black Americans and Jewish Americans, tracing a bond forged in shared struggle, tested by division, and defined by pivotal moments in U.S. history.
Executive produced, hosted, and written by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the four-part series debuted February 3 on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS app, with new episodes airing over three consecutive Tuesdays and the final two episodes on February 17. Through conversations with scholars, activists, religious leaders, and cultural figures, the series explores a partnership that helped shape American democracy and popular culture.
For co-director and co-executive producer Sara Wolitzky, the project connects to her own family history. “I’m Jewish and grew up as the granddaughter of a pogrom survivor, hearing a lot of those traumatic stories and being taught from an early age that it’s our obligation, even if I felt safe in the time and place I was growing up, to be on the side of anyone in any moment that was not safe, for just being who they were.”

Wolitzky said the urgency of the series was sharpened by recent events. She pointed to the resurgence of white nationalism following the Charleston Mother Emanuel church shooting, the Charlottesville rally, and the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, describing the current era as “a moment of sort of emboldened white nationalism.” Looking back at the long and complicated entanglement between Black and Jewish communities, she said, offers a foundation for renewed solidarity.
Co-director and co-executive producer Phil Bertelsen also felt a personal connection. “I’m Black but also a byproduct of the civil rights movement… biracial love child of that period.” He recalled growing up surrounded by Jewish community life and wondering “what happened to that unity, what happened to that coalition.”
Bertelsen described being deeply affected by what he called the “trifecta of tragedy” — the Charleston shooting, Charlottesville, and the Tree of Life synagogue shooting — saying those events “gave me whiplash.” Reuniting with Gates, with whom he previously collaborated on the history series “Finding Your Roots” and the Netflix documentary “Malcolm X,” felt both necessary and timely. “It was an opportunity to get engaged with him once again, and do something that I felt was necessary and meaningful, and I had no idea it would have the urgency of now in the way that it does. But I’m grateful to have contributed.”
Across its four episodes, the series traces the relationship from early 20th-century civic partnerships to cultural collaborations in music and film, and into the civil rights era often described as the “golden age” of the alliance. Episode 1, “Let My People Go,” explores the core differences and overlapping struggles that brought the communities into closer contact by the 1920s. Episode 2, “Strange Fruit,” examines collaborations in culture and the fight against fascism, while Episode 3, “The ‘Grand Alliance,’” follows the interracial coalition of the 1960s and the imbalances that tested it.
In the series, Gates speaks with the children of civil rights leaders including Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Reverend Ralph Abernathy. Bertelsen said those conversations revealed both reflection and loss. “I think there was a sense of renewed, shall we say, inspiration. At the same time, there was a degree of mourning and grief over the loss of the strength of that coalition and those partnerships.”
Wolitzky emphasized that the alliance is best understood at a personal level. “I think what bonded those men and then their children a generation later is sort of these personal relationships and family relationships, more than just this abstract idea of a coalition.” She noted that the series highlights both nationally known leaders and local figures, such as Esther Brown in Kansas City, whose work alongside Black neighbors pushed for desegregation.
For Bertelsen, whose past projects include “Who Killed Malcolm X” and “The 1619 Project,” the series represents a continuation of examining overlooked intersections in American history. “Those two histories, as they are woven together, as they are parallel histories, is not well told, not well known.” He added that the “dual biography” of Black and Jewish America was what most compelled him.
Structuring the series required balancing shared and parallel experiences. “Fundamentally, we were interested in the shared history. So the points at which our histories intersected, but also the parallel history to look at the experiences that we shared, not necessarily together, but as what we have come to know as outsiders in this culture,” Bertelsen said. The Great Migration of African Americans and the immigration of European Jews fleeing violence became one such parallel lens.
Wolitzky described the challenge of condensing a sweeping narrative shaped by global forces into four hours. “It was quite hard to condense so many interesting stories into four hours, and we could have done many more, but we’re very grateful we had an opportunity to tell this much of it.” The result, she said, is a long historical arc designed to underscore both the fragility and possibility of coalition.
If there is one takeaway Wolitzky hopes viewers carry, it is rooted in honesty and connection. “The foundation has to be truth-telling, and personal relationships.” Through its examination of solidarity and strain, “Black And Jewish America: An Interwoven History” revisits a partnership that helped define American culture and asks what it might mean for the present.
Watch our conversation with Phil Bertelsen and Sara Wolitzky via the clip below.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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