During Passover 1969, Jews and African Americans came together on the first anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination to remember him and strengthen the bonds between the two peoples. A Seder with new readings that connected the Jewish exodus from Egypt with the struggle for Civil Rights seemed the perfect way to commemorate and celebrate. The text below includes selected short excerpts from that seder. A longer text can be found on the Shalom Center website. A video of certain portions of the 1969 Freedom Seder can be found on YouTube here. 

Note: by 1969, some activists in the Civil Rights Movement had moved away from the approach of non-violent civil disobedience that had been central to earlier phases of the Movement. The Black Power movement, in particular called for a more militant approach to gaining civil rights. It may be useful to read the text below with that historical context in mind.