VIDEO: Singers Collaborate For 'You've Got a Friend' in 22 Languages in Solidarity With Black Lives Matter

Singers from the West End and around the world come together in an anti-racism video to say "You've Got a Friend" in 22 different languages, and raise money for the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE).

A new initiative conceived and produced by The JEWish Cabaret in solidarity with Black Lives Matter (BLM) will go live on Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Monday, 18 January at 10:00am. The project will be raising funds for JCORE, and features 25 performers from around the world singing in 22 different languages including Yoruba, Farsi, Thai, British Sign Language (BSL), and many others.

As the world continues to struggle with the new reality presented by COVID-19, it is crucial that action for racial justice and support for Black Lives Matter is sustained. In the almost 8 months since George Floyd was killed last spring we have continued to see our world drastically shift and try to adapt to an ever changing reality, but racism and violence continue to plague us. This initiative seeks to stress that Black lives still matter and will always matter, and that allyship and active anti-racism must be an ongoing and long-term commitment. There is more work that needs to be done, and this work needs to be supported by people from all backgrounds.

The concept for the video arose as a way to show a universal and international allyship and support for the BLM movement, especially when many of our borders are closed and many of us are in various forms of isolation. The JEWish Cabaret chose the song "You've Got a Friend" by Carole King to express hope and a call to action. By choosing to publish the video on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we hope to draw on the power and memory of the American Civil Rights Movement and its leaders, and continue to be inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s advocacy for nonviolent activism. We also wish to actively continue the long tradition of Jewish people standing in solidarity with communities of colour in their struggle to end racial discrimination, as taught by Jewish leaders such as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and others.

The video has been made as a fundraising initiative for JCORE, the Jewish Council for Racial Equality. Since 1976, JCORE has worked both inside and outside the Jewish community to provide a Jewish voice on Race and Asylum issues. JCORE works to engage the Jewish community in social action across wider society, focussing on race equality and justice for refugees and asylum seekers. JCORE's work draws on Jewish refugee experience, teaching and tradition of Jewish social activism.

The JEWish Cabaret is an egalitarian theatre collaborative dedicated to challenging the perceptions of the general public on what it means to be Jewish by creating innovative theatrical productions inspired by our dialogue with our own Jewish identity. We aim to provide quality entertainment and artistry drawing from the Jewish traditions, while also challenging them through humour, satire, and pride. We provide a platform that incubates the talents of young artists - of Jewish heritage as well as of other backgrounds - who are interested in intersectional dialogue.

The video has been conceived by The JEWish Cabaret, in collaboration with the following talented individuals:

Artistic Director: Shar Shamai
Musical Director: Inga Davis Rutter
Sound: Shar Shamai & Stephanos Costantinos
Video editing: Ahron Benafshi
Producers: Shar Shamai, Anna Oggero, David Djemal, Ashley Racov, & Alejandro Martín Aparicio.

Those appearing in the JCORE donation video are (in order of appearance):

• Honey Gabriel: English, Yoruba
• Stephanos Costantinos: Greek, English
• Monika Łopuszyńska: Polish, Italian, English
• Nour Darwish: Arabic, English
• Anna Oggero: Italian, English
• Deepa Shastri: BSL
• Nusra Rozely: Malaysian, English
• Angus Wu: Cantonese, English
• Karoline Gable: German, Dutch, English
• Harveen Mann ARAM: Punjabi, English
• Anton Alexeev: Russian, Hebrew, English
• Victoria Alexeev: Russian, English
• Nalân Burgess: Turkish, English
• Yael Mess: Hebrew, Amharic, English
• Maayan Rabani Neeman: Hebrew, Farsi, English
• Ashley Racov: Hebrew, English
• Ido Gonen: Hebrew, English
• Julian Quijano: Spanish, English
• Tessa Berkelmans: Dutch, English
• Charlotte Vaughan: English, Welsh
• Martine J.Berg: English, Norwegian
• Punch Napattra: English, Thai
• Maeva Feitelson: English, French
• David Djemal: Hebrew, English
• Shar Shamai: Hebrew, English

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