On Friday, April 9, 2021, the Leonard I. Beerman Foundation for Peace and Justice joined Leo Baeck Temple in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Rabbi Beerman’s birth. A special Friday evening Shabbat service was followed by the Foundation’s Centennial Celebration, culminating in the presentation of our third Social Justice in Action Award to the Reverend James M. Lawson. Jim Lawson, a close friend and ally of Leonard’s in the struggle for peace and justice, is one of the legends of the Civil Rights Movement who tirelessly continues his activism to this day. Reverend Lawson is one of the greatest teachers of the principle of nonviolence as the source of progressive social change.

View the full program and an exclusive interview with Reverend Lawson below:

Leonard I. Beerman Social Justice in Action Award 2021, Honoring Rev. James M. Lawson

Interview with the Reverend James M. Lawson filmed in the sanctuary of Holman United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles