Temple Rodef Shalom, located in the Falls Church-McLean area, has presented its 2022 Rabbi Richard Sternberger Social Justice Award to Alicia Jones-McLeod on behalf of Challenging Racism, a local organization that works throughout the region on behalf of social justice.<\/p>\n
The award was presented at the synagogue\u2019s March 25 Shabbat service. Jones-McLeod has been executive director of thehonoree organization since 2020. \u201cDisruption is what I am all about: How can we change a system to do better for all of us?\u201d Jones-McLeod said at the awards ceremony. \u201cWe teach people how to identify racism \u2013 individual and systemic \u2013 and how to dismantle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Challenging Racism initiative evolved from a 2004 effort in the Arlington school system. Programs range from one-time meetings to full 11-session classes.<\/p>\n
The awards program, which began in 1992, honors the memory of Rabbi Sternberger, a Navy chaplain during the Korean War who was active in the civil-rights movement and social activism. Rabbi Sternberger \u201cnever forgot that the search for the divine and human spirituality is inseparable from the search for a just society,\u201d the synagogue said.<\/p>\n