“My parents fled Ethiopia and came to America in 1985 looking for political freedom. They came for basic rights,” said sophomore Teddy Kassahun.
“We arguably are still not free,” said Kassahun, the newly elected president of the Black Student Alliance (BSA). “I want to end inequality. I am a freedom fighter.”
Over 70 DU students and staff members braved the snow to join Kassahun for the Freedom Seder Wednesday night in the Ritchie Center’s Gottesfeld Room.
The event brought together members of various cultural and religious backgrounds to discuss and celebrate freedom. The dinner was the concluding event in the Coming of Age: Building Respect for the Future series and was sponsored by a number of DU organizations, including Hillel, the Center for Multicultural Excellence and the All Undergraduate Student Association (AUSA) Diversity Committee, among others.
The dinner was modeled after the Jewish Passover Seder, which began Saturday evening.
“There are a lot of very strict dietary guidelines for Passover,” sophomore and Never Again! president Joel Portman said during the event’s introduction.
“There are certain things you can’t eat if you keep kosher, like pigs or llamas,” Portman said. “Sorry, we won’t be having llama tonight.”
The audience erupted into laughter before Portman continued, explaining why there were stacks of cracker-like matzah on each table.
“When the Jews were freed from Egypt, they wanted to get out so quickly that they didn’t have time to let their bread rise, so they ate matzah, or unleavened bread,” he said.
To complement the seder, artist in residence at DU’s Center for Judaic Studies Jewlia Eisenberg was invited to lead a short Passover song session.
“I’m psyched to be celebrating the Freedom Seder with you,” Eisenberg said. “My family is black and Jewish and I grew up on a commune, so I come from a diverse background.”
Eisenberg taught the group a song she learned during Passover seders growing up. The audience clapped along hesitantly.
As Eisenberg headed back for her seat, junior Rachel Weinhouse, one of the co-presidents of Hillel, yelled from the audience, “We want one more!”
Eisenberg grinned and returned to the front of the room. This time, attendees clapped and chanted along loudly, their voices echoing across the cavernous room.
The Freedom Seder celebrated an array of cultural and religious history outside of the Jewish tradition as well. Participants were invited into a discussion about freedom, oppression and independence as they dined on a traditional Southern meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and cornbread.
“Things that have happened in history happened for a reason,” Kassahun told his table of 10. “We should learn from them.”
Throughout dinner, students and staff alike shared their personal and ancestral histories, noting how freedom or oppression had played a pivotal role in the lives of those who came before.
“My grandma lived through the Jim Crow era,” sophomore Danielle Nelson said. “My grandfather used to sit in the balcony at movie theaters because he didn’t have the right to sit anywhere else. I have so much more privilege than they did.
“In 1710, my ancestors left Germany because of issues of religious freedom,” said Rev. Gary Brower, the university chaplain and one of the night’s many discussion leaders. “They came to this country for religious liberation.”
“You don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been,” junior and newly elected BSA vice president Karimot Gamu added.
“It’s important to take a step back and see the bigger picture,” said sophomore David Milavetz. “I think that’s what tonight was all about.”
