Be the Change: Growing Empathy
Caron Tabb helps us grow empathy and diminish hate.
Published May 22, 2024
"The Light from Within" commissioned by The Jewish Arts Collaborative in 2020 as part of the "Brighter Connected" initiative
COURTESY CARON TABB
When Caron envisioned Be the Change in 2020, it was in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a moment of racial reconning. What Caron could not yet have known is that this would just be the beginning of a wave of hate in the US that has begun to consume us.
Just four years later, incidents of hate and violence against the Jewish community in the US and around the world have become commonplace in our daily news cycle. The ADL cites a rise of 140% in antisemitic incidents across the US in 2023 alone, the highest level recorded since ADL began tracking this data in 1979.
In a moment of tension and fear, Caron’s 2024 Be the Change piece seeks to bring more empathy into the world in the hope of diminishing antisemitism and all forms of hate.
Caron says, “In this piece titled ‘Growing Empathy’, I will tease out the main elements that define antisemitism and help passersby understand the antisemitic language and code used nowadays to incite hate and violence.”
The piece resembles a public announcement board in a city square, plastered in newspapers both in Hebrew and English.
Concept Sketch of "Growing Empathy" by Caron Tabb
COURTESY CARON TABB
Stay tuned as Caron’s vision comes to life in the form of her Be the Change tzedakah box, scheduled to go up in The Fenway this August.
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