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African-American Jews
Nissim Black says he's 'Hitler's worst nightmare.' (Screenshot from 'Mothaland Bounce' video/ via JTA)
February 28, 2020, 6:12 am
Orthodox rapper Nissim Black reintroduces himself to the world
The African-American-Hasidic musician’s new single ‘Mothaland Bounce’ gives tribute to both his ‘urban’ past and Orthodox Jewish present in Israel as he broadens his message
By Emily Burack
Tamar Manasseh of Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killings in a still from the new documentary 'They Ain't Ready for Me.' (Courtesy Brad Rothschild)
February 12, 2020, 6:14 am
Meet the African-American Jewish mom who fights gun violence with prayer
Documentary ‘They Ain’t Ready for Me’ chronicles student rabbi Tamar Manasseh, pioneer of a Chicago campaign providing poor families with a much-needed oasis
By Rich Tenorio
Rabbi Capers Funnye of the Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation stands in the sanctuary of the synagogue, September 2, 2008, in the Marquette Park neighborhood of Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
December 17, 2019, 10:36 pm
Black Hebrew Israelite leader condemns ‘heinous’ Jersey City shooting
Distancing himself from the attack, Rabbi Capers Funnye says his organization isn’t ‘some radical fringe group with a false narrative… We are Torah-oriented Jews’
By JTA
Tiffany Haddish in her 2019 Netflix comedy special, 'Black Mitzvah.' (Courtesy Netflix)
November 27, 2019, 3:57 pm
Tiffany Haddish says ‘She ready’ for onscreen Netflix bat mitzvah
African-American Jewish comedian/actress celebrates her ‘Black Mitzvah’ at 40, in a program streaming from December 3. But while it may be funny, the occasion is no joke for her
By Jordan Hoffman
Lacey Schwartz Delgado. (Courtesy)
October 6, 2019, 3:00 am
A biracial Jewish filmmaker refuses to shy from thorny questions of identity
Lacey Schwartz Delgado’s dual identities as an African-American and New York Jew inform her documentary, ‘Little White Lie,’ and her current work with youth via Be’chol Lashon
By Rich Tenorio
Rain Pryor with daughter Lotus, named for her great-grandmother, Mama. (Courtesy)
July 31, 2019, 4:18 am
Is there anything Jewish mama Rain Pryor — Richard’s daughter — can’t do?
The singer, actress, author and comedian who has carved a space of her own in the entertainment industry announces that she is dipping her toes into another pool: politics
By Arielle Kaplan
Jamaica Kincaid listens during a panel on migration at the National Library of Israel's Global Forum, March 18, 2019. (Yonatan Kelberman)
March 31, 2019, 10:24 pm
Jamaica Kincaid is black and Jewish — but she’s through talking about identity
Speaking with The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the National Library of Israel’s Global Forum, the acclaimed author shares her thoughts on migration and religion
By Yaakov Schwartz
Rabbi Capers Funnye, left, and Martha Leah Williams, at the Jewish Africa Conference in New York, January 29, 2019. (Josefin Dolsten)
February 2, 2019, 9:23 am
African Jewish communities get more recognition after years on the margins
Largely ignored by the mainstream community and Israel, Jews in Africa are focus of first conference that’s not exclusively for academics
By Josefin Dolsten
Shais Rishon’s latest book, 'Ariel Samson: Freelance Rabbi,' tells the story of a 20-something black spiritual leader. (Courtesy of Rishon/via JTA)
October 13, 2018, 12:15 am
A black, Orthodox rabbi’s novel addresses racism in the Jewish community
‘We’re invisible,’ says Rabbi Shais Rishon, 36, about Jews of color struggling to reconcile their identities and feel accepted among other Jews
By Josefin Dolsten
Rabbi Georgette Kennebrae grew up in a military family that moved between Japan and Oklahoma. (Josefin Dolsten)
July 23, 2018, 3:15 am
Gay, African-American rabbi wants to burst stereotypes of what a Jew looks like
Head of congregation Georgette Kennebrae is sometimes mistaken for a custodian, so she’s made it a mission to gain acceptance for the 11% of US Jews who do not identify as white
By Josefin Dolsten
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein wants people of all backgrounds to feel welcome in his Brooklyn community. (Josefin Dolsten/JTA)
July 1, 2018, 2:02 am
Multiracial Orthodox rabbi uses his background to create unique community in NYC
Isaiah Rothstein knows what it’s like not to fit in, so he founded the Union Street Sanctuary, a religious social organization in Brooklyn that welcomes all comers with open arms
By Josefin Dolsten
Yehuda Webster speaks at the Juneteenth seder put on by JFREJ, held alongside the East River in New York City on June 14, 2018. (Rafael Shimunov)
June 19, 2018, 3:57 am
Emancipation congregation: Slaves’ exodus celebrated with NYC Juneteenth seder
Complete with ceremonial food and a unique hagaddah, hundreds gather to fuse two familiar stories of freedom into a brand new ritual organized by the Jews of Color caucus
By Steven Davidson
Julius Lester after receiving his Samuel Minot Jones Award for Local Literary Achievement, April 16, 2015. (CC BY 2.0 Flikr/Jones Library)
January 19, 2018, 4:47 am
Julius Lester, African-American scholar who converted to Judaism, dies at 78
Award-winning author embraced his Jewish identity in 1982 when he learned his maternal great-grandfather had been a German Jewish immigrant married to a freed slave
By JTA
David Litt, center, with President Obama and actor Keegan-Michael Key in the White House. (Courtesy of Litt/via JTA)
September 22, 2017, 1:43 am
Why Obama’s former speechwriter calls him the most Jewish president ever
Now a writer on ‘Funny or Die,’ David Litt says Obama’s way of seeing the world — ‘always asking questions,’ with a ‘real capacity for doubt’ — makes him an honorary MOT
By Gabe Friedman
Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum, head of Temple Har Zion in Mt. Holly, New Jersey (Courtesy)
August 18, 2017, 4:29 pm
Who better than a black female rabbi to talk race, bigotry and healing today?
At her New Jersey pulpit, trans-denominational Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum takes on the idea of ‘comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable’
By Cathryn J. Prince
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