We Jews of color each have our complexities to mull over, but we need to recognize that we have been given a gift.
But maybe that’s a false dichotomy: maybe the kinds of global connections created by popular music, by Prince specifically, can also link us to struggles for justice. Popular music provides an index of sound and memory. It is intensely personal, but also widely shared. And maybe this sharing is revolutionary: bread and roses, Prince and The Revolution.
Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews play a vital role in ending systems of racism, white supremacy, and cultural dominance that keep us apart.
There isn’t any misunderstanding between us and them. We are proud of our heritage, but disappointed in our community’s support of the inhumane occupation.
Just as every year the haggadah tells us we must see ourselves as if we personally left Egypt and were personally redeemed from oppression, so every year we must push ourselves out of our comfort zones and try to embrace new and “strange” habits of mind and thoughts. We cannot rely on what was once difficult and brave for us but is now part of our regular internal conversation or behavior.
Jews of color should oppose “diversity” in synagogues and Jewish spaces, writes Mark Tseng Putterman, unless they are explicitly anti-racist.
“The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed; it blesseth
Jewschool is proud to partner with the first Jews of Color National Convening on May 1-3 in NYC and to host a series written by Jews of color about their movement for greater racial justice within and by the American Jewish community.
Hillel’s famous axiom, “if not now, when?” means American Jewry must condemn the occupation, writes arrested #LiberationSeder member Jonah Canner.
This week nearly 500 #IfNotNow members joined #LiberationSeder actions across the country calling on American Jewish institutions to end their support for the occupation.