My husband is trying to educate me in the ways of American pop culture before the 1970s, which is when my parents arrived in the United States. I confess that I didn’t know who the Beatles were until I was a teenager. I’d never heard Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin. And folk music by pop… Continue reading Hispanic Heritage Month Post #1: Latino Music Plug
” Willough” doll on RealKidz.com Oh. My. G-d. I discovered biracial dolls when I was doing some research for my application to SwirlCamp! which is a program run by Swirl. Swirl is a “national multi-ethnic organization that challenges society’s notions of race through community building, education, and action.” I am very tempted to buy my… Continue reading Biracial dolls
Here’s a funny little story about Israel…. On my first night in Israel, I realized that I was the farthest anyone in my family had ever been from the homeland, the Dominican Republic. Sure, New York, to which my parents had emigrated as children, was far from “D.R.” but Israel was literally on the other… Continue reading Fish Out of Water
Adam McKinney, left, and Daniel Banks bring their program on Jewish identity to Temple Beth-El in Great Neck. Their presentation, “Belonging Everywhere,” includes a film they made about a Jewish community in Ghana. Courtesy of American Jewish Committee. Jewish Week article, Pressing for a ‘Global’ View of Jewry” interviews two local artists, both Jews from… Continue reading Curiosity and Racism are the Same Thing?
Check out this article, Minority within a Minority, from Aish that focuses on Jewish of Color and their unique challenges. It is a reprint from The Jewish Press. The article focuses primarily on Jews of Color who are African-American, arguably I presume because they are the most “visible” minority within a minority and because the… Continue reading Jews of Color: A Minority within a Minority
Senator Barack Obama accepted the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party in front of 80,000 people Thursday night at Invesco Field in Denver. (Photo: Todd Heisler/The New York Times) I’ve never been one for politics. So, it’s no secret then that while my husband was watching Barack Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention on… Continue reading What’s more historic?
Robert Downey, Jr. plays Australian method actor in African-American role in Tropic Thunder. Ben Stiller movies usually make me very, very uncomfortable. Kind of like the way I feel about Jack Black movies but at least in those, I have found myself laughing in spite of myself every now and again. Ben Stiller movies after… Continue reading Thunderous Laughter
A favorite author of mine who’s been keeping me up these late nights is Pulitzer Prize winner, Jhumpa Lahiri. I would like to pretend that I alone discovered this national treasure but the fact that her most recent collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth, debuted at #1 on the New York Times best seller list… Continue reading When I grow up…
Here is my latest piece for Interfaithfamily.com. I’m posting it before it’s published on the web and will eventually replace this text with a link to the website: A Nation Divided: Coping with Racism in the Jewish Community “So where you from?” they ask. “New York,” I say. “No, really. Where you from?” “New York!”… Continue reading A Nation Divided: Coping with Racism in the Jewish Community
I just picked up In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People by Diane Tobin, Gary A. Tobin & Scott Rubin. Currently, I’m reading the chapter called “Feet in Many Rivers: Navigating Multiple Identities.” There were many other interesting chapters I could have started with but this one drew me in… Continue reading Jews come in all shapes, colors and sizes
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 