When a Jewish friend railed against Barack Obama’s Jewish pick for Chief of Staff, calling it “pandering to the Jews,” I told him to suck it up. After all, it didn’t look like Obama was going to be pandering to Hispanic voters any time soon. “Consider yourself lucky,” I said in so many words. But… Continue reading Over-representation under Obama for Jewish Latino Writers
In his new book, Ernesto Caravantes, author of the controversial book “Clipping Their Own Wings: The Incompatibility Between Latino Culture and American Education,” insists that Hispanics need to start putting education first. But is it really a part of Hispanic culture not to value education or is it a Hispanic American cultural problem? My family… Continue reading Is Latino culture putting a low emphasis on education?
“We always felt we were Indians first and Jews second.”A quote from a member of the Bene Israel community in the NY Times article, “Jews of Mumbai, a Tiny and Eclectic Group, Suddenly Reconsider Their Serene Existence” had me wondering whether or not I was Dominican first and Jewish second. Or is it American first… Continue reading "Indian first, Jewish second"
I used to look forward to Thanksgiving. Well, not growing up. Unfortunately, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas meant more abuse at home. My mother reveled in the fact that we were not going to be school any time so she dug in and went all out with the bruises. One Thanksgiving beating left me hobbling… Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving!
It worries me that I’ll be sending my mostly imaginary half-Dominican children to Orthodox day schools when I read articles like this one, Racial Comments ‘Shock’ Principals in Jewish Week.
There have been arguments that we are in a new era: a new POST-RACIAL America. Race doesn’t matter anymore. And then there are seven teens accused of stabbing a Hispanic man to death in Patchogue, NY. And they stabbed him because he was Hispanic.
Daddy’s Little Girl is a “short story,” really a short memoir, I wrote about visiting my father in the Dominican Republic after nearly ten years of being estranged. It has been published by the literary magazine, Verdad Magazine. Verdad, by the way, means “truth” in Spanish. It’s interesting to have my little story about the… Continue reading Daddy’s Little Girl Published in Verdad Magazine
I am not the only Jewminicana. But when I decided to convert, I certainly felt like one. I was the poster child for Jewish Dominican relations in Washington Heights. In fact, I’ve been interviewed as such. But in Riverdale, after a couple of months of living here, my husband had an interesting encounter on the… Continue reading Jewminicanos Invade Riverdale
Students leaving Brooklyn Tech last month after taking the morning admissions exam for the eight specialized high schools, considered the city’s best. Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times I grew up in a predominately Dominican neighborhood, Washington Heights, where being smart and doing well on homework and tests was looked down upon as “acting white.” Given… Continue reading Elite NYC Public Schools, Mostly White and Asian
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, a novel by Obama supporter and Jewish author Ayelet Waldman, wife of Pulitzer-winning author, Michael Chabon, is being made into a movie. Originally, Jennifer Lopez was set to star but since she bowed out, Natalie Portman has come to the rescue. Of course, the Jewish side of me is happy,… Continue reading Jew vs. Latina
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 