It was painful to watch but I couldn’t look away. The rabbi was having everyone go around the Shabbat table introducing themselves. It started harmlessly enough. But when the rabbi got to the darkest face in the room, it got a little ugly. “Hello! My name is X and I’m from Israel,” the woman said… Continue reading Born Jewish?
There are two little rumors about Jews that I have been asked about pretty often. I’ve been asked if Jews have sex through a sheet and I’ve been asked why a rabbi blessing the food makes it kosher. Oh boy, luckily, “Jew in the City” is clearing things up for the world at large. So… Continue reading Mysterious Rumors
A funny but highly stereotypical view of Jews. (I don’t do bagels or Maneschewitz, don’t you know.)
Back by popular demand (you know who you are), it’s me on videotape goofing around for promos for one of my upcoming speaking engagements. As usual, I have no control over the elements so while it was too dark in the last shoot, it’s too bright in this one. I was told to be more… Continue reading Ug, me on videotape again
Yes, I have been writing a lot about race lately. This is much to the ire of one friend who keeps trying to convince me that race is meaningless. Check out the “Ashkenazi Privilege Checklist” another friend forwarded to me. Ashkenazi Privilege Checklist The checklist was created by Corrine Lightweaver, Sasha King, and the Jewish… Continue reading Ashkenazi Privilege Checklist
In an article in Newsweek, “Beyond Just Black and White,” Raina Kelley writes about wishing her biracial son looked black. It was an utterly honest, perhaps controversially honest, portrayal of one African-American woman’s hopes for her half-white, half-black son. She ended the piece beautifully when she discovered that her son‘s skin was neither black nor… Continue reading Brown Baby
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-2980522193469128149&hl=en&fs=trueHere I am practicing for a promo of an upcoming speaking engagement. A thoughtful friend forwarded an article to me called “Unmasking ‘Racial Micro Aggressions’” featured in the Monitor on Psychology. It was a good read since I’m gearing up to speak again in the coming weeks on subtle racism in the Jewish community. Microaggressions… Continue reading Getting Aggressive about Microaggression
I just wanted to send y’all a big “THANKS!” for making “Funny You Don’t Look Jewish” one of the TOP TEN articles on Chabad.org for 2008.
What’s a Jewminicana? Well, for one, a Jewminicana is an American girl of Dominican descent who converts to Judaism. Are you still with me? Well, reverse that because I’m a Jewish Latina…in that order. I’m fusing my identity together with American glue. And just because I put my religion first doesn’t mean I think my… Continue reading What’s a Jewminicana?
My mother wore tight pants. It was an integral part of the uniform worn by other Dominican women in the Washington Heights neighborhood where we lived. And my Dominican mother, an immigrant to this part of New York City, always dressed to code. My mother’s ritual for getting dressed was…elaborate. My sisters and I marveled… Continue reading My Mother Wore Tight Pants
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 