Cydney
Favorite Jewish food: Latkes are my favorite Jewish food.
Favorite Jewish holiday: Hannukah is my favorite Jewish holiday, but I’m a Hannukah baby. My birthday is the 20th of Kislev, so it’s just the proximity. How would you describe your identity? Whenever someone asks me to describe myself or my identity, I always say I am a multiracial Jewish mom and wife who lives in Chicago. Those are all very important to my identity, including and almost especially being from the South Side of Chicago. Do you feel like your looks and experiences are included in the general picture of what a Jewish person is? I don’t feel like in modern times I am represented, but historically I am. |
How does this affect your feelings about Judaism?
It makes me feel a little distrustful of those in the Jewish community who are in positions of power, and those people who put them in positions of power. Do you feel like you’ve generally been welcomed in Judaism? Why or why not? I’ve been welcomed in Jewish spaces, but not necessarily as a Jew. People see me and I am of like mind and I’m fair skinned and I speak proper English, so I’m very safe. But it’s always a “Ph, you’re Jewish?” when everyone else in the room is Jewish, of course I’m Jewish. How have you seen/experienced racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia/etc. being perpetuated in the Jewish community? It’s usually that thing of “How could you possibly be Jewish?”. “Are you adopted?”, “Oh, your mom must be white then”. Sexism, there are some congregations where women are not allowed to go up and read or be on the bima at all. In my congregation, I regularly go up and read because that’s what we do. It’s just kind of startling to see that because I guess I forgot that there are people like that. Transphobia and homophobia play in together because I’ve seen it in some congregations where people are like, “I don’t know where to tell this person to go sit”. Well, just let them sit. Just tell them, women sit on this side, men sit on that side, and they will figure it out. Have you felt excluded from other spaces because of your Jewish identity? I don’t think I’ve ever been excluded because of my Jewish identity. I feel like sexism and racism and homophobia are fair game, but people are so afraid to be labelled antisemitic, which is really weird. They’ll treat me terribly for other things, but not because I’m Jewish. |
"It’s usually that thing of “How could you possibly be Jewish?”. “Are you adopted?”, “Oh, your mom must be white then”" |
Do you feel like you’ve been able to find communities where your whole identity is accepted?
For the most part, yeah. There’s always going to be some pushback on some aspects, whether it is my identity, my politics, but I feel like [my congregation] is very open and accepting and I really like JCUA. I feel like they’re working towards making it a very welcoming and accepting place. Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do at JCUA and how it is impacted by your identity? I originally started working with JCUA because I was fed up with a lot of things. Trump’s election was very frustrating, but police brutality was a very big thing for me. I have four children now, I had three at the time. I worry about them. My daughter is 14, she’s my oldest, and she’s already been accused of being the mother of her 10 and 12 year old brothers. I wanted to work with JCUA because it was a Jewish organization. I will admit that I assumed with finding like minded people, I would also find people on the same level of observance. There are people that are way more observant, or way less observant. I have found that that doesn’t really bother me, I thought it was going to. I still have that basis of “we’re all Jewish”. |
What do you think we could do as a larger Jewish community to make our spaces more welcoming for people who identify differently from the norm?
Get rid of the norm. Tonight is Shavuot, and we will read the Book of Ruth. Ruth was not born of a mother that was Jewish, and didn’t go through the Mikveh and all this and that. She was somebody that was like, “I like what you’re doing, this is what I want to do, I’m gonna do it”. She is a shining example that the Jewish community holds up, and at the same time othering people that don’t look like them, weren’t born the same way, are converts. My mother is Jewish, and my grandmother is Jewish, and her mother was Jewish, and none of them were white. I feel like we should be holding converts on a pedestal because they chose this for themselves, where we kind of just lucked into it. I think if we get rid of that idea, trying so hard to minimize who can get in and who can’t, ultimately, it doesn’t matter. If a person is a good person, it doesn’t matter how they came to this way of life. Does Judaism/identifying as Jewish play an important role in your life? Why or why not? Yeah, it does. Why does it play a big role in my life? It’s obviously something, because I’m not the norm, that I can hide, but I never do, even when all of the attacks were going on. After Pittsburgh, I was very pregnant at the time. My kids, when we would walk home from synagogue, once we got to our block they would take off. My oldest son stopped and came back to me and I said, “what are you doing?”. He said, “Oh I just want to walk with you”. I’m like, “Oh I’m fine”, and he’s like “Yeah, but what if somebody sees your JCUA pin or sees your necklace and then they shoot you, so I want to be with you.” I’ve never shied away from it, even when faced with people are antisemitic or people that are pushing back on it. Even when I wasn’t observant, I am a Jew and you can’t take that from me. What is your favorite part about being Jewish? The rituals. I know that sounds really silly. Not necessarily all the hand washing and praying in the morning, but with food. There are actual rituals that go along with food and there are things you can teach. I enjoy very much so making the latkes with my children because you can make so many different types of latkes. My oldest three now make the challah for Shabbat, I don’t even get to participate and it comes out beautifully. It’s a traditional thing that you can pass on and make your own with your family. Everybody does challah, but I don’t know many people that do cranberry challah. You can make it your own and it’s fun and you still have that basis of we all do the same thing. |
"I’ve never shied away from it, even when faced with people are antisemitic or people that are pushing back on it. Even when I wasn’t observant, I am a Jew and you can’t take that from me." |
At JCUA's recent "Black Jews for Black Lives" event before a Black Lives Matter protest in Chicago, Cydney gave a speech about her experiences as a Black Jewish woman. Here is an excerpt from that speech:
"We stand today on the empty pages of history. Each step we take together will inscribe in the pages righteousness, justice, peace, and humanity. We will no longer tell the story of every man for himself, but of community and respect. In 1919, not having people power tripped us up. In 1968, not having social media for rapid-fire information and sharing of photos and videos held us back. But in 2020, nothing will stop us.”
"We stand today on the empty pages of history. Each step we take together will inscribe in the pages righteousness, justice, peace, and humanity. We will no longer tell the story of every man for himself, but of community and respect. In 1919, not having people power tripped us up. In 1968, not having social media for rapid-fire information and sharing of photos and videos held us back. But in 2020, nothing will stop us.”