Jackie
Favorite Jewish food: Well that’s an awful question because the traditional Jewish foods I do not like, but I guess if I had to pick something, I like latkes. I like those. And I do like a macaroon now and then, a chocolate one. Yeah, I’m not big on matzah ball soup or a bagel and lox, eh, no.
Favorite Jewish holiday: We just had it, the one with the trees. Tu Bishvat. How would you describe your identity? I identify as an African-American woman who is Jewish. Do you feel like your looks and experiences are included in the general picture of what a Jewish person is? I don’t think it fits what people typically think of as a Jew. I think most of the world still sees, when I tell people I’m a Jew, they’re like, “oh really?”. I've had people say, “I didn’t know black people could be Jews”. Well where have you been? I don’t think it’s typical. I think as time goes by, people are getting more and more understanding that there is not this one why that a person who is Jewish looks like. |
How does this affect your feelings about Judaism?
I think Jews as a community have to do more to enlighten people to the fact that, I think a lot of people, when they think Jewish, the first thing they think of is the Orthodox community, especially if they don’t have any real knowledge base. I think that as a community we have an obligation to try and destroy those myths. It doesn’t really affect my feelings towards the Jewish community. What does disturb me though… the synagogue that I attend, we’re all people of color. I think a lot of times people automatically assume that we’re Hebrew Israelites similar to the ones that everybody learned about in Washington when they had the big thing on the mall. I’m mind numbed by how many people automatically assume that if you’re a person of color and you’re a Jew, that you must be affiliated with the folks that run that. That’s hard. Do you feel like you’ve generally been welcomed in Judaism? Why or why not? To be honest, up until the past few years, I didn’t really go into any Jewish spaces that weren’t affiliated already with my synagogue. For the most part, I’ve been welcomed. I’ll put it like this: no one has been overtly rude or anything like that. It gets annoying to have people ask you “How are you a Jew?” or “When did you become Jewish?”, like it’s not possible that a person of color could have actually been born a Jew. I haven’t experienced any overt racism. |
It gets annoying to have people ask you “How are you a Jew?” or “When did you become Jewish?”, like it’s not possible that a person of color could have actually been born a Jew. I haven’t experienced any overt racism. |
My synagogue. Because most of the people there are people of color. It’s a diverse group of people, we’ve got people from the Philippines, folks that are from Mexico, one guy is from Nigeria. Everybody is so different there that I feel comfortable there. |
Have you felt excluded from other spaces because of your Jewish identity?
Yeah. I have a friend who had an event at their church, which is Christian, and she said, “Oh I didn’t think you’d want to come because you’re a Jew”. Well we all believe in the same God I thought! I live on the south side of Chicago, it’s not like you’re walking through the neighborhood seeing all these reminders and symbols of Judaism, so I think a lot of times in my community, people find it a little more strange, like “Wow, you’re a Jew!” Do you feel like you’ve been able to find communities where your whole identity is accepted? Yeah. My synagogue. Because most of the people there are people of color. It’s a diverse group of people, we’ve got people from the Philippines, folks that are from Mexico, one guy is from Nigeria. Everybody is so different there that I feel comfortable there. Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do at JCUA? Yeah. I’m an organizer. I started a little over a year ago as an organizer. My focus now is working on the Fair Tax Campaign. The other thing that’s really important to me is building the membership in Kol Or, which is our Jews of Color caucus. Those are the two main things I’m working on now. Obviously as we deal with COVID-19, we’ve been real involved in the Right to Recovery, so I’m very interested in that and how it can affect communities that are marginalized. What has been the most impactful part of the work you’ve done with JCUA? The thing that has given me the most joy in our work is our Juneteenth Havdalah. We had the second one last year. When we did it the first time, it was like 25 people, it was more like just a gathering to get to know each other. The second year we gave it a theme, really went all out to encourage people to come. There were over 80 people there, so that was really cool. I really felt like we were able to share cultural parts with people, and it was really cool because a lot of people left saying that they learned something, and that to me is important. One of the things I hope I get to accomplish in this job is to be a bridge-builder that allows people to learn about other cultures that aren’t what they’re used to. That goes not for our Ashkenazi Jewish community learning about African Americans, but about us learning about that culture too, and learning that we have more in common than we assume we do most of the time. But the Havdalah has been the number one thing. |
How have you found that the work you do at JCUA is impacted by your own identity?
A large part of the impact is simply that I live on the South side, and everyone else typically is North side. It’s impacted my work to come to understand that Chicago is like a tale of two cities in many ways. I’ve had other jobs, but I’ve never felt a responsibility to make sure that the voices of marginalized communities are always included. It’s nice to be someplace where everybody is thinking about that. That impacts my willingness to stay in community and want to work with folks to make that a bigger thing. 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? I think we could explore different foods, ways to bring in foods that might be part of the identity of Jews of Color in some way, how can we see how they’re alike? There’s a lot of ways really. Bringing in speakers. If you’re at a temple or synagogue where everyone is basically Ashkenazi, it would be a learning experience to bring somebody in like Yavilah McCoy, or April Baskin, any of those folks, Beckee, to talk about the experience. Ways that people can come together and share their experiences and explore the ways that we all share a common ground. Does Judaism/identifying as Jewish play an important role in your life? Why or why not? Yes it does. Where I am, most folks tend to be Christian, some may be Muslim, but most of the time, I’m around people who practice Christiantiy, so it’s important that my faith is recognized to me. There’s a poem called “I Am A Jew” by Ruth somebody. She says, “I am a Jew because there cannot be any abdication from my beliefs. Because I am a person of faith. Because I believe that I am supposed to make the world better”. When I first saw that poem, I’m like, yeah, you know, that’s why I am a Jew! One of the things that drew me to Judaism, besides the fact that I was in a deep search for God, was the whole notion that we have this obligation to make the world a better place. The Tikkun Olam. That, for me, was a big draw. I’ve read books like God is a Verb, and kind of got introduced to Kabbalah. We have this individual relationship with God, but yet that reaches out to our community and humanity. I would say that my Judaism is probably a big part of who I am. What is your favorite part about being Jewish? Wow, it’s a lot of favorite parts. The community, though. The community. I know that not all Jews think alike, but it’s so cool to be in a room full of people that share your faith, share your desire to make the world a better place. I guess the most favorite part for me is going to synagogue. I don’t care where I am in the building, if I hear the Rabbi doing the closing, I am zipping back to sanctuary because his closing just moves me. One favorite part for me, I think I just like all the things. You know, celebrating the trees, celebrating the struggles that we’ve come through in history, all of it. |
"We have this individual relationship with God, but yet that reaches out to our community and humanity. I would say that my Judaism is probably a big part of who I am." |