Our Black asses are Jewish, too
Welcome to the eleventh installment of This Black-Ass Life! This week, we’re talking Black Jewish folks (and not just the unfortunately named Black Cindy). Check out the info below on Blewish celebs, Blewish Americans and Israel’s plan to deport 38,000+ Black migrants.
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I. The Facts
Black people are Jewish, too.
We got your famous celebrities of Jewish descent, including: Drake, Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Rashida Jones, Tracee Ellis Ross and many others of our light-skinted brethren and sistren.
Notable Blewish celeb: Sammy Davis, Jr. who once said on a golf course, "Talk about handicap—I'm a one-eyed Negro Jew."
Besides Blewish Americans, Ethiopian Jews have literally existed for centuries.
In 1977, the Israeli government ruled that the Law of Return applied to the Ethiopian Jews (also known as Beta Israel). Between 1979 and 1990, Israel emigrated tens of thousands of Beta Israels out of Ethiopia and Sudan.
Today, there are 130,000 Ethiopian Jews in Israel, making them 1.75% of population. There are 1,000 Ethiopian Jews in America.
Why is this important?
Although the Netanyahu government promised that the 8,000 Beta Jews currently in Ethiopia who had family members already in Israel would be allowed to immigrate, Israel’s proposed 2019 budget removes funding for reunification.
38,000 Eritrean and Sudanese African migrants are actually facing deportation from Israel to countries they no longer know (though they may also be shipped to either Rwanda or Uganda). And the number might increase to include women and children later. It is important to note that some of the migrants are also practicing African Jews.
Holocaust survivors are actually speaking out against this move because “The plan conflicts with the values of a Jewish state built by refugees fleeing persecution…” and because “the government has not properly considered asylum requests.”
In the U.S., Jewish people and Black Jewish people are experiencing a significant rise in anti-semitic attacks thanks to folks feeling a lil bolder after Minute Made Mao’s election.
They also face anti-semitic attacks from the likes of Louis Farrakhan who blames Jewish people for the slave trade, sharecropping and Jim Crow, among other things (yikes).
What can my Black Ass do?
Gather info, volunteer with or donate to anti-hate group, Southern Poverty Law Center.
Keep raising awareness about African deportation from Israel since there have been major efforts to keep deportation plans under wraps.
II. Other Things
Look at this: Cellphones, hair salons and grit: Digital art shows Africans in Israel as more than just migrants.
Make Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph stars of everything.
Jordan Peele made history as the first Black recipient of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay - watch Keegan-Michael Key be the sweetest in celebrating his former comedy partner.
It didn’t win the Oscar, but Yance Ford’s Strong Island is one of the best documentaries I’ve (Jumoke) ever seen. It’s on Netflix, watch with tissues.
Our Black-Ass song of the week (Jumoke):
Watch Olamide’s Science Student on silent. I (Jumoke) actually don’t like this song because all Nigerian music is starting to sound the same, but the video is an anti-drug PSA and it's actually really creative.
Obligatory Kanye check-in:
Meet baby Chicago’s surrogate.
Things we are looking forward to / things we are not looking forward to:
I (Mitu) look forward to watching A Wrinkle In Time in theatres on March 9. I’m currently rereading the book and can’t wait to give Ava, Oprah ‘n‘em all my coins.
I (Jumoke) am not looking forward to finishing this long-read, which profiles Nakesha Williams, a mentally ill homeless woman living in New York City. While the writing is beautiful and the reporting thorough, each paragraph is despair. But it is a story that I also have to finish.
III. Not a text from a Mama, but a Black-ass, East African-ass moment #2
Tiffany did it again with an Eritrean zuria in honor of her father. Watch her beautifully raspy ELELELELE here.
Stay Black, stay beautiful and we’ll hit your inbox next on March 19.