The Untold Origins of Black Jews in America

Black Jews have been a part of American history since before the colonial era, likely originating from Jews of Africa who were sold as slaves in the New World, and some slaves who converted to the Jewish faith of their slaveowners.
Jews of color stemming from Roman-African or Afro-Caribbean descent, of diverse lineage, or who convert to Judaism, continue to contribute to the rich and multi-faceted history of the Jewish people.
Many famous black Jews, such as Sammy Davis Jr., Charles Mc Dew, Daveed Diggs, Tiffany Haddish, Rashida Jones, Drake, Yitz Jordan (Y-Love), Shyne, Lenny Kravitz, Nissim Black, Eric Andre, and more have helped create awareness about this community.
Today, some of these Jews of Color have also come together in communities and organizations to bring them out of the margins and into the mainstream of American Jewry.
However, race relations and identity politics, especially surrounding Israel and Zionism, often complicate the identity of black Jews, forcing them feel that their race and culture are at odds with one another. Even whether or not the term “Jew of color” is positive or negative is sometimes up for debate.
Jews of all races and ethnic backgrounds must come together and unite as a people with a shared mission.

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Link to Article by Kylie Unell:

Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:01 History of ancient Israelites
01:22 Creation of the Diaspora
01:31 History of black Jews and slavery
03:24 Black Jewish communities
03:44 Famous black Jewish converts
04:46 Black and Jewish mixed marriages
05:41 Jewish black organizations
06:37 Jewish black performers and pop culture
07:01 Race relations and identity politics
07:49 Jews of Color
08:23 Outro

Film script written by Ben Elterman

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This video was co-produced by OpenDor Media and Jewish Federations of North America. To learn more about the Jewish Federations of North America’s initiatives for racial justice and Jewish equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI), visit:

Gold Level:
Walder Foundation

Silver Level:
The Bernstein Family Foundation
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Image and footage credits:
Commons Wikimedia/Henry Söderlund/Georges Biard/Vv44/Fibonacci Blue/Yaminhashem/Gage Skidmore/U.S. Embassy Belize/Schneur Menaker/GabboT/Miami Film Festival/Franz Richter/Anthony Turner, Montclair Film Festival
Flickr/Nicole Alexander/Eric Andre/Victoria Pickering/The All-Nite Images/Adam Jones/Internet Archive Book Images
GPO/Amos Ben Gershom/Zoltan Kluger
Israel National Library/Dan_Hadani_collection
Civil Rights Movement Archive
Netflix/NBC
American Association of Ethiopian Jewry
Library of Congress
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