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Dear Friend,
Right now we’re in the middle of Latin Heritage Month (el mes
de la herencia Latina) — a month that honors the richness,
history, and culture of Latin heritage.
To celebrate, we’re reading Peoplehood Papers: Latin American Jewish
Peoplehood, a group of essays edited by Analucía Lopezrevoredo,
Shlomi Ravid, and Smadar Bar Akiva.
There are many beautiful essays, and we wanted to highlight
“Look, Language, Laughter and Love: An Afrolatin Jewish
Experience in the US” by Dr. Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman.
Here’s an excerpt from the essay, and keep an eye out for a new
episode of Your Safety is My Safety featuring Dr. Chapman soon!
“While my identities as Black and
Jewish are inextricable, my identities as latina and Jewish are
braided, like challah before you put it in the oven… and maybe even
before you spread the egg on top. Unlike with my latina Jewish
identity, this is undoubtedly due to both my exposure to and my
integration with other Black Jews. And this immersion in Black Jewish
community is most assuredly a result of the ways Blackness is a marked
identity within both Latin and Jewish communities. As I consider my
Latin-Jewish identity, there are, however, four places in which my
Jewishness and my latinidad embrace: look, language, laughter, and
love.”
— Dr. Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman
You can read Dr. Chapman’s whole essay, and 19 other
powerful essays about Latin-Jewish heritage, identity, and experiences
in Peoplehood Papers: Latin American Jewish
Peoplehood.
With love,
The Bend the Arc team
PS: Celebrate Latin-Jewish heritage this month and year-round
with our friends at Jewtina y Co! Follow along with them on Instagram, learn more on their website, and check out their holiday guides.
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