Contributors celebrate unique resonances of Black Jewish culture and draw out creative commonalities (…) while remaining frank about the prejudice that remains in Israel and the diaspora. This illuminates.– “Publishers Weekly”
For too long, Black Jewish voices have been ignored, suppressed, and overlooked in scholarly and popular conversations about both Black and Jewish identity. Black, Jewish, and Beautiful is a triumph for Black Jewry because it bears witness to the profound relationship between these two diasporic communities through a unique combination of scholarly inquiry, personal narratives, and artistic exploration. Russell, Feldman, and Kaplan have produced an edited volume that will influence scholars, religious leaders, communities, and individuals for years to come.– “LaNitra M. Berger, Associate Professor, History and Art History and Director, African and African American Studies Program, George Mason University”
The originality is in the variety of experiences in one volume — so that although each is idiosyncratic, while as a collection there is common theme of diversity within the individual stories. It is likely that those who choose to buy, borrow, and discuss Black, Jewish, and Beautiful will read with intentionality — that is read to find intersections with their own experiences.– “Katya Gibel Mevorach, author of Black, Jewish, and Interracial: It’s Not the Color of Your Skin but the Race of Your Kin, and Other Myths of Identity”
This volume makes an important and welcome contribution by focusing on this particular community. Doing so allows the volume to both show and hint at a rich diversity within this one otherwise select group.– “Marla Brettschneider, author of Revolutionary Legacies: Jewish Feminist Political Thinking with Jamaica Kincaid, Golda Meir, Hannah Arendt, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, and Emma Goldman”
