A Look Back on Black History Month

As we come to the end of Black History Month, let’s take a look back at some of Lilith’s writings on the topic.

Fall 1996: “Are You Black or Are You Jewish?” Resisting the Identity Challenge
by Sarah Blustain
The children of those black-Jewish marriages forged in the halcyon days of the 60’s Civil Rights movement have come of age. They talk here about their Jewish mothers, their pain at having to choose an identity, and the confusion they feel about a society that denies them their double birthright.

Fall 1999: Unsung Heroines of the ‘60s: Jewish Women Who Went South
by Debra L. Schultz
Women in the civil rights movement integrated bus terminals, taught in Freedom Schools, registered black voters and served time in Southern jails. Now they talk frankly about the danger, their mothers’ reactions, and what in their Jewish consciousness propelled them.

Winter 2002: Jewish Girls and African-American Nannies
Lilith asked readers to dig deep, for the first time, into these experiences. The results are stories of love and complexity. In these pages grown-up Jewish daughters begin to think through the lessons, the gratitude and the guilt of these intensely intimate dyads. We also listen to three nannies on the other side of these relationships.