List of Black Jews

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page is a list of Jews.
For more on who is considered Jewish, see Who is a Jew?.

There are a number of traditional black African communities that practice Judaism, the most prominent of which is the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. In addition, the often overlapping histories of Blacks and Jews in the 20th century (e.g. in the American civil rights movement and the development of popular music) have led to a significant number of Black Jews in North America and Europe, mostly of mixed-race heritage or converts.

Jewish communities are comprised of Jews of a variety of racial backgrounds. Caucasian Jews are found in American Jewish communities as well as African American Jews.

Estimates of the American Black Jewish population range from 40,000 (according to the Encyclopedia of Black America) to 500,000 (according to an article in Ascent Magazine).

The following is a list of some prominent Black Jews.

[edit] List of Black Jews

• Zach Oshin
• Josephine Baker, singer (Jewish father)
• Sarah Barrable-Tishauer (1988 - ) Canadian television actress (Degrassi: The Next Generation)^[1]
• Darrin Bell, cartoonist (Jewish mother)
• Linda Bellos, British politician (Jewish mother)
• Bizzy Bone, rapper (Jewish mother)
• Lisa Bonet, actress (Jewish mother)
• Troy Beyer, actress (Jewish father)
• David Bluthenthal, Sacramento Kings basketball player
• Drew Bundini Brown, trainer of Muhammad Ali
• Rod Carew, baseball player (convert)
• Nell Carter, actress & singer (convert)
• Sheree Curry, journalist
• Craig David, singer (Jewish grandmother)
• Sammy Davis Jr., entertainer (convert)
• Ray Ellington, English musician (African-American father, Jewish mother; raised as Orthodox Jew)^[2]
• Diane Engber, teacher & writer (Jewish mother, grandmother)
• Anthony Ervin, Olympic swimming champion (Jewish mother)
• Jordan Farmar (1986 - ) American professional basketball player who was drafted 26th in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers^[1]
• Laïka Fatien, French jazz singer (Jewish mother)
• Aneesa Ferreira, reality TV contestant (Jewish mother)
• Aaron Freeman, journalist & comedian (convert)
• Capers Funnye, rabbi (converted)
• Goapele, R&B singer (Jewish mother)
• Max Goldberg, Creator of YTMND (White Mother, Black Father)
• Whoopi Goldberg, actress & comedienne (some Jewish ancestry)
• Aubrey Graham (1986 - ) Canadian television actor (Degrassi: The Next Generation)^[1]
• Anais Granofsky, Canadian actress & director (Jewish father)
• Reuben Greenberg, police chief of Charleston, South Carolina (convert, Jewish father)
• Wyatt Gross, Local Day-Time Newscaster.(Jewish Father)
• Lani Guinier, law professor (Jewish mother)
• Ben Harper, musician (Jewish mother)
• Carolivia Herron, author (Jewish-born)
• Ben Hilderbrand, student (Jewish-born)
• Rashida Jones, actress (Jewish mother)
• Zab Judah, boxer
• Jamaica Kincaid, author (convert)
• Oona King, British former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow (Jewish mother)
• Clea Koff, forensic anthropologist (Jewish father)
• Yaphet Kotto, actor
• Lenny Kravitz, musician (Jewish father)
• Julius Lester, children's writer & academic (convert)
• James McBride, writer & composer (Jewish mother)
• Elliott Maddox, baseball player (convert)
• Saoul Mamby, WBC light welterweight boxing champion
• Esti Mamo, Israeli model
• Adisu Massala, Israeli MP (Jewish-born)
• Wentworth Miller, actor (Jewish mother)
• Abbie Mitchell, actress & singer (Jewish father)
• Walter Mosley, author (Jewish mother)
• Joshua Nelson - gospel singer^[3]
• Simon Nissan, prominent mathematician (Jewish-born)
• Sophie Okonedo (1969 - ) Academy Award-nominated British actress (Hotel Rwanda)^[2]
• Marvin Pontiac, R&B singer (Jewish mother)
• Rain Pryor, actress (Jewish mother)

Marilyn Anim-Addo-Allen British Academic (Jewish mother)

• Manny Quintero, Reggae artist
• Joshua Redman, saxophonist (Jewish mother)
• Don Robey, record company executive (one Jewish parent)
• Tracee Ellis Ross, actress (Jewish father)
• Maya Rudolph, comedienne (Jewish father)
• Sirak M. Sabahat (1981 - ) Ethiopian-born Israeli actor^[4]
• Rowetta Satchell, British singer (Jewish mother)
• Meskie Shibru-Sivan, Israeli singer & actress (Jewish-born)
• Shyne, rapper (convert)
• Frank Silvera, actor & teacher (Jewish father)
• Slash, lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver, and former lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses (Jewish father; Black mother)
• Willie "The Lion" Smith, jazz pianist (Jewish father)
• Rabbanit Regina Smith, educator (both parents Jewish)
• Michelle Stein-Evers, educator (German Jewish mother, Ethiopian Jewish father)
• Khleo Thomas, actor (Jewish mother)
• Andre Tippett, football player (convert)
• Rebecca Walker (1969 - ) American feminist writer^[5]
• Hannah Mathews Ward - Philanthropist & member pioneering founder of M.A.Y.A.
• Robin Washington, journalist (Jewish mother)
• Jamila Wideman, Portland Fire basketball player (Jewish mother)
• Andre Williams, musician (convert)
• Jackie Wilson, soul singer (convert)

Also of note is Mezz Mezzrow, a Jewish jazz player who is self-identified as African American.

See also: Black Hebrews, List of Jews, and List of African-Americans

[edit] Footnotes