A new four-part PBS documentary series traces the history between Black and Jewish Americans, examining their connection through shared experiences of persecution and how they’ve navigated political tests to the relationship.
Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History, which premiered Tuesday and is hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., explores the two communities from the era of slavery to present day. The series spotlights religious leaders who have promoted intercommunal cooperation as well as those who have sown discord.
The documentary opens with a Passover Seder that gathered prominent Black Americans and Jews in Manhattan, including Angela Buchdahl, the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi and cantor; Gates; and writer Jamaica Kincaid, and chef Michael Twitty—both of whom are Black converts to Judaism. The group met last spring to reflect on the Exodus story, share their personal histories and, of course, eat.
