The Birth of JewV’Nation (TM) (SM)

A year and a half ago, I envisioned a magazine that would fill an untouched niche. I had been researching stories of Jews of color for six years. In those articles I looked for the stories of my people and myself. I looked for accounts of those whose culture and circumstances were different than mine but just as, or more, interesting. And I looked at the world to come on Earth, the world that was already here but whose story was untold.

Opera singer and cantorial soloist Jason McKinney of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with his nephew Yosef. Credit: Stacey B. Peyer, 2007.

As I amassed a collection of names and characters, I became frustrated by the stilted framework given these stories in the mainstream and Jewish media, particularly the repetitive, “clever” headlines that lost their originality after the second or third use. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen variations on the headline, “Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish.” Or how many times I’ve read the same old story angles: a sole black Jew struggles alone against terrible odds; a multiracial Jew is treated as exotic and strange based on her physical characteristics; a Korean American Jew encounters rejection at her synagogue and misunderstanding elsewhere. Few stories dug below the surface of perceived difference.

As an avid reader, literature major, journalist, and editor, I saw the same disturbing pattern that I had seen in many other articles about—and sometimes by—the many groups in the United States who have struggled since the early 19th century against oppression and toward freedom, unity, and self-worth. The focus of today’s reporting about Jews of color has also been on oppression, suffering, and isolation. But contrary to the downtrodden tone of the articles, what I found beyond the editorial perspective was a joyous and rich tapestry: the stories of hundreds—no, thousands—of Jews of color who were raising families, celebrating milestones, and making a difference in their communities. Some had achieved a degree of celebrity, but most were people who didn’t fit into the neat, mainstream pigeonholes assigned to frame all stories of Jews of color.

In JewV’Nation (TM) (SM), an “online magazine for Jews of color and our allies,” I aim to tell the stories of scientists, artists, businesspeople, community leaders, and ordinary Jews of color living extraordinary lives. Their lives are not underground or below the radar, it’s only that few journalists are looking for them and even fewer are getting those stories published.

Twenty-five years ago, in a journalism graduate school application essay, I selected what I thought was a controversial topic: the subjectivity of journalism. I was still idealistic about unbiased journalism, and was just coming to the understanding that it was a goal toward which to strive, but not a reality that could ever be reached. At the same time, I found myself much more involved in advocacy journalism, a seductive outlet for a shy activist seeking to work toward a better world.

So, no, this magazine is not an objective news source. Instead it’s an entertainment, education, and enrichment vehicle, something I hope you will share with your family and friends. Until the rest of the world changes—and it will!—I intend it as a haven, a spot on the couch for friendly conversation among family and friends, and for those whose extended community—Jews of color and their allies—may be closer than they realize.

Today I’m ready—and I hope you are too—to launch into the world that we dream of. Our community of Jews of color and our allies may not yet be mainstream, but one day we will be. Our stories will no longer be isolated or framed by exoticism. Our colors will form an interesting quilt, but will no longer be the sole focus of our own stories. It’s not yet true in the mainstream media but at JewV’Nation, our time has come.
Copyright © 2008 Corinne Lightweaver.