I am Jewish.

I am a woman.

I am American.

I am born in Moscow, Russia when it was the Soviet Union.

My father was born in Chechnya, Grozny under Soviet rule, there were a handful of Jews that lived there going back to the Persian empire, not any more.  I look like him.

It always bothered me that there was no place for me to mark my background on forms, and the video above talks about there eventually being a MENA, Middle Eastern/North African classification, but I wouldn’t fit that either, I am a mix.  I am none of the other things on the form, but I am not white, I have no Anglo/Saxon heritage.

Give yourself an hour to listen to this radio show, first it’s about the difference of being Black in Jamaica and America.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear all about my personal background in the segment about Russia.  Besides the people that come to study, in Russia there are three main nationalities, Jews, Russians, and the people from Chechnya are called black, I would be considered black in Russia.

http://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444246/pri-s-the-world

(press play on top right, it is PRI The World, 7/13/2016)

Here is a great article understanding white privilidge,

https://goodblacknews.org/2016/07/14/editorial-what-i-said-when-my-white-friend-asked-for-my-black-opinion-on-white-privilege/

I love the video below about a festival in New York celebrating curls, ethnicity, culture, black, brown, and just letting the real you hang out.

Who are you?

Coach Yulia