Black Israelites: From Kansas to Kanye

On Thursday, November 2nd, the CSULB Jewish Studies Program welcomes Dr. Jacob Dorman to Long Beach for his talk “Black Israelites: From Kansas to Kanye.”  His talk will be at the Alpert JCC (3801 E. Willow St.), beginning at 7 pm. 

In his talk, Dr. Dorman will offer insight into the rise of Black Israelite religions, ranging from Judaism to Islam to Rastafariansim, all of whom believe that the ancient Hebrew Israelites were black and that contemporary African Americans are their descendants. For those who became part of the Christian Israelite movement, Dorman shows that the impetus for this was not so much a desire to practice Judaism but rather a studied attempt to recreate the early Christian church, following the rules of the Hebrew Bible.  

Jacob Dorman is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is the author of the prize-winning books Chosen People: The Rise of American Black Israelite Religions and The Princess and the Prophet: Magic, Race, and Black Muslims in America.  He is currently co-directing the Race and Reno Research Project, an effort to map and explain the use of racial covenants in real estate transactions in Northern Nevada.

Like all Jewish Studies talks, these talks are free and open to the public. For reasons of security, the AJCC is asking people to rsvp first (this will speed you through check in):  https://jewishlongbeach.regfox.com/csulb-jewish-studies-speaker-series.  Also note that because of recent events, security will record the license plates of all cars entering the parking lot, so please give yourself a little more time when arriving.

For more information on this talk or fall 2023 events, please contact Dr. Jeffrey Blutinger, Jeffrey.Blutinger@csulb.edu.