The paradox of belonging to a targeted, persecuted minority, is that to protest the persecution, to actively seek inclusion, understanding, compassion for the grief and fear that it entails, is to point to one self and say, "I am different, please treat me the same," and in doing so, become the subject again, of scrutiny and scorn. There is no way out of this paradox.
The best one can do is survive, try to thrive, and try to represent the categories into which they were born, to which they were allotted, with dignity, and beauty.
On this Holocaust Memorial Day, the liberation of Auschwitz, in the shadow of what is happening today in the world, I urge people to remember that the loss of freedom is experienced in profoundly similar ways by those who suffer its loss, no matter their "category."
To understsand the gravity of that loss, one must look closely at how people are and what they contribute when they are still free.
Below is an interview I did for Classic 107 radio, on the subject of my Jewish identity as an artist.
Thank you for seeing and hearing me. And thank you, Chris, for the opportunity to speak on this topic.
Share this post