“Payos for Cornrows” by Aaron Samuels

Poet Aaron Samuels performed this spoken-word poem at the 2009 WashU Spoken Word Grand Slam.

traded my payos for corn-rows  yarmulkes for fitted hats.
pessimist    is my glass half-Jewish or half-black?

I was three years old when I discovered I was Jewish fenced within the concrete protection of the JCC Shabbat songs rolled off the oblivious kosher tongues of Jewish pre-school-ers, pre-destined to be prepared to be placed
into stereotypes     we were trained to grow into.

being Jewish just meant I was like everyone else.

age six taught me that I wasn’t.  but religion was too indifferent an issue for little kids the courtyard of my Irish-Catholic fiefdom showed me racism before I knew what a race
was.    it was different to be black.

but middle school taught me it was cool.

my BET brainwashed white classmates
convinced me that getting in touch with my black
identity might not be such a bad idea, but my black friends didn’t walk to temple after school.
so as I let my pants sag more and more, my Jewish star
found its way from around my neck
to my back pocket.       I had to choose

and being Jewish was easier to hide.

so I  traded my payos for corn-rows, yarmulkes for fitted hats, Seder plates for soul food, Magen David’s for dog tags.

high school taught me a different lesson: representing.

(blacks/jews, forced to choose, I didn’t want a mistaken identity, but Religion and race don’t exactly go hand in hand)

SO I WILL REPRESENT FOR WHOEVER I THINK I AM!

 

 

there are

 

40,000

 

people in America who identify as both black and Jewish

so I will represent for Sammy Davis Jr. and Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet and Ben Harper. tell me Bizzy Bone, what about us? I’m talking about Rod Carew with Adonai always leading him home. Shyne, Diddy left you out to dry, but you know Moses always got your back. 

I’m representing for my girlfriend Tracie Ellis Ross.  Craig David, I know you’re Jewish, can you fill me in? And the 15,000 African Jews flown to Israel in 36 hours, or the Jews of Morocco who still make pilgrimage for Mimunah every year, and Rebecca Walker author of Black white and Jewish
I know you know how it is girl

‘cause I am 100 % Black and 100 % Jewish

and I’m about to Lift every voice and sing—

Hatikvah

‘cause now I’ve had my payos in corn rows
and I got my yarmulkes   and fitted hats
I eat my Seder plates with soul food
wear Magen David’s     on my dog tags

I get hollas for challah
and I gamble my gelt
with my dollars
I represent
my culture
is no longer abstract ¹

• 1Aaron Samuels, "Payos for Cornrows.” Reproduced with permission of Aaron Samuels.