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'''Yavilah McCoy''' (born November 8, 1972), an ], is the founder of '''Ayecha''', a ] organization providing educational resources for Jewish ] and advocacy for ] in the United States. She is a teacher, writer, editor, and diversity consultant.
'''Yavilah McCoy,''' an ] and a fourth-generation ], is a ] ] singer and the founder of Ayecha.


==Activism and professional career==
==Jewish gospel==


In 2008, after directing Ayecha for eight years, Yavilah assumed the New England directorship of The Curriculum Initiative, (TCI), a non-profit educational consultancy.
McCoy grew up in an ] home in a heavily Jewish area of ]. In her home Jewish songs sung during religious observances were combined with the rhythm and spirit of African-American ]s into what she calls “Jewish gospel.” She became a performing Jewish gospel singer.


In 2009, Yavilah McCoy co-wrote and performed “The Colors of Water,” an original theatrical piece that tells the story of the four generations of her African-American Jewish family, as part of Mayyim Hayyim’s Living Waters International Mikveh Conference in Newton, Massachusetts.
==Family's adoption of Judaism==

Her great-grandmother on her mother’s side, growing up in Virginia, was influenced by ]. He led a ] for black ] in the ]. What especially interested her was the notion that American blacks needed to investigate their African origins, and that they had a relationship with ] that didn’t have to go through a white ]. “So she took off the shackle of ], so to speak, and took on the religion of ],” McCoy said. “All she had was the ]. So most of my great-grandmother’s songs were the songs of ].”

The family moved to ] in ], where Jews and blacks lived side by side. “My grandfather started developing friendships with Jews and started to take on Jewish practices. He started to learn about kosher and observing the Jewish holidays. He would wear a ] and really started to identify as a Jew. In the ] and ’], there were a number of ] who identified with Judaism in Brownsville, many for similar reasons as those that drew my grandmother to the faith of the people of ] in the ’] and ’]. When my grandfather met my grandmother, she took on his way of life.”

In her grandparents’ home, McCoy’s mother's parents bought ] meat and observed the Jewish holidays. McCoy’s father converted to ] in his early 20s, and later married her mother, who converted to Orthodox observance as well.


==Early life== ==Early life==


McCoy attended school in the ] area, and studied at ] in ]. McCoy's great-grandmother "took off the shackle of ], so to speak, and took on the religion of ],” McCoy said. “All she had to guide her was the ], so my great-grandmother developed an appreciation for the ethics and morality found in the stories of the people of Israel, and her songs were the songs of ].”<ref name="KC Star">{{cite web|url=https://blackandjewish.wordpress.com/2006/09/19/people-yavilah-mccoy/|title=Yavilah McCoy has a story to tell that spans generations|last=Gray|first=Helen T.|date=September 19, 2006|work=Kansas City Star|access-date=19 April 2016}}</ref> The family moved to ] and McCoy's grandmother converted to Judaism when she married. Her father converted to Orthodox Judaism in his early 20s. McCoy and five siblings were raised in an Orthodox Jewish home in the East Flatbush and Crown Heights areas of Brooklyn.<ref name="KC Star"/>
McCoy attended Jewish elementary and high schools, and studied at ]. She has taught Judaic studies, Hebrew, and English literature in elementary and secondary schools during the last 10 years. She is now a teacher, writer, editor, Jewish gospel singer, and diversity consultant.


==Ayecha== ==Ayecha==


She is also the founder and director of Ayecha, a ] organization with offices in New York City and ] which provides training and educational resources to build greater sensitivity toward differences in the Jewish community. The organization also serves as a support group and network for Jews of color and multiracial families. McCoy said: “We teach people how to understand their Judaism through the lens of race, age and economic status. When most people think of Jewish, they think white and they think European. But Jews of color have been alive and well for thousands of years in parts of the world.” McCoy founded and directed Ayecha for eight years. With offices in New York City and St. Louis, Ayecha provided training and support for Jewish and multiracial families.<ref name="KC Star"/> In 2009, when asked by the Forward how she felt about being a representative for Jews of color, McCoy acknowledged her own accomplishments but also underscored the need for increased visibility and representation, within the media and Jewish leadership, of a spectrum of Jews of color:
<blockquote>I’ve stepped back from being “the one,” because in a way I had become an icon of this work. The idea of associating diversity with a person as opposed to it being a movement within the Jewish community was starting to bother me. So, I made the decision about a year ago to spend more of my time supporting fellow Jewish leaders of color so that when the conversation re-emerged, it would be a conversation along the lines of, maybe, 10 different stories instead of one.<ref name="Forward">{{cite web|url=http://forward.com/culture/qa/15033/a-voice-for-jews-of-color-03239/|title=A Voice for Jews of Color|last=Gillick|first=Jeremy|date=January 28, 2009|work= ] |access-date=19 April 2016}}</ref></blockquote>

McCoy said recent research estimates that there are about 200,000 Jews of color in the ].


==Miscellaneous== ==Personal life==
McCoy's husband is also African-American and Jewish. They live in Boston, and have four children.<ref name="KC Star"/>


==Notes==
McCoy's husband is also African-American and Jewish, and the couple keeps kosher in their St. Louis home with their three children, who attend a local Jewish day school.
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==External links==
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Latest revision as of 08:19, 3 March 2024

Yavilah McCoy (born November 8, 1972), an African-American Jew, is the founder of Ayecha, a nonprofit organization providing educational resources for Jewish diversity and advocacy for Jews of Color in the United States. She is a teacher, writer, editor, and diversity consultant.

Activism and professional career

In 2008, after directing Ayecha for eight years, Yavilah assumed the New England directorship of The Curriculum Initiative, (TCI), a non-profit educational consultancy.

In 2009, Yavilah McCoy co-wrote and performed “The Colors of Water,” an original theatrical piece that tells the story of the four generations of her African-American Jewish family, as part of Mayyim Hayyim’s Living Waters International Mikveh Conference in Newton, Massachusetts.

Early life

McCoy attended school in the Crown Heights, Brooklyn area, and studied at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. McCoy's great-grandmother "took off the shackle of Christianity, so to speak, and took on the religion of Israel,” McCoy said. “All she had to guide her was the Bible, so my great-grandmother developed an appreciation for the ethics and morality found in the stories of the people of Israel, and her songs were the songs of David.” The family moved to Brownsville, Brooklyn and McCoy's grandmother converted to Judaism when she married. Her father converted to Orthodox Judaism in his early 20s. McCoy and five siblings were raised in an Orthodox Jewish home in the East Flatbush and Crown Heights areas of Brooklyn.

Ayecha

McCoy founded and directed Ayecha for eight years. With offices in New York City and St. Louis, Ayecha provided training and support for Jewish and multiracial families. In 2009, when asked by the Forward how she felt about being a representative for Jews of color, McCoy acknowledged her own accomplishments but also underscored the need for increased visibility and representation, within the media and Jewish leadership, of a spectrum of Jews of color:

I’ve stepped back from being “the one,” because in a way I had become an icon of this work. The idea of associating diversity with a person as opposed to it being a movement within the Jewish community was starting to bother me. So, I made the decision about a year ago to spend more of my time supporting fellow Jewish leaders of color so that when the conversation re-emerged, it would be a conversation along the lines of, maybe, 10 different stories instead of one.

Personal life

McCoy's husband is also African-American and Jewish. They live in Boston, and have four children.

Notes

  1. ^ Gray, Helen T. (September 19, 2006). "Yavilah McCoy has a story to tell that spans generations". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  2. Gillick, Jeremy (January 28, 2009). "A Voice for Jews of Color". The Forward. Retrieved 19 April 2016.

External links

Categories: