Blog
Thoughts on race, religion, and other topics that interest me.
The Warrior
The walls of Ahk Ahmeshadye’s house in the Village of Peace are covered with family photographs—black and white prints from the 1950s and ’60s, color prints from later decades, blurry candids, formal portraits, and a few collages, all framed and tacked up in something like chronological order […]
“There were just so many surprises”: Reporter Joan Borsten on covering the African Hebrew Israelites from 1976-81
In the late 1970s and early '80s, Joan Borsten was a young, jet-setting correspondent for The Jerusalem Post and The Los Angeles Times, filing human interest stories from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Near East. She spent one memorable day in June 1979...
Bayard Rustin: Black Hebrews’ problems not due to racism
We conclude that official racism plays no part in this sensitive problem. The initial welcome given to the Black Hebrews and the offer of conversion clearly support that conclusion. The general agreement is that the difficulties stem from deep-seated religious,...
![Amar’e Stoudemire, Hebrew Israelite [Updated]](https://andrewesensten.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/DSC_1638.jpg)
Amar’e Stoudemire, Hebrew Israelite [Updated]
Is Amar’e Stoudemire a Jew or a Hebrew Israelite? Readers can’t be faulted if they are confused about Stoudemire’s identity after reading David Kaufman’s Oct. 9 profile in the New York Post of the former Knicks forward, who now lives in Israel and plays for Hapoel Jerusalem. In the article, Kaufman describes Stoudemire as “an unlikely Jew” and as […]
Ben Ammi goes to Washington
Fifteen years ago today, Ben Ammi Ben Israel—the late spiritual leader of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem—gave a brief but memorable speech on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The occasion was the Million Family March, organized by the...
The Comforter of a Nation
On April 26 I received a short Facebook message from Zariyah, my spiritual brother in Dimona: "E Nekamah has passed on." My heart sank. Emah Nekamah was the matriarch of the family I lived with for 14 months in 2007-2008 while conducting research on the...
“Everybody has their demons”: Interviews with African Hebrew Israelite soldiers
The military can be really challenging because it’s something far away from what we’ve been used to. Some people are overwhelmed by the experience. … Everybody has their own small challenges. Everybody has their demons they have to fight. I was reminded of these...
The Whipping Man and the not-so-secret relationship between Blacks and Jews
The Whipping Man, which just closed at the Pasadena Playhouse after a month long run, tells the story of a Jewish Confederate captain who staggers back to his family’s crumbling mansion in Richmond, Virginia in April 1865, just days after the Civil War has ended. The...
African Hebrew Israelites seek answers after soldier’s death
The African Hebrew Israelites have called on the Israel Defense Forces to explain how exactly one of the community’s soldiers died on her base over the weekend and why the soldier’s family received conflicting accounts of what happened to her. Military personnel...
With song and dance, African Hebrew Israelites honor their departed leader
They wore white garments and buttons proclaiming, “Ben Ammi lives in me.” They sang his favorite songs. They performed his favorite dance routine. They spoke directly to him, extolling his good looks, virtues and leadership. This is how the African Hebrew Israelites...