On May 9 in New York City, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and actress/Israel advocate Noa Tishby co-hosted a joint event celebrating Asian-American and Pacific Islander and Jewish Heritage Month.
Yang and Tishby brought influential AAPIs and Jews for a sit-down conversation to discuss shared experiences and celebrate each other’s heritage. Among them were Evelyn Yang, Brooks Brothers C.E.O. Ken Ohashi, musician David Fung, filmmaker Nancy Speilberg, psychotherapist Esther Perel, entrepreneur Ari Ackerman and actress Debra Messing.
One of the most sobering moments of the evening came when Messing shared a story about being discriminated against because she’s Jewish.
“My parents moved to Rhode Island next to a farm, and I was one of three Jewish kids in the entire community,” Messing said. “And in second grade, I was getting in line for gym, and this little kid came up and said, ‘get to the back of the line, ki–.’ I didn’t know what that word meant.”
She continued, “I had decided I am just going to hide. I’m going to hide my identity. I’m going to try and just blend in because that’s the safest way.”
Today, Messing, along with the other attendees of the event, are visibly proud of their Jewish identities.
Because the event was a success, Tishby and Yang said that they plan to make it an annual gathering.
In a joint Instagram post, Tishby and Yang recapped the evening and why they were moved to create it:
“It was a thrill that into that energy stepped the one and only @estherperelofficial. In her unicorn ways she sensed the room and offered to ask us a few leading questions and see where the conversation goes. So she did, and into that space stepped another unicorn and @therealdebramessing started us off with a heart-wrenching story from her childhood. This exchange created the context for the entire night and from there on everyone simply opened their hearts. @amychua.author shared that her parents have to hide their faces when walking around the streets of San Francisco fearing attacks, and Ken Ohashi shared about raising a Jewish-Asian family.
Intimacy is into-me-you-see, and that was what the night was about. We SAW each other. We shared about being “othered”, discriminated against, treated with suspicion. We shared about how these challenges were horrible but also made us stronger. Andrew and I looked at each other every now and again in awe and disbelief over what we have created.
So we decided to make this an annual thing.
The Jewish and Asian communities have so much in common, we are going to start breaking bread and sharing some real talk. The people you know are the people you love and where is hate we spread L♥️VE!”
