Spotlight on African Jews Celebrates Black History Month

Celebrate Black History Month by exploring what it means to be an African Jew at a free event open to the public at 11 a.m., Thursday February 28, at Oakton’s Skokie campus, 7701 North Lincoln Avenue (Room P103).

Though fewer than two percent of the world’s nearly 14 million Jews live in Africa, some Jewish communities there are among the oldest in the world, originating more than 2,700 years ago. Learn more about this distinctive culture during the lecture The Jews of Africa: An Historical Perspective that spotlights what it means to be an African Jew, the group’s influence and contributions to this part of the world, and the future of Judaism throughout the continent.

Presenter Joel Okafor, adjunct instructor of history and African/African-American Studies at Roosevelt University, served as a medic in the Biafran army during the Nigerian Civil War. He received both his bachelor and master of arts degrees in political science from the University of Windsor.

The lecture is co-sponsored by Oakton’s Department of Historical and Policy Studies and Jewish Studies, with a generous grant from Oakton’s Educational Foundation.

For more information, contact Wendy Maier-Sarti, Oakton professor of history and coordinator of Jewish Studies, at (847) 635-1458 or jewishstudies@oakton.edu.