MAY 28 • 2020 | 81

and Snoop Dogg to Jay-Z. 
Following the murders 
of Tupac Shakur and The 
Notorious B.I.G. in 1996 and 
1997, Farrakhan facilitated 
truces between other hip-hop 
artists. In 2001, Farrakhan 
gave the keynote address 
at the Hip-Hop Summit in 
New York. 
In addition, Fruit of 
Islam, NOI’
s paramilitary 
arm, have been known to 
guard black residents of dan-
gerous, crime-laden neigh-
borhoods. One resident of 
D.C.
’
s “Wicked District” of the 
’
60s told The Atlantic in 2018, 
“I will never forget how they 
calmed the fears of so many 
mothers and children, just by 
their mere presence.
” 
For many in the black com-
munity, NOI was a protective 
presence, reducing crime and 
keeping families safe. It’
s an 
entirely different frame of refer-
ence from ours.
The speech Electronica sam-
ples nods to themes of black 
empowerment. It’
s a common 
theme on the album and in hip-
hop in general.
Andrew: I don’
t think 
Electronica’
s album, and his 
monumental talent, can be 
written off because of his ties to 
the NOI. But I’
m troubled by 
the provocations. I don’
t know 
how you celebrate someone like 
Farrakhan without hinting that 
you, too, might share his most 
reprehensible views. 
When Peter Rosenberg, a 
Jewish DJ who co-hosts the 
hip-hop radio show Ebro in the 
Morning, criticized Electronica 
for the lyrics, the artist lashed 
out. “We are willing to hold 
a discussion in a PUBLIC 
FORUM on The Synagogue 
of Satan and its meaning with 
any Scholars of Theology you 
would like to bring,
” Electronica 

tweeted at 
Rosenberg, adding a profane 
acronym before later deleting 
the message. That seems like 
anger from either being misin-
terpreted … or called out.
(Still, I’
d personally welcome 
a public discussion on the topic 
in the right setting.) 
What are your final thoughts 
on A Written Testimony? How 
should Jews respond to it? 
Reisa: I find Electronica’
s 
overall message to be pro-black, 
and he often employs pro-
Islamic sentiments to that end; 
there’
s nothing innately anti-Se-
mitic about either. But the red 
flags being raised are valid, and 
hateful sentiments should abso-
lutely be condemned. 
It’
s important to recognize 
just how disparate many of our 
experiences as American Jews 
are to Electronica’
s and the 
majority of the black American 
community he is addressing. 
I think this is an opportuni-
ty to better understand each 
other’
s cultural sensitivities. 
Electronica’
s an immensely tal-
ented artist, and I do hope he 
can find a way to engage in a 
thoughtful dialogue on this. 
For now, as a someone whose 
ancestors were no strangers to 
oppression, and whose people 
are the subject of stereotypes, 
scapegoating and prejudice to 
this day, I find there is much 
more on the album to relate to 
than there is to take issue with. 

p

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