Black & Jewish is a series of painted and drawn black and white portraits by TJ Reynolds that amplify the intersectional identities of Jews of Color. This project began when TJ was working on a light themed installation at the Freedom House in Dorchester. In this installation he bridged the Jewish community he was representing with the majority Black community that the Freedom House served. With help, he convened a group of Black and Jewish teens to participate in a workshop and planning session, deciding who TJ should portray in the upcoming installation. The workshop participants provided inspiring input. They shared their experiences existing in the world as both Black and Jewish, commenting that they never had the opportunity to express these feelings before. Feelings of both belonging and ostracization poured out, and the students found community in their sharing. Reynolds identified with them as a multi-ethnic person, and shared about his process to embrace and feel embraced in all the communities of his family history.
TJ Reynolds is a Renaissance man who tackles everything he does with gusto, love and abounding energy.
As an educator, he has worked across the country teaching everything from Visual Art to Hip-Hop Poetry, African Drumming to Geometry. He has taught in high performing schools, juvenile correctional facilities, community centers and more for over 15 years.
