Ann Arbor welcomes trailblazer Shahanna McKinney Baldon for January residency
By Deborah Meyers Greene
The Ann Arbor Jewish community has a special opportunity to welcome Shahanna McKinney Baldon, a recognized leader and cultural producer in the movement for visibility for Jews of Color, for a weekend residency on January 24 and 25. McKinney Baldon will participate in Shabbat services and deliver a public lecture, inviting attendees to engage with her work on Jewish diversity and history.
McKinney Baldon will be at Beth Israel Congregation to share songs and a d’var Torah at Shabbat services on the 24th.
On Sunday the 25th, U-M Associate Professor of Judaic Studies and History Bryan K. Robe will moderate McKinney Baldon in a public lecture: “Goldye di Shvartze Khaznte: Black Woman Cantor of the Harlem Renaissance Era.” All are welcomed to take advantage of these exceptional opportunities.
McKinney Baldon is widely credited for her prominent role in coining the term “Jews of Color” and advocating for greater inclusion and awareness in the Jewish world. “I didn’t invent the term, but I was an early adopter — and I definitely was the first to advocate in print for use of the term,” she said in a recent interview.
Later, McKinney Baldon founded Edot Midwest, the “Midwest regional Jewish diversity and racial justice collaborative,” to help facilitate access to Jewish community life for Jews who are also People of Color. Her d’var Torah on Shabbat will incorporate themes from her work in this area.
“I continue to feel a huge sense of urgency around facilitating access to Jewish community life. Now more than ever, it is critically important that we ‘lean in’ on the ideas that Jews are diverse, we’ve always been diverse, and that our diversity is one of the great strengths as a Jewish people,” McKinney Baldon said.
The Sunday lecture will focus on the remarkable life of Gladys Sellers, a contemporary of Golda Meir in Milwaukee, who became known as Madame Goldye Steiner or “Goldye di Shvartze Khaznte” (Goldye, the Colored Woman Cantor) in 1920s New York City.
Steiner was one of the very few women, and the only African American woman, singing khazones, or Ashkenazi liturgical music, during the “golden age” of the genre. McKinney Baldon rediscovered Steiner’s story, located her unmarked grave, and led a successful fundraiser with The Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum to purchase a marker for her. McKinney Baldon will share how she used historical research and online genealogy tools to trace the rest of Steiner’s life after her last documented performance.
“I have been honored to help steward the retelling of Madame Goldye’s story,” McKinney Baldon said, citing the significance of Steiner’s story, and also the significance of its retelling.
In addition to research, teaching, and publishing, McKinney Baldon’s efforts have included concerts and performances. Her Ann Arbor visit will actually occur on the heels of a historical concert, “Return of the Immortal Khazntes,” at Yiddish New York 2025. The concert, part of the “Khazones Underground” project, is the “album release” celebration for a recording giving voice to the khazntes — women who sang khazones during the golden age period. McKinney Baldon is one of the album’s four featured artists.
January’s residency provides an important opportunity for the Ann Arbor community to learn about the history — and the present — of Jewish diversity, and engage with the ongoing work of creating a more inclusive community. For information and to get involved, write to [email protected].
The events will be sponsored by The Network | Jewish People of Color of Greater Ann Arbor. Co-sponsors include the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor Community Engagement Fund, the U-M Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, Beth Israel Congregation, and Edot Midwest.
