Rain Pryor Plus: CHANUKAH
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DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 Rain Pryor Leading the conversation at OPTIONS 2021 Plus: CHANUKAH
COVER STORY | BY ELISSA EINHORN
SEASONS OF
STRENGTH
2021 Federation Event Features Rain Pryor
12 L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021
COVER STORY
hen a Black comedian and a pure place in a world that really was against Vietnam and other
W
Jewish go-go dancer fell in love in injustices.”
the 1960s, they faced a turbulent Pryor coped with her unconventional upbringing by
world, but one outcome was performing with typical teenage gigs like selling hot dogs on
destined – Rain Pryor. the beach, sprinkled in.
The multitalented daughter “My art is what kept me going,” she says. “My home life was
of legendary comedian Richard chaotic and crazy because [my parents] were chaotic and crazy.
Pryor and Shelley Bonus, a They were young. My mother was 21 when I was born. Her life
professionally trained dancer wasn’t done yet. She had a kid that looked like me in a world
who performed on Shindig! (a musical variety series that aired that wasn’t ready for me.”
in the 1960s), Pryor will headline the Jewish Federation of Regardless of the challenges she had to endure, Pryor is
San Diego County’s OPTIONS event, which according to living up to her intended destiny, adding her own self-defined
Stacie Bresler-Reinstein, one of three OPTIONS Committee goal which is to show up and be accepted without explanation.
Co-Chairs, “is the largest outreach and fundraising event, “I want to get past our conversations about race and religion,”
where women find inspiration, meaningful connections and she says. “I want to dismantle everything. Nobody wants to
sisterhood.” The February 28, 2021 appearance will be the keep everything as it is.”
first virtual appearance for Pryor and will reference her one-
woman show, “Fried Chicken and Latkes” that, for nearly 20 JEWISH ROOTS SOWED IN BROOKLYN, GROWN IN LA
years, has entertained audiences of every hue about the journey Richard and Shelley’s only child together, Pryor was primarily
of growing up Black and Jewish in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s raised by her second-generation American Jewish maternal
America. (She and famed producer Norman Lear have been in grandparents, Bunny and Herb Bonis, following her parents’
talks to develop a television version of her show, but those have divorce six months after her birth. She also spent a great deal
been put on hold due to the coronavirus.) of time with her great-grandparents, Charlotte and Gus,
“The message of the show is the idea that I am Black, and I who emigrated from Russia and Austria. The sounds of them
am Jewish,” Pryor begins. “The world still needs some change, speaking Yiddish and Russian still ring in her ears.
and we are working on that change – I am working to be the “I consider them my parents,” Pryor says of Bunny and
change. This year has challenged us to reflect and see some Herb. “I lived on and off with them while my mom lived across
deep-seeded [issues] that I have been exploring for years. Our the street. They took me to school, we did homework together,
construct of European, Ashkenazi Judaism is being torn apart they drove me to dance classes, they fed me...”
in terms of my identity and all sorts of Jews coming to the As a child, Pryor cooked traditional Jewish dishes like
table.” kugel and brisket with Bunny, lovingly recalling, “Food was
Co-Chair Judi Gottschalk is proud to bring Pryor’s story always at the center for us. We did it and we did it together.”
to the San Diego community under the theme, ‘Seasons of She and Herb bonded over music. Proudly boasting that her
Strength.’ grandfather “could sing like Sinatra,” he instead, packed up
“OPTIONS gives those of us who are passionate about the the family’s Brooklyn home when Shelley was a teenager and
work of Federation an opportunity to talk about our obligation headed west to California to become Danny Kaye’s manager
to take care of each other, and to celebrate each other in joy. for the next 35 years. (Fun fact: Kaye, a fellow Brooklynite, was
Rain’s experiences are critical to hear because they are integral born to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. The youngest of Clara
to our collective Jewish story.” and Jacob Kaminsky’s three sons, he was the only one to be
Co-Chairs Carla Modiano agrees. “Federation embodies the born the United States.)
power of togetherness, continuity, and the responsibility we Herb died in 2011 at the age of 92. Bunny, 99 years old,
have as a local and global community.” is not-so-patiently waiting for the day when she will join her
Born into a complicated life with a mother and father who husband. Pryor eases into character with an authentic New
were part of the “flower power” and “love culture” generation, York accent, one she undoubtedly learned from Bunny herself,
and just two years after Loving v. Virginia, the landmark and with hand gestures to match, she channels her maternal
U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled laws banning interracial role model: “What are they keeping me here for? Maybe your
marriage violated the Constitution, Pryor’s parents had a grand grandfather has a girlfriend up there?”
plan for their daughter when she arrived in 1969. While her childhood sounds idyllic in some ways, including
“They made a choice to have me,” she explains, referring to as a graduate of Beverly Hills High School, Pryor also saw the
a time when interracial relationships were uncommon. “They dark side of life – drugs, prostitutes, and racism. She was called
said, ‘Her job will be to change the world.’ They came from a the “N” word, had rocks thrown at her, and found crosses
WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM 13COVER STORY
burned on her lawn. She relates to the extreme prejudice Iranian beyond the immediate opportunity, she says, “My goal in life is to
Jews who fled Iran after the revolution faced when they arrived bring this multicultural voice to Judaism globally, without having
in Los Angeles in the 1970s to begin anew in an ultra-White to justify the fact that I am Jewish. I shouldn’t have to prove that,
community. based on the color of my skin or if my mother was Jewish. If I
What she didn’t find growing up were kids who looked like her. identify as Jewish, I am Jewish.”
“No one like me was represented in my Temple. I didn’t realize there Tapping into her activism, she goes even further, explaining, “I can
were so many Black Jewish girls until recently. I was like, ‘Where identify with Black Lives Matter and stand against anti-Semitism.
have you been?’” Astonishingly, until the end of high school, when I know how to have those conversations. Black Americans, Jewish
she met another Black Jewish girl while roller skating and the two Americans, and anti-Semitism – how do we bring each other
proclaimed to be sisters for life, the only other Black Jewish girl she together? How do we show up and spark a conversation and see
knew was her sister, Elizabeth, whose mother also is Jewish. ourselves reflected in our history and the stereotypes and the world
Currently making her home in Baltimore – ironically, a we are living in now?”
historically segregated city – Pryor says, “Now I go to Temple and One way is through her show. Pryor has performed “Fried Chicken
there is a big community of Black people.” It is also where she is and Latkes” to sold out crowds and for diverse audiences, including
raising Lotus, her 12-year-old daughter who identifies as Black and Federations, Jewish Community Centers, and the National Black
Jewish, and, as she points out to her mother, Italian, to honor her Theatre to name just a few. The show earned her notable accolades,
father’s Sephardic roots. including the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Female Performer
“She is convinced if she took a genetic test, she would show up as Equity and the Invisible Theatre’s Goldie Klein Guest Artist Award,
part Italian,” Pryor quips. both in 2005. The same year, she was nominated for the NAACP
Best Original Playwright Equity. She believes her art, her personal
LEADING AND CHANGING THE BLACK JEWISH CONVERSATION experience, and her continued commitment to show up as who she
Recently, Pryor added “Schusterman Fellow” to her already is, will help to change the world.
accomplished resume that includes comedian, actress, author, “Is it scary to talk about racism and social injustice?” she asks.
producer, playwright, activist, and dancer. The highly selective “Yes. These are scary conversations, but I am excited that they are at
18-month leadership development program, under the auspices the forefront of our minds. It’s how we start to shift – by bringing
of the Charles & Lynn Schusterman Foundation, Schusterman these issues out from underneath the rocks. Hidden in the dark
Fellows “are committed to leading the charge for change in the conversations is the light.”
Jewish sector and the broader world, empowering others and Rain Pryor will virtually appear at OPTIONS, the Jewish
tackling complex challenges.” Federation of San Diego County’s largest women’s event. For more
The fellowship, Pryor says, gives her a platform to be part of the information, visit jewishinsandiego.org/options.
conversation about what it means to be Black and Jewish. Extending
14 L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021You can also read
