Badgers for Israel welcomed Mayana Branigan, an Israeli cultural emissary, as part of its first event for Israel Week, a week devoted to exploring different identities within Israel.

Branigan discussed living in Israel as a person of color, the challenges that accompany a dual identity of being black and Jewish, how she found her identity placing an emphasis on the importance of conversation when finding one’s identity.

Born and raised in Israel, Branigan realized at a young age that there weren’t many people who looked like her or had a similar identity. She found comfort in solely focusing mostly on her “Jewish and spiritual identity.” Branigan said as a child, she struggled with her identity as a black Israeli woman who practiced Judaism since many didn’t look like her.

She said people would often point and stare at her and her family on the street because seeing a person of color at that time in Israel was not common.

Branigan said her mother, instead of getting offended or upset, would start a conversation with these people.

“She understood that if someone was unfamiliar with something, that didn’t mean they thought negatively about you, they were just unfamiliar to you,” Branigan said. “[My mother] made them feel comfortable and started conversations with them, then they would feel okay the next time.”

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Similarly, Branigan said she looked for representation of people who had a similar identity when younger. She said she couldn’t find representation of herself in her surrounding culture.

“I realized [that] representation of yourself in the culture around you validates your identity,” Branigan said.

But Branigan realized during her time in college that she could find representation and role models anywhere, stating they could be anyone whose opinion she valued.

Branigan mentioned she studied African studies, gender and women studies and Israeli studies during college. All of her different identities that felt challenging growing up, she said, “were really a gift” because they gave her insight into very different worlds.

“I had a window into my black identity … into the Jewish and into the spiritual and into the female and into the Israeli [identities],” Branigan said. “I realized that I could walk comfortably now…and see a lot of different perspectives.”

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Branigan also emphasized the importance of conversations about different identities in order to gain compassion and empathy towards other people.

Everyone has many stories, Branigan said. She stressed it’s important to get to know each person in order to not judge them based on appearance and create a false narrative for that person. Speaking as equals, she said, will make having these conversations easier.

“We all have many stories and we need to take the time to know other people and offer them compassion,” Branigan said. “I think through that, we get to know ourselves.”