YOUNGSTOWN — When people attempt to dissect and define Marra B. Gad by her race and religion, she doesn’t hesitate to tell them that those characteristics are merely part of who she is.

“I’m black and white and Jewish — and I’m whole,” Gad, 50, of Los Angeles, said.

The award-winning author, speaker and independent writer and film producer shared portions of her story about being biracial and Jewish, during a webinar she conducted Monday evening as part of Black History Month.

The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation and Youngstown State University’s Center for Holocaust and Judaic Studies hosted the one-hour virtual discussion, “An Evening with Marra B. Gad.”

Gad, who earned a master’s degree in Jewish history from the Baltimore Hebrew Institute at Towson University, said a white Jewish family in Chicago adopted her when she was three days old after she had been born to an unwed white mother and a black father in New York. Even at such a young age, Gad experienced racism after her new parents’ rabbi saw she was biracial and called her “a mistake,” Gad recalled.

“My (adoptive) parents said, ‘She’s no mistake; she’s our daughter.’ That was horrible, yet amazing,” said Gad, who also has shared many of her experiences in her 2019 memoir, “The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl.”

Other long-term challenges Gad has faced were dealing with those who voiced to her misconceptions that Jews were white and many people of color were Muslim.

“I was this lone brown face in this sea of white Jews everywhere I went,” she said.

The writer and film producer spent about 30 years in therapy, helping her reach a crossroads to realizing she had choices in how she responded to those who labeled, mistreated and made judgments about her. In addition, Gad often faced some people who assumed that because of her skin color, she was her mother’s caretaker, or a nanny.

“I had to digest it, but I learned that I had choices in how I handle it,” Gad said, noting that she made a commitment to choose love and proudly claim herself.

In general, those who opt to exist in an atmosphere of toxicity, anger and hatred short-change themselves by missing opportunities to be civil toward others and engage in constructive dialogue– even if they may disagree with one another, Gad explained.

“Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Love is louder and more powerful,” she said, noting that being kind and loving are always strengths, not weaknesses.

ABOUT: Marra B. Gad, 50, is an award-winning Jewish author, speaker and independent writer and producer, and was adopted by a biracial set of parents when she was an infant.

She speaks internationally about her transracial adoption in 1970, as well as expectations and hardships she’s endured being biracial and Jewish. Gad also has written on the topic in her memoir, “The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl,” released in November 2019.

Her book won the 2020 Midwest Book Award for autobiography / memoir.

Gad also serves as president of Egad! Productions and oversees the development and production of various TV series and films.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in Jewish history from the Baltimore Hebrew Institute at Towson University.

SOURCE: Jewish Book Council