Bubbies Know Best
Jewish grandmothers joined in a Zoom panel with African-American counterparts to discuss the post-George Floyd USA.
The Bubbies
In 2019, Jewish Life Television in Los Angeles launched Bubbies Know Best, a dating show with a Jewish twist – where three Jewish grandmothers act as matchmakers, for Young and Old, Straight and Gay, Jewish and non-Jewish.
With tremendous momentum behind them, aided by national appearances on popular TV shows including TMZ and more, Bubbies Know Best began pre-production on Season 2 earlier this year.
With the arrival of the coronavirus, the Bubbies pivoted in May 2020 and with Executive Producer Brad Pomerance at the helm, Bubbies Bunny Gibson, S.J. Mendelson and Linda Rich launched an audio-visual podcast, which includes words of wisdom, celebrity interviews and reactions to viral videos.
When the Bubbies realized that the U.S. faced an inflection point after the murder of George Floyd, they knew that they had to join the conversation – resulting in Bubbies and Grannies Know Best. On this extended episode, our three Jewish grandmothers welcomed three African-American grandmothers to talk, learn and listen about how the Jewish community and the African-American community can continue to build and strengthen alliances during these very difficult times. Joining Bubbies Bunny, Linda and SJ were Grannie Angelle (Reverend Doctor Angelle Jones), Grannie Beverly (Beverly Daniels) and Grannie Dolores (Dolores Petersen).
With Brad Pomerance acting as moderator and Reverend Anthony A. Johnson setting the stage after the publication of his powerful article – “I’m a black reverend whose grandfather marched with King and Heschel. Here’s how white Jews can support black people right now” (https://bit.ly/2BS0sgh) – the Bubbies and Grannies, via Zoom, unpacked and unravelled so many of the critically-important issues facing our communities and our nation, because, as Brad Pomerance said, “Bubbies and Grannies do know best.”
Grannie Angelle: “We need you, Bubbies. Raise your voices against the injustices. There is a cost in speaking out. There is a cost for African-Americans. There’s going to be a cost for our allies, even more so … This has been such an eye-opener. My heart is just so full right now that we would be able to have this conversation at this time.” Grannie Beverly: “My granddaughter is 14 and she is eligible for a learner’s permit in November and she commented just the other day that in light of all these events, she might not even want a driver’s license.”
Grannie Dolores: “How can the Bubbies help? The Bubbies can invite me to their next Passover Seder.”
Bubbie Bunny: “Bottom line is let’s do more things together. Let’s support each other together. Yes, of course, we are going to change policy, but let’s do programs together.”
Bubbie Linda: “Together we are more powerful than individually and we need to repair the world, engage in Tikun Olam, because the world needs a lot of repair.”
Bubbie S.J.: “Most of the time in today’s discussion, I’ve been just been listening and learning. I just want to listen and learn from the Grannies.”
Bubbies and Grannies Know Best can be viewed on demand at https://bit.ly/37lTnjO, is available through all podcast platforms (http://bubbies.jltv.tv) and will premiere on Jewish Life Television/JLTV (www.jltv.tv/channels) on Monday, June 15, 2020 at 8:00PM ET/PT.
Jewish Life Television/JLTV is North America’s premiere 24-7 Jewish-themed television network, available in over 45 million homes.
For more information, imagery or interviews with the Bubbies and Grannies, please contact Bubbies Know Best Executive Producer Brad Pomerance at brad@jltv.tv.
