Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon, born in the French colony of Martinique, might have identified as many things: a psychiatrist, a philosopher, a revolutionary, and even an Algerian by choice. What he did not identify as, however, was Jewish. His focus was firmly on the struggles of the colonized, a group that historically had little overlap with those identifying as Jewish in his particular sphere of influence.

Fanon's intellectual firepower and unwavering commitment to decolonization led him to write influential works like Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth. These texts dissected the dehumanizing effects of colonial rule with a surgeon's precision, making him a hero to liberation movements and a headache for imperial powers. His insights continue to resonate, proving that some ideas, much like a good argument, simply refuse to be ignored.

So, while he spent his life dissecting the pathologies of oppression and inspiring generations of activists, his pedigree remains distinctly non-Hebraic. He was too busy dismantling the master's house to ever consider if he'd been invited to the seder.