Hannah Gann, a Philadelphia activist whose claims of Black and Palestinian heritage were recently challenged, is facing renewed criticism over allegations that she altered her accent and appearance to seem more Black. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Gann is a white Jewish woman with parents in Israel.
Critics accuse the 34-year-old of adopting what is commonly called a “blaccent”—an accent associated with Black speech—in Instagram videos where she presented herself as a mixed-race woman of Black and Palestinian descent.
Gann, who was raised in one of the country’s wealthiest suburbs in a home now valued at about $1.8 million, also appeared in videos wearing heavy bronzer, large gold hoop earrings and long acrylic nails. Critics said the styling seemed intended to make her look less white.
The presentation extended beyond her social media posts. Gann built a public profile as a prominent voice in Philadelphia’s pro-Palestinian movement while delivering lengthy commentary on racism and imperialism framed as personal experience.
A teacher in Philadelphia’s public school system, Gann often opened videos with a singsong “Hey, y’all” before using expressions and phrases that critics viewed as an attempt to imitate Black Philadelphia speech. They said the same style appeared in some of her written posts.
“The way folks just be lying and playing the victim really needs to be studied,” Gann wrote in one post referring to Jews. The wording drew further attention after critics began examining her claims about her background.
After the Philadelphia Inquirer published its report on Tuesday, viewers revisited Gann’s earlier videos and said her supposed accent appeared to come and go. The clips took on a different meaning for critics who had questioned her identity claims.
The accent was largely absent from an apology video Gann posted on Sunday, shortly before the newspaper’s report was published.
“I lied about my identity and have been lying for years. I have no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage,” Gann said in the lengthy video, speaking without the accent heard in some of her earlier posts.
Once the allegations became public, social media users revisited her previous content and quickly focused on her makeup, accessories and manner of speaking.
“Oh hell no the makeup and blackcent is wild,” one commenter wrote.
Another wrote, “The hoops + blaccent are really the icing on the cake.”
A third commenter posted, “I love your ‘Black’ skin tone, sister.”
“She colonized her whole personality,” another person wrote.
Gann’s shift in how she presented her identity appears to have followed a four-year Peace Corps assignment in Rwanda, where she taught at a school.
The controversy has prompted comparisons with Rachel Dolezal, the former president of the NAACP’s Spokane, Idaho, chapter, who presented herself as Black for years before being identified as a white woman.
