Sinclair Lewis is quoted as saying, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” He wrote his novels in the 1930s, the time of the first “America First” movement when our nation…
Get out of the echo chamber and hold to hope and courage
The echo chamber sends unending messages each day about the onslaught of the evil that is walking the national leadership halls surrounded by an aura of being unstoppable. It is maddening. I am sure I am not alone in being…
Ironing a distorted funhouse mirror: Healing cognitively driven depression
At the campus counseling center, I had promised my therapist, Chrissy, that, unlike previous forays into counseling, I would be completely honest. In a previous article on dealing with depression, I described how being honest with a college student convinced…
May 13, 1985: Philadelphia’s Fire Still Burns
Forty years ago, on May 13, 1985, a tragedy unfolded in the Cobbs Creek section of West Philadelphia that would forever scar the conscience of a city and shock the world. On that day, the Philadelphia Police Department — under…
The irony of white supremacy
We have no record of Jesus ever interacting with someone who looks like me. He and all those around him were people of color. But I come from Northern European heritage. By racial identification, I am classified as white/Caucasian. In…
You won’t believe our story of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse
Three days before what we thought would be my wife, Ruth Ellen’s, final surgery for stage three breast cancer, my mind was racing as I was trying to finish moving out of our old house while confirming plans for where…
The parachurch: How did we get here?
Before the Reformation, there was not a Catholic Church in the Roman Catholic sense we think of today. It was just the church. There were no denominations. There was one central authority, the pope. (Unless you count the time from…
The war on Black women: Silenced, sidelined, still strong
In today’s increasingly polarized political climate, one fact is undeniable: Black women — despite being the most educated demographic in America — are being strategically and systematically undermined, erased and excluded. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is an…
Emotional intelligence as a leadership strategy
Emotional intelligence is crucial for achieving leadership success. It enables us to truly connect with our teams. Without emotional intelligence, we may overlook many unspoken cues. As defined by Mental Health America, emotional intelligence refers both to comprehending your own…
Kindishness: Give it a rest area, Alabamerica
Lost in thought, I missed my exit. That’s not unusual for me. I once drove almost half an hour past the exit to my own house. This time it was a fortunate mistake. I was driving from Tennessee, where our…
A letter to Joe
Other than you being a former president of the United States of America and me being just one of the millions of Democrats who gladly voted you into that office, you and I have a good deal in common. I,…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Catherine Meeks
Catherine Meeks is a prolific author of works on race and justice, including the recent memoir, A Quilted Life: Reflections of a Sharecropper’s Daughter, and one of the Episcopal Church’s most impactful teachers on racial healing. After retiring as the…