People always stand at particular points in history, sometimes fully aware of where they stand, but sometimes giving little or no notice. Today we stand at a juncture worth noting — Black History Month behind us, and in the first…
In this Lenten season, consider the plight of subminimum wage workers
Black History Month has just drawn to a close on the American civic calendar, and Lent is set to begin on the Christian liturgical calendar. Most years, these two observances partially overlap. Easter has to fall after April 15 for…
White House event celebrates the diversity of Black America
The assumption that enslaved Africans encountered authentic faith only upon their arrival in America is a stereotype that needs to end, Yolanda Pierce, dean of the Howard University School of Divinity, said during a Feb. 23 Black History Month webinar….
Methodist-related HBCUs draw attention to their distinctive history and contributions
With Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the news — tragically — at the start of Black History Month, The United Methodist Church is highlighting the 11 HBCUs that are supported by its Black College Fund. The UMC supports the…
When COVID shut down this church’s 26-year theatrical run, they made a movie instead
For 25 years, a Baptist congregation in Brooklyn, N.Y., staged a theatrical production exposing the trans-Atlantic slave trade in all-too tragic and graphic detail. When the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the annual production of “The MAAFA: A Healing Journey,” St. Paul…
Black History Month: Remembering, waiting, watching
Black History Month has ended for 2021. This year during Black History Month the Public Broadcasting System aired a four-hour documentary, produced by Henry Louis Gates, about the Black church. Across the nation, people paid tribute to the contributions by…
What if we cared about Black History Month as much as Lent?
Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s as an independent Baptist in an all-white church, the first 20 Februarys of my life came and went without any awareness of either Lent or Black History Month. Liturgy was considered something the…
Making the case for why Black History Month is necessary
Black History Month has its critics, but Chalice Overy isn’t one of them. Overy, associate pastor at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., said the focus on Black heroes and accomplishments every February growing up prepared her for being…
Black History Month: I’m all in, but let’s tell the WHOLE story
The story of our struggle is a story of resilience, resistance and triumph-in-the-midst-of-tragedy that actually has the power to redeem this nation from the sins of the fathers and the privilege of the few that has come at the expense of the many.