On Friday, our nation bid its final farewell to a Civil Rights icon. As thousands of mourners poured into House of Hope Baptist Church in Chicago to remember Jesse Jackson Sr., I was reminded of my own powerful moment with a…
Churches, seminaries among US cultural sites awarded funds to preserve Black history
Black churches, cemeteries and seminaries with ties to African American history are among 24 cultural sites across the country receiving grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a $3 million total investment.
The country I know
On Nov. 3, 2020, I was excited about the opportunity to vote for Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, a Black woman, a graduate of my school (Howard), for president and vice president. After they won, I was…
Tisby’s new book tells stories of faith and justice
History “has the receipts,” according to Jemar Tisby. “History is just stories, and woe to us history teachers who ever make it boring,” said the professor at Simmons College of Kentucky and author of the new book The Spirit of…
What’s the truth about Critical Race Theory and the new framework for AP African American Studies?
Recently, the College Board announced there will be additional revisions to the framework of the AP African American Studies curriculum nationwide. These revisions are in response to a growing controversy surrounding the recently published course framework, which some scholars say…
Stories of the dead are coming to life at Poplar Springs Missionary Baptist Church Original Cemetery
“I had never known where my great-grandmother was buried,” said 74-year-old Carol Smith, a member of Poplar Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Anson County, N.C. “I used to go to my grandpa’s house, and I saw this picture of her…
The plantation lived on through Texas Baptist evangelism
Recently during worship, my minister sang a song of lament he composed about the whitewashed history of violence and slavery in the United States. In “This House,” Aaron Austin sang: “They said it was history, time to move on. They…
For whites observing Black History Month, remember what seat you’re sitting in
White navel-gazing is not the proper orientation toward Black History Month. We’ve got to do the needed self-examination, but we are not the center of the narrative. Using the work of blacks to put ourselves back at the center of the story is not the right strategy. But while reading all that black history, it does help to know what seat we are sitting in.