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…
Where are the good Republicans?
Even with frequent emotional appeals for the passage of two voting rights bills — the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act — Senate Republicans, along with Democratic holdouts Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, defeated the…
Old tricks: For America’s Black citizens, there is nothing new under the sun
Throughout American history, when Black people have been able to advance toward equal opportunity, the mainstream power structure has tended to change its own rules in an effort to reinforce its control. In the decade immediately following the abolition of…
Beyond ‘I Have a Dream’: Meditations on Martin Luther King Jr.’s hard words for white Christians
White people regularly dilute the words of Martin Luther King Jr. to be more palatable. No one is more prone to this temptation than we white Christians who want to think of ourselves as the kind of well-meaning people who…
Biden administration rolls back Trump-era discrimination waivers in foster care
Civil rights and separation of church and state groups are thrilled, but conservative evangelicals are dismayed that the Biden administration announced Nov. 18 the reversal of a Trump-era policy that allowed discrimination against foster parents because of their sexual orientation….
Thoughts on Jesse Jackson’s 80th birthday
For two years, we have been living through the age of COVID-19 which, as we all know, has spread through numerous and ongoing waves across the world. Vaccinations have made a difference. But from time to time, COVID-19 infects individuals…
Three reasons 2021 looks like 1961 in voter suppression
John Lewis spent his 21st birthday in a Nashville jail, Feb. 21, 1961. Lewis was arrested with 25 others after leading a public demonstration to gain admission to a whites-only movie theater. Several protesters, Lewis included, were students at American…
The untold story of Black women leaders in the Civil Rights Movement
It seems that African American men who worked tirelessly to reverse the status of “the invisible man” (a term coined by Ralph Ellison) have found ways to keep women as invisible as possible in the leadership ranks of the church….
Holy Week 2021: Justice, gospel and cups of cold water
On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Ala., for leading an “unlawful” protest in the city. That same day, a group of eight clergymen including five bishops (Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist), a Presbyterian, a…