At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, a white supremacist terrorist — motivated by a fear that whites were being “replaced” by immigrants and the growth of nonwhite Americans — massacred 10 people and injured three others in a predominantly Black…
Americans are deeply divided over the need for racial healing and how to talk about the nation’s past
Americans remain intensely split over the pace and need for racial healing more than a year after the police killing of George Floyd unleashed massive social and political upheaval, new research shows. The Pew Research Center also has found deep…
Will our hearts be found too big or too small?
Derek Chauvin, the police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison on June 25, 2021. There are many opinions regarding the correctness of this sentence. However, I continue to reflect on one of the…
Does the SBC indicate where we are headed?
When the largest Protestant denomination in the United States recently met in Nashville, it was notable what thousands of Southern Baptists did not think were major concerns. An armed insurrection took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,…
Juneteenth and the promise of freedom
June 19, 1865, is the day when the last enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas, received news that they had been emancipated. Juneteenth, as this day has been called, commemorates in the hearts and minds of Black folks the official end…
Following Jesus, living in truth and love
Jerry Blackwell was one of the prosecuting attorneys in the Derek Chauvin murder trial in Minnesota in April. He started appearing on several cable network news shows one week after the trial. His basic testimony is that he felt led…
George Floyd found innocent, and we can breathe again
There were those who were holding their breath and did not even know it. They had suspended their respiration — instinctively but unconsciously — because for so long, none of us have been able to breathe in an atmosphere polluted…
Remembering Jamorio and praying for justice
I don’t think all police officers are bad people. I think many are good people, trying to do a very hard job for very little pay, and that they are doing so out of a real sense of service to…
What should we learn from the Derek Chauvin verdict?
April 20, 2021, is another day that will be marked in history as a turning point in America’s racial reckoning. The question now is what we will learn from this moment. When a jury unanimously convicted former Minneapolis police officer…