Conservative activists, led by Elon Musk and podcaster Ben Shapiro, are pushing to pardon former Minneapolis police officer and convicted murderer Derek Chauvin. Revising negative narratives — regardless of the truth — has become a runaway train in President Donald…
New PBS documentary explores White Christianity vs. Black Christianity
The past decade has created a new dialogue on issues of racial reconciliation and the role religion plays in it. From Robert P. Jones’ White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity to Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s…
George Floyd’s uncle wants you not to forget
On this fourth anniversary of George Floyd’s death, his uncle Selwyn Jones wants the world to know his death wasn’t in vain. “I’m sad and blue and I am happy to have an opportunity to be that guy to bring…
What do George Floyd and Kyle Rittenhouse have to do with armed civilian combat? Evidently, quite a lot
After two days at the 2024 National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Dallas this weekend, I was ready to call the gun advocacy organization a changed institution. At first, the imagery, rhetoric and workshop topics seemed less misogynistic than those…
Foundations give $250,000 to George Floyd Global Memorial
The George Floyd Global Memorial has been awarded a $250,000 collaborative grant by organizations devoted to national and global justice and democracy. The Henry Luce Foundation and the Wayfarer Foundation announced the joint gift ahead of the anniversary of Floyd’s…
The Beloved Community and the heresy of white replacement: How ‘Beyoncé Mass’ gave me hope after the Buffalo massacre
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…