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…
Why we must not turn away from the Derek Chauvin trial
I may have too harshly judged the disciples because they did not show up at the Crucifixion. But now — watching the Derek Chauvin trial, looking on with horror and looking away with disgust — I understand. It is difficult…
To live into Easter, we need to keep writing a new song
Easter is here. But before we move too far into this season of hope, we need to pause and remember how Jesus died. Jesus was not the first person of color to be murdered by the authorities; his death was…
George Floyd’s murder: Knowing what cannot be unseen
Like you, I have read and heard many comments from people who viewed the video footage of the death of George Perry Floyd on May 25, 2020, at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago in Minneapolis. The painful video…
Learning to breathe in the Spirit by confessing, ‘I can’t breathe’
At various times in the biblical narrative, the Hebrew people gathered memorial stones in sacred spaces. These rock formations served as places of remembrance for all to see and be reminded of the power and transformative nature of God. May…
Is it time for Black Christians to give up on the SBC?
This is the second in a series of opinion columns to be published over the next three weeks exploring Critical Race Theory. The Southern Baptist Convention has managed to do it again! As the nation struggles through a pandemic that…
‘Freedom songs’ make a reprise during this year of protests
The wave of high-profile police killings of Black Americans during the summer got a lot of people protesting across the country — and it got them singing in the process. “The act of singing, in and of itself, is an…
Assessing the ‘responsibility pie’ of George Floyd’s murder
I’m a chaplain, but I work with mental health professionals and have for the last 10 years. Along the way, I picked up the simple therapeutic tool of the “responsibility pie,” which might offer a new way of looking at…
Opposition to couple’s BLM sign inspires neighborhood unity
Someone in Lincoln, Neb., picked the wrong Black Lives Matter yard sign to protest in an anonymous note demanding its removal. For not only did Erin Palmer and Jonathan Redding keep the “offensive” sign in their yard, they added a…
White Christians at ‘a moment of reckoning,’ author says
Jefferson Davis’ statue coming down in Richmond, Va., and Walmart refusing to fly the Mississippi state flag because of its Confederate emblem are powerful signs the movement against white supremacy is taking hold, Robert P. Jones said during an online discussion hosted June 26 by the BJC.
‘A shelter for conscience’ in a sea of racism: Black Churches Matter, too
We white Christians still have a lot to learn and a reprehensible past to lament. After 400 years, we’d better pray that black churches are still willing to teach us. And that we’ve got conscience enough to act on what we learn.