I watched a movie one night recently called Selma. It was about the 1965 freedom march in Selma, Ala., led by Martin Luther King Jr. Given all of the turmoil now roiling our country regarding Black Lives Matter, I wanted…
The other speech Martin Luther King gave at Southern Seminary in 1961
Sixty-two years ago this spring, Martin Luther King Jr. famously preached in chapel at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. The date was April 19, 1961. What is less remembered is that King also spoke that day in a…
Bernice King: We must win freedom in every generation
“Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” So says Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and director of the King Center in Atlanta. There, the theme of this new year is…
Martin Luther King preached freedom in Africa too
At the height of his fame in the 1950s and ’60s, Martin Luther King Jr. waged a two-front struggle, battling segregation and racial injustice and inequality in America and drawing attention to the challenges in Africa caused by colonialism. His…
A privileged white Southern dad reflects on racism and the legacy of MLK
“I was born a poor Black child.” So begins Steve Martin’s movie The Jerk — the first R-rated movie I saw. I was 13 and begged my college-professor father to take me. As we were leaving his office, he asked…
A better definition of patriotism
This week, a reader of Baptist News Global wrote to columnist Greg Garrett to refute his excellent column on Brittney Griner. I wrote a similar column back in August. Our points were similar: Why is a Baptist university like Baylor…
A leak: The truth of a sick nation
The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period…
The road to equity for all is still too long, but here’s a hero we need to remember
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…
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…