The 1984 film Pulp Fiction features Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolfe, a fixer and cleaner. A fixer is a person who disposes of bodies; one who “cleans up” physical evidence of crime is also more specifically called a cleaner. America has a…
Beyond ‘I Have a Dream’: Meditations on Martin Luther King Jr.’s hard words for white Christians
I rarely crosspost old columns, but this year, I’m re-upping a relevant column I penned two years ago, which contains with one plea for white Christians: If we want to honor Rev. Dr. King and think honestly about ourselves, white…
Mercer University sets records for enrollment growth and ethnic diversity
As universities nationwide seek to diversify their student bodies — sometimes against the backdrop of political mandates not to talk about diversity and equity — one Baptist school in the Deep South continues to succeed year after year. Fall enrollment…
On the SBC, Alliance and CBF and lost causes
The histories we tell ourselves about our churches and denominations are important. They shape organizational identities and give greater meaning to the work churches and denominations conduct in the wider world. When those histories become deeply engrained, they can morph…
Amidst global chaos, ordinary South Africans are emblem of Muslim-Jewish co-existence
The Israel-Hamas war has fractured Muslim/Jewish community relations in the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. But in South Africa, ordinary people take pride in being an outlier, creating a country where for decades and even now, Jews and Muslims…
Baylor regents allocate $6.3 million for Memorial to Enslaved Persons
Baylor University regents have allocated $6.3 million for construction of a Memorial to Enslaved Persons to be located on Founders Mall at the Waco, Texas, campus. Erecting such a memorial was among recommended actions in the final report of a Commission on…
‘If incarceration is supposed to make us safe, we should be the safest place on earth’
Racial disparities continue to plague Black Americans in part because of the persistent perception that they are, by nature, threats to law and order, said Jamila Hodge, CEO of Equal Justice USA. “We have won many legal battles — the…
When Harry Truman attended a prayer meeting in Harlem
Saturday, October 29. The 1948 presidential campaign was almost over; only Saturday and Monday remained because Harry S. Truman never campaigned on Sunday; he took seriously, “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.” Up to that point in the…
Fighting racism requires Christians and non-Christians to work together, panelists say
Black Christians and Black unbelievers must overcome their mutual distrust and hostility in order to collaborate in addressing racism and other challenges facing African communities, scholars and religious leaders said during a two-day webinar, “(Dis)Belief: Reimagining the Religious Landscape of…