We will not be afraid or lose hope or stop working for racial justice – meaning restitution and reparations – no matter how white supremacists and their quieter sympathizers sanitize bigotry, hypocrisy and addiction to greed with their hollow gestures.
Brandt Jean’s forgiveness of his brother’s killer was a Christ-like act; so is the call for justice
I acknowledge the bravery and faith that it must have required to say before the entire world, “I forgive.” But “I forgive you” is not the only cry we must hear.
Why a monument marking the 100-year anniversary of a race massacre injures rather than heals
A monument recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Elaine Race Massacre will soon be “dedicated,” not in Elaine, Arkansas, but in Helena, across from the courthouse where justice was not served, on ground that also hosts a tribute to seven Confederate generals.
Nationalism and the tribal god it creates
Instead of worshipping a Cosmic Christ, many have settled for a tribal deity who suits our tribal behavior. The result? A nationalism which places country above God and uses religion to justify any means.
Judge calls for hate-crime probe in monument defacement
An Arkansas judge and Baptist minister is asking that the chopping down of a tree planted in honor of victims of a 1919 race massacre be investigated as a hate crime.
A ‘monument’ to black people massacred 100 years ago in Arkansas reeks of the hypocrisy Jesus condemned
Jesus called out the hypocrites of his day with angry words. When white leaders misuse power to profit from past wrongs of racism and heap additional injuries on oppressed people, what words need to be heard?
Angela Project ceremony aims to repair, not repeat, America’s history of racism
Repairing America’s racial divide will require more than feeling remorse for sins in the past, the president of a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky, told an audience of mixed races from various faith traditions gathered to reflect on the 400th anniversary of slavery in the United States.
The president is correct: there IS an insanity gripping our nation
Trump is correct that we are experiencing a frightening dis-ease in America. Insanity – moral disorder – imperils our people, our nation, our earth. What he doesn’t seem to recognize is that he is the source of much of the chaos, the claims of many evangelical leaders notwithstanding.
Called to ‘go hard in the paint’ for Jesus: Trump isn’t our biggest problem; we are
Christianity is not a game of chess. Following Jesus is risky business. What we need are knees worn out from prayer, hearts captivated by biblical authority and a will surrendered to God’s will, committed to go, do and say whatsoever God desires, no matter the outcome.
Parallels between the racist rhetoric of Trump and Wallace are undeniable. But there is one important difference
Donald Trump rode to political power on words even more inflammatory and vitriolic than those of the early George Wallace in the 1960s. At least Wallace, late in life, demonstrated the moral capacity to re-evaluate himself. To this point, at least, Trump has not.
Anti-racist discipleship: a solution to the same death-dealing lies of white supremacy James Baldwin wrote about
Baldwin’s “mystical” solution to the lies of white supremacy is immensely practical. Such spirituality looks like organizing our communities to attend to the political and economic wounds our nation inflicts and to bring into practice a community that is at once more grounded and more beautiful than we have dared to imagine.
Can the land provide redemption for descendants of slavery?
“We don’t have anything against food chains, but if God gives us access to soil, to a healthy body and to seeds, why then do I see myself in a food desert? I see myself in an oasis.”