There is an African proverb that states, “Where elephants fight, the grass is trampled.” Nowhere is this a truer metaphor than the effect of global politics on international development and, ultimately, the marginalized at the bottom. Imagine our surprise and…
Efforts to combat global poverty unchanged due to US withdrawal
Efforts to combat global poverty remain unchanged for the second consecutive year in part because of severe cutbacks in American international aid, according to the director of the newly released “2025 Fordham Pope Francis Poverty Report.” “Something has shifted, and…
Hymns bear witness to faith and fear
Sitting and looking out on the frothy waves crashing on the rugged shoreline outside the window of our room at an inn in Depoe Bay, Oregon, these old words came to me: I was sinking deep in sin far from…
Get in the water
I dream of one day gliding through the clear waters of a pool, with its abundantly chlorinated surface reflecting light like a beacon of sanctification. Against all odds, I envision myself as Michael Phelps’ significantly shorter, less talented, but far…
A national wake-up call on Black America’s relationship with water
Now more than ever, America must confront a long-standing yet under-acknowledged public health and cultural crisis: Black Americans and water. The sudden and tragic death of Malcolm-Jamal Warner — an actor beloved across generations — has cast a spotlight on…
Flint theater baptizes Godspell as a splashy redemption story
To say that Flint, Mich., has a complicated relationship with water is perhaps an understatement. That’s why a production there of the classic rock musical Godspell is drawing a different kind of national attention. The entire production takes place in…
I was thirsty and you made me work in the heat without water
This morning, I took my dogs for a walk because it was the coolest time of the day when their paws wouldn’t be scorched on pavement in our multiple days of temperatures that feel like it’s 100+ degrees. Living in…
New methods and legislation increase options — and questions — with our last remains
You may not be able to choose when or how you die, but you have many choices when it comes to taking care of your bodily remains, as new technologies and laws multiply the options and the ethical questions involved….
Amid Sudan war and elsewhere, water scarcity threatens lives
Within just a few days of the recent outbreak of war in Sudan an essential resource, water, became a scarce commodity. The scarcity continues to this day in parts of the North African country, making life a living hell for…
Moral Mondays are taking up residence in Jackson to fight water crisis
Bishop William J. Barber brought his Poor People’s Campaign and Moral Mondays to Jackson, Miss., Sept. 26 to protest a notoriously neglected and broken water system that has generated hundreds of boil advisories in the last two years alone and…
If you think the Jackson water crisis is just about Mississippi, you’re all dried up
Mississippi is “the Magnolia State” where Emmett Louis Till, a 14-year-old African American boy, was abducted, tortured and lynched in August 1955. Mississippi is where Medgar Evers was murdered June 12, 1963. Mississippi is where three civil rights activists — James Chaney, Andrew…
In Jackson, Miss., the lack of water flows into conversation about God, politics and public trust
Last Sunday, Aug. 28, I was privileged to be in attendance at Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., as Pastor Chuck Poole gave his last sermon after 25 years of ministry and his final splash in the baptismal pool. The…