Remember when Mohamed Noor was convicted of murder when he mistakenly shot Justine Ruszczyk. I knew he was going to go down because of how it is. And notice that I didn’t define “it”. Because most of us who have to live with “it” know how “it” is. That’s why even though they say their … More The Curious Case of Mohamed Noor
The other morning I was feeling the weight of trying to articulate possibilities in the face of polarities. I prayed for some guidance on how to reimagine some of the conversations we’re having on race. Next thing you know, I get this email from my new friend Justin Michael Williams inviting me to preview an … More Ending Racism: How to Change the World in One Generation
How committed are you to a just an equitable world? This piece is a repost of a reflection that I shared in the Together Colorado Faith Voices newsletter. When I was growing up, I used to watch a show called “Diff’rent Strokes”. It was the story about two young Black boys who were adopted by … More What Are You Talking About Witness?
When we realize how much we’ve been failing each other as we have in the wake of the death of George Floyd, we tend to try to close our hearts. We lock ourselves away from the pain by getting into old patterns of thinking. But as Winston Churchill said when he borrowed from George Santayana, … More What We Can Learn From George Floyd’s Death
After posting this, a friend sent me this piece from The Boston Globe: Additional articles that you may want to reflect on: Black Miami doctor handcuffed while helping homeless during pandemic By Cynthia Silva Why some people of color say they won’t wear homemade masks By Fernando Alfonso III
In theaters right now, there is a biopic based on some aspects of the life of Harriet Tubman. As a character in history, Harriet Tubman has always held a special place in my heart because she refused to be a slave. And according to legend, she refused to let anyone who said they wanted to … More Harriet’s Daughters: The Legacy of the #StrongBlackWoman
“Urkel is dead and I can’t breathe.” Those were the words Oprah spoke to the interviewer when they asked her about one of the most recent casualties of a senseless shooting. I couldn’t breathe either. How could Urkel be gone? He held the hopes of so many of us. He had achieved the dream and … More Communicating to Death (or some better title)
The message written below is a response I wrote to someone with whom I was engaged in a dialogue after we both read the same blog post where pastor, John Pavlovitz, made distinctions between white Christians who say they were “embarrassed” by President Obama, those who simply disagreed with him, and those who basically are conscious … More On Blacking In America – v. To offend others by existing
You know what I don’t get? Racist Christians or racist people who practice any spiritual discipline for that matter. But having spent all of my life in Christianity, I really have to say that nothing is more perplexing to me than a racist Christian. Considering that Christian literally means, a follower of Christ, I have … More Jesus Went that Way! – Race In the Face of of Grace
Can a language be biased/oppressive/racist? I know that right off the bat some people will take issue with the question this title suggests. They’ll say, “No. A language can’t be inherently racist or anything else other than a method of communication. It is neutral. Words don’t hurt people. People hurt people.” And to some degree, … More Is Common English An Inherently Biased/Oppressive/Racist Language?
