You only are free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place — no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great… — Maya Angelou “You don’t belong here.” For the first 5 or so minutes that this woman was talking to me, I was hoping that my short responses to her … More Somewhere I Belong
In a world where we are constantly reminded of the dangers that surround us, who among us has not imagined what we would do if we found ourselves in a dangerous or perhaps life-threatening situation? It seems like everyday we hear some story of innocent victims of unspeakable crimes. And whether it is a shooting … More Surrounded! – How Do You Respond Under Threat?
Tonight I realized that I feel safer in cars that look like I can afford them. That is a sad awareness that I need to work on more deeply. How I realized this was that I had to rent a car. I had a coupon that enabled me to get a compact for the same … More Escaping the Prison Industrial Mindset
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
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?
Sometimes it seems as if America is bent on surviving itself to death. Like an ostrich with a lion on its tail, who can’t see a way out other than to close its eyes and hope the threat goes away, our country is living its collective life with its head in the sand fearful that … More America in Denial – Perils of a Strength Overdone
There a lot of conversations that I don’t feel absolutely prepared for as a parent. Some of them are universal and some are exclusive to certain communities such as, “Are we poor?”, “Why do they hate us?”, “Will we be deported?”, etc. Recently, my daughter has asked me twice, what the “N word” is. The … More Daddy, What’s the “N Word”?
“I’m really not that scary.” That’s what I thought to myself when I saw the guy run into his house, close the door, and peep through the blinds as I walked by. I almost felt sorry for the guy for being that afraid. If he had taken a closer look he would have realized that … More No Fear In Love
Recently I did an interview on a local radio show that highlights experiences of being a person of color in Boulder County. The show is called PoCo in BoCo and is co-hosted by Tracey Jones and Nikhil Mankekar also of Boulder County. In the show we talk about what people must consider when entering in … More Speaking of Difference
About 6 years ago a friend I went to seminary with passed away unexpectedly. Steven was a book lover and so his family decided to have a book give away at the school. At first it felt kind of strange picking through his books, but in a way it felt like if I read some … More Waiting for Anthony Robbins
