In the movie “Life,” Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence walk into a restaurant in the deep South and request two items: coffee and a slice of pie. The female employee at the counter offers them a reminder: No Coloreds Allowed. They had entered segregated space—a space that gave her the legal right to refuse the two […]
Author: John Richards
Imagine a place where a sea of melanin-enriched faces washes over the terrain. This place is an enclave of blackness, left unscathed by the vestiges of colonialism. It is Black Brilliance on display, 24 hours a day. It is unapologetically and pridefully black. The Wakanda craze in these social media streets might lead one to […]
The water fountains and signs may have been taken down, but our country’s sordid past still required addressing systemic issues that disproportionately impacted Black communities.
Suffering in light of God’s sovereignty is something Reformed African Americans have experienced for centuries. But are we really okay?
Fact-Checking Before Lamenting We don’t really know all the facts. Those are the words we utter before the cultural fact-finding mission begins. Google serves as our personal private investigator. We make sure our imaginary jurors’ badges are snug against our bodies. Our eyes dart back and forth across the screen reading articles, looking to explain violence against black bodies. […]
The SAE video has the Black community (Reformed Blacks included) up in arms. Is there an opportunity to take an introspective look at our own exclusivity?
The “A Time to Speak” panel discussion was held at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. A RAAN recap and some of our favorite moments.
There have been a litany of voices responding to the situation in Ferguson. In this article, four Black Presbyterian ministers offer a biblically-centered response.
The Ferguson grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson. Did the system work or has Jim Crow reared his ugly head? On Ferguson and the Walking Dead.
My Facebook timeline and Twitter feed have been filled with commentary about the Michael Dunn trial. It’s becoming an annual event—as expected as the Olympic games, only more frequent. But there are no medals to be won. Just graves to be dug. Questions left unanswered. Parents left to grieve. Much of the Tweets and updates […]
With a history spanning several hundred years, the Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires in the history of humankind. In the First Century, Augustus became its first emperor and ruled from roughly 27 BC to 14 AD. He is credited with helping achieve 40 years of internal peace and prosperity in the […]
There’s been a lot of focus in media on the prosperity gospel lately. A lament from a brother concerned about church perspectives. The pulpit. A sacred space. The preacher’s domain. I am a young, Black, Christian male seminary graduate—a dangerous thing to say these days. The evolution of the African American pastor has caused many […]
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past 48 hours, you’ve probably seen the video by now. Sunday, during a service at T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House Church, Tyler Perry stood before the congregation and announced a sizable $1 million dollar donation to a youth center the church is developing. Before he took his seat though, he […]
Seven years ago I walked onto the campus at Fuller Theological Seminary completely unaware of what to expect. I’d already gotten some ill-fated advice from others about my decision to attend seminary for my formal theological education. A black pastor who’d earned his Master of Divinity (M. Div.) told me, “I wouldn’t suggest you go […]