I’m the mother of two pink loving girls–gifts I wouldn’t trade for the world. Raising daughters is a high calling, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to shape and shepherd the hearts of my two little women. As we recognize the achievements of women this Women’s History Month, my prayer is my labor as a […]
In a recent post, I introduced a series titled “Why Racism Might Defeat American Evangelicalism.” I mentioned the classic 2001 study of Emerson and Smith (Divided by Faith) in which they identified the American evangelical movement as a predominate white racialized movement, based on their multiple telephone surveys and face-to-face interviews with those who identified […]
Cultural and racial appreciation may come off well. But without God and a biblical approach, it can serve the wicked system of supremacy, envy, and power. Though Jordan Peele dressed these themes up with horror and humor, the racial issues and their implications are stark.
The goal today is this: to untangle race, religion, and politics so that divisions in the world don’t cause divisions in the Church.
Divided By Faith (2001), the famous book written by Emerson and Smith, carefully documented how white Christians and black Christians generally have different perspectives of race and racism in America.[1] This classic book on race and religion also shows how the evangelical movement in America is a racialized movement that cannot be separated from white […]
In Mississippi, we can’t pretend. We can’t pretend that none of the past happened, nor act as though it doesn’t affect the here and now.
On August 24th, 1955, in Money, MS, the trajectory of a young man’s life changed forever. This change did not occur from scoring a game winning shot, earning a scholarship to college, or meeting the love of his life. Instead, it changed because of an accusation made against him. This young man’s name was Emmett Till. […]
White-centeredness highlights the actions of the majority culture as normal, authoritative, and foolproof. White supremacy, on the other hand, can be defined as the belief that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial groups, and are therefore rightfully the dominant group in any society. Lately there has been much conversation, and […]
I resolved to write an article on Lemuel Haynes in observation of black history month. 200 years before America saw a black president, Haynes was the black pastor of a mostly all-white church in Rutland, Vermont. He is a significant figure. Yet, he is not well known. I grew up less than one hundred miles […]
February 26, 2012 marked a resurgence of the civil rights movement in America. Seven years ago, Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American was walking back from a convenience store in Sanford, Florida wearing a hoodie and carrying Skittles and iced tea. Moments later, he was fatally shot by a neighborhood watchman. The circumstances of Martin’s killing polarized the nation […]
This is only a small story in the larger picture of the fight against racism, but it encourages us to display the grace of the gospel at all times, and to change the negative narratives of racial injustice and inequality that continue today.
There is something wrong with reducing black life down to comparative terms that perpetuate a narrative of white affluence and black victimization. These two opposing views have collided in the recent public framing of black life in America as downtrodden, destitute, and hopeless–and they speciously encourage double consciousness.
Because of the private nature of sexuality in marriage, sexual intimacy is rarely discussed in the church in a joint public forum that addresses its nuances appropriately, but honestly for the married and singles. As a result, we often adopt a shallow view of what sexual intimacy is.
Another controversy has erupted in the US government regarding gender, race, and white male domination. Senator Elizabeth Warren (a white woman from Massachusetts) was silenced by Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (a white man from Kentucky) in the US Senate for reading a letter from a black civil rights icon Coretta Scott King, opposing Jeff […]
It has often been remarked that American history has undergone a vigorous “whitewashing,” whereby contributions of minorities (namely black people) have largely been overlooked or flat out disregarded.
The new POTUS just signed a new executive order on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Christians are thrilled. But aren’t we forgetting something? Holocaust Remembrance Day is intended to be a day to honor those senselessly and systematically murdered in the second World War, by vowing to never let it happen again. But as a history […]
Jarvis Williams explains why the Trump administration’s idea of alternative facts can be harmful to minorities and the marginalized.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download Jemar and Tyler look back at the past 8 years and the impact of President Barack Obama as the United States 44th President, his legacy, and the importance of diverse representation. Donate to RAAN Subscribe – iTunes – Satchel – RSS Social – @_PassTheMic – Facebook Hosts – […]
As a black woman, I was deeply moved by Hidden Figures. I am not usually one for crying. I didn’t even cry at my own wedding! I know it sounds horrible, but I’m sure my husband forgives me. I did, however, tear up on more than one occasion as I watched Hidden Figures on my […]
NOTE: The following is not an endorsement of all of President Obama’s policies nor an endorsement of the Democratic party. The intention is to reflect on the content of a single speech as it impacted a single writer. On January 10, 2017, President Obama delivered his formal farewell speech to end his eight year term. The […]
