America fought its bloodiest war mainly over the issue of slavery. It took the deaths of over half a million citizens to abolish the heinous institution. This figure does not account for the untold numbers of black lives devastated by slavery—brutal corporal punishments, the centuries of strenuous physical labor without remuneration, and, significantly for this […]
In February of 2018, during Black History Month, I had the honor of co-leading a pilgrimage to Charleston, South Carolina. That city served as the major point of entry on the East Coast for newly arrived black slaves. The deplorable institution of race-based chattel slavery shaped the entire history of the city and the state […]
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance. By setting aside a time to recall soldiers who died fighting for this nation, American citizens rightly honor their sacrifice and that of their family and friends. What often gets overlooked in the observance of Memorial Day, though, is the different experience of African American soldiers. In one […]
Montgomery, AL– Bryan Stevenson and his team at the Equal Justice Initiative capped off the grand opening of the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice with an evening filled with honoring heroes past and present as well as soul from deep within the black tradition. After several other acts and speakers, a […]
The idealized version of Dr. King buries the injustices that he fought against, most of which remain today.
It pains me to see people overlooking Black History Month because Black history (just like Hispanic, Asian, European, and Native history) belongs to all of us — black and white, men and women, young and old. The impact African Americans have made on this country is part of our collective consciousness.
After reading dozens of U.S. history books for my PhD coursework this year, I find myself circling back to a few works time and again. So I decided to put them in a of list my ten favorite history books that I read in 2017. I say “favorite” because this list is entirely subjective and […]
NOTE: This article originally appeared in “Opinion” section of the New York Times. JACKSON, Miss. — When President Trump decided at the last minute to attend the grand opening of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum here on Saturday, the museums’ staff flew into overdrive. I saw it in their sincere but […]
American citizens should not be surprised at the paucity of character we are currently seeing in our politicians.
Luther’s heirs are known as Protestants today because his movement was so centered on protest. Nearly 450 years later, King would likewise use public protest to confront the social devastation of false doctrine.
Celebrated for her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, her greatest contribution is the model she gave on the Christian life.
September 16, 1963 brought news of one of the most horrific acts of hate and violence ever perpetrated during the Civil Rights movement. Four young black girls–Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, and Cynthia Diane Wesley, and Carole Robertson–were killed in a church bombing planned by white supremacists. One could scarcely think of more innocent […]
August 28 marks the anniversary of one of the most iconic speeches in American history and a high point of the twentieth century Civil Rights Movement. On this day, Martin Luther King, Jr., a preacher and scholar from the Deep South, gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. In it he articulated a vision for […]
Overt expressions of White Supremacy engulfed Charlottesville this past weekend. The evil, hatred, and violence incited by White Supremacists resulted in a death and injuries of brave image-bearers opposing such hatred. Many Christians have rightly spoken out against these overt acts of White Supremacy. Those who willingly embrace a White Supremacist ideology might not necessarily […]
For most minorities, especially African Americans, “Independence” Day always comes with quotation marks around it. That’s because the document that declared “all men are created equal” did not include people of African descent. No. They had no rights. They were not people. They were property. Frederick Douglass put it like this in his address, “The […]
Note: This article originally appeared in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. An Emmett Till marker has been vandalized yet again, and the form of vandalism symbolizes a larger story. While defacing a marker is nothing new, this is the first time a sign has been erased. Clarion-Ledger journalist Jerry Mitchell quoted Davis Houck of the Emmett Till Memory […]
30-year-old Charleena Lyles had 3 children (ages 11, 4, and 1), and was pregnant with her fourth, who watched and listened as their mother was gunned down. They heard the pleading, promises, screams and gun blasts echo throughout their apartment. Dae’ Anne, the 4-year-old daughter of Diamond Reynolds, was in the backseat of Philando Castille’s […]
June is African-American Music Appreciation Month. We pay tribute to the legacy and contributions African-Americans have made over the centuries. As I reflected on this history, I was taken back to arguably the most influential musical genre in the African-American narrative: The Negro Spiritual. Touching on the meaning of the Negro Spiritual, Howard Thurman, an […]
This compiliation was originally posted on Ligon Duncan’s personal blog. You can find the original, as well as more great content here. Important Online Resources: Race and Church Thabiti Anyabwile, “Jonathan Edwards, Slavery, and the Theology of African Americans,” https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/files/2012/02/Thabiti-Jonathan-Edwards-slavery-and-theological-appropriation.pdf Thabiti Anyabwile, “Bondage or Freedom? Questions in Early American Theology,” The John L. Girardeau Lectures, […]
Juneteenth is the oldest celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. It is recognized on June 19th every year. In Texas, where it is a state holiday, slaves learned of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the initial announcement. A Broadside Announcing Emancipation A broadside, […]
