Holy Saturday is an often overlooked part of Holy Week, but it has become one of my favorite Holy Days. The invitation of Holy Saturday to learn how to remain with pain & uncertainty for longer than what is comfortable; to learn how to grieve well. Some of us need this invitation. Some of us […]
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation. Preorder your copy today! From the chapter, “DECOLONIZED DISCIPLESHIP” by Ekemini Uwan The irony of all ironies is that I originally wrote this essay, “Decolonized Discipleship,” years ago because an “urban” white evangelical organization reached out and […]
Here it goes again. I opened my email to read the results of my lease-to-purchase application. I have settled for a lease option at this time because there is an urgent need to move. I share a bedroom with my two daughters, aged six and twelve. Let me tell you: the twelve-year-old drives me crazy […]
Black Christians often enter predominantly white or multiethnic churches hoping to participate in a spiritual community where the fullness of their identity in Christ is seen and nurtured. All too often, however, we end up contending with ignorance and insensitivity. We expend immeasurable amounts of emotional labor trying to educate our white siblings about how […]
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…” Isaiah 53:4 For the second straight year, my Holy Week began with driving by church to pick up our palms for Palm Sunday and receiving communion that was pre-packaged and pre-blessed. We will, Lord willing, get to worship in our church building on Easter (socially […]
You learn a lot by feeding a child. They are creatures of habit with sensitive yet non-discriminatory palates. Yesterday’s breakfast is easily today’s breakfast . . . and lunch . . . and dinner—if the temperature is right. A young child has little control over what they are fed. Even more true is that a […]
God of Sorrows, We cry holy for a God who is moved to tears when met with the conditions of this world. We are grateful that You are not a God who drags us out of our pain before we are ready— one who is not threatened by our tears but beholds them as holy. […]
God of the Desert, We are grateful that You are a God who does not lead us into a wilderness that you yourself have not met. That we belong to a God who knows what it means to be without is not lost on us. We confess that our patterns of consumption are marked by […]
Our nation has been in an extended period of mourning. Even in times of celebration and triumph, we are not far from the losses that our communities have undertaken. Lent is usually about voluntary self-denial, but the past year has denied us and deprived us without our consent. It almost seems superfluous to observe Lent when we are still wearing the ashes of mourning from last year. Yet I still hope…
God of the Dust, We praise you for being a Maker who is capable of dreaming up glory from dirt. As we journey through this Lenten season, help us to remember our origin story and find ourselves deeply grounded in bodies made from the lowest part of creation, yet alive with gloried breath from the […]
“Bells will be ringing the glad, glad news/ Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues” “Please, Come Home For Christmas” by Charles Brown Amidst the gaiety of the Christmas season with all of its lights, candy canes, well-wishes, online deals, cheesy romantic movies, and syrupy-sweet classic holiday tunes on endless rotation, the song “Please, […]
You accept the job to work for an organization. As you began to get settled in, it becomes evident. As you walk into the meeting room and look around, you are the “only one”. In today’s workplace, Black people still manage to be the “onlys” —the lone representatives of an identity group. As a result, […]
“I can’t breathe…I can’t breathe” Those were his last words and the world saw them spill from his lips as he exhaled his final breath. George Floyd was crying out for his mother. And he was murdered by white supremacy. Before him was Breonna Taylor, and before her, Ahmaud Arbery. India Beaty. Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Janisha […]
Remember to retreat and care for yourself more than you battle and defend yourself.
The truth is on November 4th, we all will wake up with a different perspective of our society.
Recently, the Barna Research Group released a study about “How the summer of 2020 changed perceptions of racial justice-and what it means for Christian leaders.” The discovery revealed what many Black Christians already knew: In the area of racial justice, “progress” is elusive. Jemar and Tyler are back this week to talk about their frustrations […]
Give thanks to God that he has put women and men in this particular place, at this particular time, to provide this particular safe haven.
Racism is a major burden that weighs heavily on the hearts and minds of many who parent Black children. Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum describes racism as “a system of advantage based on race.” From her very inception, America was structured so that White people (especially White men) would be granted power and privilege based on […]
What a journey Lecrae has been on! Lecrae’s debut studio album “Real Talk” was released in 2004 and he has reached heights no other Christian rapper has. The Grammy-Award winning artist has grown as a man, a husband, a father, and as a Christian in the public eye over the last sixteen years. Most would […]
