We learn to think differently & holistically about God and the world when we consider the experiences and opinions of others.
In our story, the black story, we have the best of us and we have the worst of us.
We are viewed as problems to be solved rather than people to be admired.
We have another exciting first for The Witness–On Labor Day, September 2, we will host a LIVE podcast-a-thon! What is a podcast-a-thon? It’s three hours of podcasting programming hosted by The Witness team members to fundraise for our broader mission and our first national conference. The Squadcast will get together again. If you missed this group during the Pass […]
This is a first for the Pass the Mic podcast. In the hundreds of episode we’ve done over the years, we’ve never had this particular privilege. The rapper Seun (S.O.) Otukpe chose our podcast to debut his new song, “White Jesus.” In this song, S.O. lyrically dismantles the myth that Jesus is a European-looking white […]
Christians, of all people, should care about words. Our entire faith is communicated through and founded on them. The first verses of the first book of the Bible communicate the power of words. How did God create the heavens and the earth? The Lord spoke. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was […]
Eleven novels. Nine works of nonfiction. Over twenty awards. 88 years. We are privileged to keep the gift of thousands of masterfully written pages, but there’s even more about this gifted life that we simply can’t count: The magnitude of her influence on Black writers and readers. The radical mind shifts she inspired. The full […]
All of these are issues we still face and are conversations we are still having.
When I was a teenager, my mother hated the idea of me going out in groups with my friends. She would often tell me that we would be targets. I hated it. I was just a kid who wanted to enjoy a good time. My mother’s perspective was undoubtedly colored by the events surrounding the […]
“Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you […]
Read Part 1 here. Some will challenge that these stated claims have more to do with the displeasure of “Old Town Road’s” style rather than Lil Nas X’s race. And to prove it’s not a color issue, they will assuredly highlight black Country artists of today like Darius Rucker. Rucker, a former member of the […]
When I arrived at Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, I was quickly immersed in West Texan traditions. This included an undesired baptism into the abyss of country music. The inescapable honky-tonk sounds flooded the dormitory halls and our football locker room. I hated it. As far as I knew, country music contradicted everything about […]
Read Part 1 here. Black Pentecostals Though this Black Great Awakening had long taken place, in the early 1900s, the battle for Civil Rights found a spark in a forgotten place: the Azusa Street Revival of 1906. Jonathan Chism highlights this when he writes, “Many religious and Civil Rights scholars have ignored Black Holiness-Pentecostal involvements” […]
The year was 1963. Many Blacks in Birmingham, Alabama gathered together in the oft familiar place of solace and shelter: 16th Street Baptist Church. As a place of influence, it became a location of mass meetings for Civil Rights leaders. Tensions increased as the movement became deeply involved in the depressing struggle for racial justice. […]
A few nights ago, I had the pleasure of dining with three good friends. We span decades and are all women of color. As we caught up on each other’s lives, I shared about a decision my husband and I made to transfer our sons from the Christian school where they’d be attending for the […]
Hannah had her period in cycles like infinite loops of the same death sentence: you will never be a mom period. are a barren stump period. always period. never a comma. a period. no exclamation. But blood led Hannah to worship, though wordless her life His period. Apparently periods aren’t periods […]
Can the written word change the world? If you need an apologetic in the affirmative, then look no further than the first National Antiracist Book Festival. Under the leadership of national book award-winner, Ibram X. Kendi and his capable staff at the Antiracist Research and Policy institute, this event gathered nearly 50 authors and publishing […]
How shall we then move forward? How shall we live peacefully and in mutual understanding as Christians? Below, I suggest 10 possible ways toward this goal for Christians on both sides of the social justice debate, for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the Gospel, and for Christian witness in public. The task […]
No one has a monopoly on Biblical interpretation or theological hermeneutics.
What happens when whiteness goes on without being confronted?
