The stories continue…After Jemar Tisby and Tyler Burns shared powerful episodes of their #LeaveLOUD experiences, it’s time to hear from our very own Ally Henny. How is the Black Christian experience different in rural settings? Are multiethnic churches truly safe spaces for Black women? What happens when Black women #LeaveLoud? Ally had to courageously confront […]
I know that Tessica’s story is fading from the headlines and that there isn’t as much discussion about her as there was a month ago, but the story of how Black women are treated in society isn’t new. The inability to treat warmly, show regard for, or show tenderness to the very Black women who […]
The division caused by racism in American Christianity reminds me of the plot of the novel Lord of the Flies. The story goes like this (spoiler alert – seriously, you’ve had 67 years): Marooned on an island without adult guidance, a group of prim and proper British boys turns nearly-feral. They create a tribalistic civilization […]
Another one…After Jemar Tisby’s courageous #LeaveLOUD story last week, Tyler Burns is up next to share his own journey. How do you overcome years of Christian Education that makes you question your Black identity? What can our lives look like when we embrace a vision for what it means to be Christ-following and Black-centered? For […]
Editor’s Note: We sometimes receive submissions from our audience that are unique, creative, or are otherwise “out of the box” for The Witness BCC blog. From time to time, we hope to bring you some of these submissions. In 2016, author Kisha Mitchell asked, “Brown girl, Brown girl, what do you see?” In 2017, poet […]
Imagine beating a brown-skinned man beyond recognition, hanging the mutilated body from a tree on a Saturday, and then going to church on Sunday to worship Jesus Christ–a man who the Bible says had skin like bronze, was beaten beyond recognition, and then hung from a tree. Lynchings in America were often (and still) conducted […]
Whew! Listen, family…this is the one. 10 years ago, Jemar Tisby founded this organization with the hope of achieving racial reconciliation in white evangelical spaces. Eventually, after a barrage of attacks, smears, and racial trauma, the organization changed its name, and Jemar left the place that he thought was his home. What happened? What changed? […]
I’m a daughter of Virginia. Most of my ancestors migrated to Virginia from the Carolinas during the late 1800s and early 1900s to escape what they referred to as “country life,” which entailed sharecropping. In other words: economic slavery. They came to port cities like Norfolk to seek a better life than what they had. […]
We’re back with another episode! Tyler has a conversation with Witness BCC Vice President and Coming The Roots podcast host Ally Henny about their shared Pentecostal roots. What can we learn from our spiritual heritage? What may be missing underneath the surface that others cannot see? How can we use what we have experienced to […]
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. […]
I wish I had taken the chance to learn more about my parents’ parents. In many ways, they shaped the woman that I am today. Growing up, I didn’t appreciate the moments I got to have with my grandmother and grandfather. After losing my grandfather, I wish that I had not taken those moments for […]
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 […]
“I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then.” Alice, “Through the Looking Glass” Amidst the sound of ice falling as it hit my window sill and the chilly breeze from a not-so-sealed front door, I took a sip of my once piping hot coffee, which had reached room […]
One day, I came home from elementary school excited to tell my parents what I had learned during Black History Month. I proudly recounted the narrative that I had learned: Harriet Tubman freed the slaves, then Rosa Parks sat down on the bus because she was tired, and Martin Luther King Jr. ended racism. My […]
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 […]
Widely known as the African American National Anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” started as a poem by James Weldon Johnson. His brother, John Rosamund Johnson, set it to music in 1899. Anthems matter. A national anthem is a symbol that represents the history, beliefs, and traditions of a people. “Lift Ev’ry Voice…” is more […]
We knew that this would happen. It was unlikely that 17 Republican Senators would join with Democrats to convict Trump during his second impeachment. But when the verdict came in on Saturday, February 13, 2021–just over a month after a violent insurrection at the Capitol in support of the former president–it was still infuriating.
2021. The year of reclamation. Like many others, I have encountered more ebbs than flows this season, which has hurled me into the realms of uncertainty. And I know that I’m not alone. The nature of our times has Black people across the African Diaspora (re)questioning whether their Blackness is at odds with their faith. […]
Editor’s Note: Dominique Gilliard, author of Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores and the forthcoming book Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege (to be released on August 24, 2021), has graciously compiled a list of his recommended reading and viewing for Black History Month 2021. You can read his list from last year […]
