In the summer of 2017, I had the privilege of touring Washington, D.C. and Virginia. As I imagine happens to many travelers from the West Coast, I was taken aback by the richness of history found as one approaches the epicenter of our nation’s birth. On one of our excursions, my family and I took […]
Welp…Black History Month is wildin once again…As much as we try to stay away from talking about every instance of racism, we couldn’t let this one slide. A few days ago, a viciously racist letter that was sent Pastor Dwight McKissic became public. Shortly after it was shared for the world to see, the letter […]
As we begin Black History Month, we are releasing a special interview about our willingness to be ourselves regardless of what society says. Our guest today is writer, activist, and speaker A.D. Thomason. A.D. is on to speak about his new book Permission to Be Black. AD is a three time award winning filmmaker and […]
Whenever someone significant to the Black community passes away, my whole world stops. My heart starts beating in a different rhythm and I have to drop everything I’m doing, sometimes even if I can’t afford to. I constantly refresh my social media feed and take in every tribute I can find from people who loved […]
Black History Month is a too often missed opportunity for religious formation. There is an abundant history of marginalized people in the Bible and the history of faith. We capitulate to white norms when we simply pick handfuls of masters to place on a pedestal instead of preparing for God’s communal work of liberation. February’s […]
Dear Black Christian in a predominantly white or “multiethnic” church, I want to start by saying that I value you. I don’t look down on you because I grew up in the Black Church and currently attend a Black church. I’m not trying to be one of those “woker-than-thou” types who refuse to consider any […]
“Do you trust me enough to let me vindicate you?” Did you vindicate my people when they died fighting for their freedom from the most brutalized form of slavery? Did you vindicate them when the French kidnapped and killed their leader? When white Americans sided with their oppressors and imposed fines on them that lead […]
Over the past four years, many of us saw the worst side of those we thought we knew well. Relationships went awry, and long-standing friendships were irreparably damaged as America’s political climate revealed old ideologies under a new face: Donald Trump. What we saw throughout the Trump administration shouldn’t be solely attributed to him. Still, […]
History bears witness that white supremacy and Christianity in America are inextricably linked. White supremacy isn’t a fringe idea; it is the status quo. White evangelicals told on themselves because they chose to absolve their own guilt when the moment came to speak. Instead of defending the voiceless and the powerless, they sought to clear their own collective name.
Jemar Tisby and I are sitting in an apartment near Central Park on the Upper West Side. It’s November, the year is 2018, and the air is crisp, if not downright cold. In a couple of months, Tisby’s debut book, The Color of Compromise, will be released. Two years prior to this conversation, Donald Trump […]
If your inbox looked anything like mine in 2020, almost every email you got—save maybe the ones from Target—greeted you with, “I hope this email finds you well in these unprecedented times.” If your church was anything like mine in 2020, many of the prayers your pastor prayed started with something like: “Lord, your people […]
This post originally appeared on Joel’s personal blog and appears here with a few minor edits. You can read the original post here. I know that free speech is patently misunderstood, as illustrated by much of the recent popular discourse on this theme. This piece isn’t a reflection on its legal or constitutional definition, nor […]
Content Warning: This post contains a description of domestic violence. As we approach the inauguration of Joe Biden and the official end to the Trump regime, it is important for us to take stock of what the past four years have meant for Black Christians. For some of us, these last four years have meant […]
Atatiana Koquice Jefferson isn’t a name that will live in infamy. It’s likely that her name won’t end up in any history textbooks. And her name certainly wasn’t in the mouths of the news anchors on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. No. No one seemed to be thinking about Atatiana that day. But I was. More […]
Happy MLK Day! In honor of the famed civil rights icon who is often whitewashed, often sanitized, often vilified; we have a special treat for you. On April 16, 1963, Dr. King wrote a lengthy letter to a coalition of white clergymen from a narrow jail cell in Birmingham, after being arrested by the police […]
Growing up in Black churches, I remember hearing the phrase “There ain’t no salvation in the grave.” In my mind, this well-worn phrase served as an attempt to describe how fragile human life is while considering the eternal and urgent work of the Gospel. The fragility of human life has been made even plainer when […]
We started the Cultural Artifacts episodes in 2015 because we wanted to encompass the awesome things — books, albums, podcasts, sermons, people, events, movies, TV shows, and so on — that we’ve consumed in a given year. (Here’s the kicker: it doesn’t have to come out in the given year. It just has to be consumed in the given year.
Black un-dignity is a gift from God because it’s a stumbling block to the indignity of racism. God has given Black people the beauty of our culture for the ashes of oppression.
The Jesus signs and Christian imagery carried by the insurrectionists turned many a stomach, but it also does us the favor of further differentiating between Christ’s true disciples and Cultural Christians. The former are pliable clay in the Master’s hands; the latter are silly putty in the hands of corrupt leaders.
After the chaos of 2020, we all have been looking forward to 2021…welp…