I am not here to debate abortion. In fact, I’m not even going to share my own complex views on this issue because what I think really doesn’t matter. Instead, I’m here to talk about the weaponization of Black women’s bodies in the abortion discussion. The morning after the 2016 election, I sat in my […]
Tag: Featured
It feels like yesterday (It just happened in March. What is time anymore?!) that we were minding our own business trying to navigate the ever-changing nature of this pandemic and people who didn’t want to wear their masks and…I digress…when social media lit up with a video from Kirk Franklin’s son, Kerrion Franklin. The video […]
In this episode, Tyler and Jemar are joined by artist, creative, and writer Sho Baraka! Sho just released He Saw That It Was Good, a collection of essays on the topics of work and creation. The conversation begins by discussing this book and how important it is for this moment. But…the dialogue took a turn. […]
Comedian and actress Mo’Nique recently posted an Instagram saying she was in an airport in ATL when she saw sistas with bonnets, scarves, slippers and blankets wrapped around them. She felt that what she saw was somehow robbing us of our pride. I’m here to reshape the narrative and tell y’all this couldn’t be further […]
The Black church is at the center of emancipatory events like Juneteenth. In her book On Juneteenth, Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed wrote, “Black Texans were determined, despite the early intimidating anger of Whites, to celebrate what was initially called Emancipation Day. Most of the first celebrations were in churches.” These first celebrations reveal […]
In junior high and high school whenever the teacher would assign a group project, typically only a couple of people in the group really did the work. The rest of the group found ways to extricate themselves from actually contributing to the project and simply celebrated when a good grade came back. Now that Juneteenth […]
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Alice Walker By now, I am sure you have heard that Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open [Please take some time to research her full background before coming to strong opinions on her…some of the loudest voices have […]
Buckle up! We have the incredible Dr. Anthea Butler with us today to talk about her new book White Evangelical Racism. Dr. Butler joins Tyler and Jemar to talk about the importance of understanding social and political power, the popularity of a multi-ethnic approach to racial reconciliation, and so much more. This is not one […]
In November 2020, the American Psychological Association reported that depression and anxiety were at an all-time high last year because of the pandemic. I don’t know how it was for y’all, but 2020 seemed to reveal issues that had long been hidden and to resurrect problems that we thought were dead. For me, the past […]
“Meditate and learn to be alone without being lonely…Learn to be quiet enough to hear the sound of the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in other people…A few minutes every hour, a half-hour every day, a day a month, a week a year-in dedicated silence-is a goal to pursue.” Marian Wright […]
This Behind the Mic was too good not to share! Tyler and Jemar talk about the cost of reconstruction after #LeaveLOUD, give a candid look at our democracy, and costly soul care in this moment. In 2018, the New York Times published an article tiled: A Quiet Exodus: Why Black Worshipers Are Leaving White Evangelical […]
Let me keep it buck: church hurt sucks. And when you #LeaveLOUD, church hurt often comes with a side of racial trauma. A lot of us who have left toxic white churches have attempted to put on a brave front. We have mustered what was left of our dignity and worked to distance ourselves from […]
Today we have a special interview for you! Our host Tyler Burns recently interviewed Danielle Coke, also known as @ohhappydani, to talk about creative anti-racism in a world of injustice. In the conversation, they talked about her journey, her own #LeaveLOUD story, and how disruptive creativity can enhance the cause of anti-racism. Be sure to […]
I rest in confidence that raising and guiding my Black children is the most significant form of antiracist activism that I will ever engage in. I also rest in confidence that I have equipped my children with the tools to go into the world and treat their neighbors with genuine concern, showing particular care for […]
Jemar is BACK! Returning from his brief hiatus, Jemar and Tyler give you the official explainer of what #LeaveLOUD really is and who it is for. We know you have questions, so we’re taking time to answer as many as we can. We answer the questions: -Are we saying all Black people HAVE to leave? […]
History records (read: lies) that Emmet Till catcalled Carolyn Bryant one fateful summer day in 1955. That damning lie affirmed one of the oldest racist ideas ever formulated and justified fourteen-year-old Till’s murder. The lie was grounds for Bryant’s husband and brother-in-law’s acquittal by the “justice” system. The lie was accepted as fact for decades. […]
I think that it is very hard to know where or even what our next step is when we #LeaveLOUD. Many of us find ourselves wandering in the wilderness; the space between our previous spiritual community and our next church home. Leaving an unhealthy church and entering into the wilderness gives a sense of freedom, […]
Dignity. I remember the first time that I encountered the concept of retaining, maintaining, and protecting my dignity in majority culture (read: white Evangelical) churches. It was either during a Pass the Mic or Truth’s Table podcast. I felt this new idea on a level so deep that it scared me. I knew that even […]
This past week, the world paused and held its collective breath, waiting for the verdict in the Derek Chauvin Trial. Almost a year after Chauvin placed his knee on George Floyd’s neck, and killed him for all the world to see, his verdict was read. Is this justice? Will this lead to lasting change? Is […]
This summer, I protested the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor starting and ending at the same place Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated – the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. I had my mask on while we walked around downtown, sometimes kneeling and praying for the lives lost and that […]