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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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.
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.
After the chaos of 2020, we all have been looking forward to 2021…welp…
The white nationalism cloaked in self-righteous Jesus worship absent Christ-likeness has been enthroned as the state religion in America yet corrupting many expressions of Christianity beyond her shores and is such a telling indictment. So many of the Christian voices I’d come to love and respect have become loudly complicit in this dangerous religious circus and Jesus cult that many are growing increasingly despondent of.
We asked for your reflections on the insurrection at the Capitol. Here’s what some of our readers had to say.
Let’s be clear, y’all: January 6 was a lot, but sometimes you have to (trauma) laugh to keep from crying. Thankfully, Black Twitter never disappoints. Here are some of the dopest (Safe For Work) tweets and memes that we have curated that brought some hilarity the insurrection.
In times when those who are in authority refuse to deal with oppression (even within Church), still we rise. As we push back against oppression, it is important for each of us to prioritize our mental health, especially during particularly trying times. We see you. We value you. Most of all, we want to see you flourish.
Here is a list of songs curated by our staff to help you lament, pray, and heal.
“…I believe that I speak on behalf of millions of Black Americans when I say: We BEEN told y’all.”
What we saw at the Capitol is a natural consequence of the white supremacy that has been loud and “proud” in American society for the past four years. When white supremacy doesn’t get what it believes will most speedily accomplish its ends, it becomes destructive.
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 […]
