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Facing Racism, Embracing Hope Part II
Slavery. Convict leasing system. Sharecropping. Jim Crow. Restrictive housing covenants. Redlining. Eugenics. War on Drugs. Vietnam. Mass incarceration. Police brutality. 400 years of continual...
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Feigning Ignorance
In my brief 33 years of living, I have come across many people of all walks and stripes – conservatives, liberals, Christians, agnostic, men, women, rich and poor – who sincerely believe that blacks...
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The Danger of North Minneapolis’ Single Story: The Way We Talk About Black...
“Show a people as one thing and only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Danger of a Single Story. Dangerous. Crime ridden. Littered with trash...
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Black Gold
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. – Psalm 139.14, NASB I know that my identity as a black woman is affirmed...
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Do We Really Want Reconciliation? Or Are We Just Conflict Averse?
Can we all just get along? If you were around in the early 1990s, you would remember this challenge posed by Rodney King, a black man who was beaten by police officers in Los Angeles. To quell the...
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3 Things I’m Thinking About in Light of Orlando
It has been exactly a year since the horrific mass shooting took place in Charleston, North Carolina. As soon as I heard about this extreme act of terrorism against black bodies, I was quick to rush to...
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Your Vision of Racial Reconciliation is Inadequate
I see you. I see your facebook posts and tweets calling for racial reconciliation in light of last week’s compounding tragedies. I see your vision for unity and peace, for America to bridge the racial...
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Where Do We Go From Here? Maintaining Faith in the Midst of Suffering
“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him. For the help of his presence.” – Psalm 42.5 After another agonizing week of...
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White Church So Silent, White Church So Complicit
*A version of this post has been posted at RaceRhetoricandReligion. On Wednesday, I awoke to the news that Bethel University’s St. Paul, Minnesota campus – the school I attended for Seminary –...
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Fragmented Stories: On Love, Loss and Memory
Dear Granny. I’ve always loved you. I hope you understand that. Since I was a little girl, you were one of my most favorite people in the world. Your smile brought me great delight and your house, at...
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This Advent: Christ Is Here – May He Be Found In Us
As we finish off leftovers from Thanksgiving, we usher in another season of advent. And if you are like me, you too have also been wondering what this season means in light of the current political...
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Belonging and Survival
The human condition is predicated on the premise that we belong and are needed by others. In order to survive and live life well, we are dependent on the presence and generosity of those who surround...
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Choosing Life, One Generation at a Time
Today, I sit before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, so that you may live, you and your descendants. – Deuteronomy 30.14 The task that is laid before the people of every...
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Balancing Act: Facing Reality about Racism and Still Maintaining Hope
Racism is alive and well in the United States. Those who were in denial about it before for one reason or another, must come to grips with this sobering reality post 2016 election. We have not...
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With This Little Light
The candle that I hold in my hand is small and seemingly insignificant. In a room full of other light, it goes mostly unnoticed. But in times of darkness, such as a power outage, I search for its light...
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Tired: The Cries of a Weary People
I can see it in your eyes The fear which clouds every thought I can hear it in your words The anxiety laced in everything you say Fear of life itself And all of those who walk about it Anxious over the...
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Love. Hard. Period.
A teacher of the law asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Rather than answer his question, Jesus countered and asked the teacher to define the law himself and the teacher replied, “Love...
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Justice and the Kingdom of God
This past Sunday I had an opportunity to preach at Lighthouse Mpls Covenant Church where my wonderful friend, Dee McIntosh is the pastor. Check out the sermon in this video: Filed under: Advocacy,...
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Say Their Names: The Rizpah Inside All of Us
This post is the fourth installment in a series that I have been hosting called, “Say Their Names” which tells the stories of amazing women in the Bible who like our male heroes, exercised and operated...
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Black Gal White Guy: Aquittal of Jeronimo Yanez
Hey ya'll, I did my first podcast! Does that make me a podcaster now? What is the official terminology here? Anyhow, not important. What is important is the conversation. Head on over to the Mennonerds...
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