If we walk through Latin America and Caribe, and of course Africa and Europe, wherever black people are present, we see how much they are below the possibilities of ascension, trapped in the lowest classes of social scale. Some nations where there are black people in the population, even if in incipient number in some of them, are Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Brazil. In all the nations cited, blacks are inserted in the lowest social strata. Therefore, we must ask an important question: Why in Latin America and Caribe black people are always in disadvantage?

“There is nowhere a human being should be allowed to enslave others.”

This is a statement made by Burundian Catholic Archbishop Simon Ntamwana, referring to the Burundian president who was seeking an extra term in power. The archbishop was implicitly calling the president's actions unjust and unacceptable.

Indeed, the term limit crisis in Africa needs to be considered in the same light as the liberation, decolonization, and democratization movements against slavery and apartheid. Similarly to those struggles in history, today's term limit crisis in Africa is characterized by people struggling against oppression and political injustice.

Allan Boesak is not only a South African theologian; he is a true son of the African soil and a world renown ecumenical and public figure. Since his return from abroad after obtaining his doctorate in theology at Kampen, Holland, in 1976 he has had a tremendous influence on theological and socio-political discourse globally.

Bandi Mbubi 2-16-2016

I recently spent a week on Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years imprisonment. The Warehouse gathered together about 80 peace activists from around the world and South Africa to discuss, reflect, and meditate about the struggle against the apartheid system. Robben Island is now a World Heritage protected museum visited by thousands of tourists every year. It is used to teach current and future generations about lessons from this painful episode of South African history. Standing in those tiny prison cells, I travelled back in time and imagined life under apartheid: the mere injustice of the system, the dehumanizing treatment, the humiliation.

Christin Taylor 2-15-2016

The couple has found that part of their calling in these schools is not just to the children, but also to the teachers who serve those children. Cheryl has taken to performing regular acts of kindness for the teachers — showing up in the teachers’ lounge with a plate of cookies, or stopping by the main office to give a hug to the administrator in charge of discipline.

“I tell her, ‘I’m sure you’ve had a rough day today. Can I give you a hug?’ I just never knew it would make such a difference. [They] feel so supported,” said Cheryl.

Ryan Hammill 2-15-2016

The men in black uniforms stand behind their prisoners, who kneel on the beach. The kneeling men wear bright orange jumpsuits. The men wearing black, terrorists affiliated with ISIS, hold knives. A subtitle on the video reads: “The people of the cross, the followers of the hostile Egyptian church.” The spokesman addresses the camera, and then the prisoners are beheaded.

Micah Bales 2-15-2016

For years, I’ve had a rocky relationship with the news. I love to know what’s going on in the world, but I can’t help but notice that the news sources I read all present the story from a definite slant. More and more over the last couple years, I’ve felt like I’m doing battle with the newspaper every morning. Each day, the media machine is telling me who I should vote for, what to buy, what new disease to fear, and who my country should kill.

Richard Wolf 2-15-2016

The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a major setback for the conservative legal movement, as will become clear in the months ahead.

This was to be the term conservatives roared back after one in which the court’s liberal bloc won most of the important cases, such as same-sex marriage and Obamacare. On tap to be decided in the next four months are cases affecting abortion rights, affirmative action, voting rights, the power of labor unions and President Obama’s health care and immigration policies — and conservatives stood at least a chance of winning them all.

Courtney Hall Lee 2-14-2016

Rev. Michael Piazza is well known for developing Dallas’s Cathedral of Hope, the first predominantly LGBT church in the country. The Cathedral of Hope grew from a store-front church into a megachurch with a message of inclusivity, love, and justice. I am taking a class taught by Rev. Piazza this semester, and with us he recently shared a compelling insight. Rev. Piazza believes that America will have another Great Awakening. 

I think that the time for that awakening could be right now, and Beyoncé’s documentary does a stellar job of showing us why.

the Web Editors 2-14-2016

Rape. Domestic Violence. Acid Burnings. Female Infanticide. Human Trafficking. Emotional Abuse. Sexual Harassment. Genital Mutilation. These are just a few forms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) that women and girls endure on a daily basis. But these assaults on the human spirit and sacred worth of women and girls will not have the last word.