Opinion
A man practices inside his car on one of the main street of Harlem in 2010. Photo: wagner stephane / Shutterstock.com
Two important promises I’ve made to myself: I will never again watch a video of a person being lynched by the police and I will not allow my writing to be used in a way that makes Black pain a spectacle.
A local resident walks along the “Say Their Names” cemetery on the day former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
By now the ritual is regrettably predictable. A public official approaches a podium emblazoned with an official seal, perhaps flanked by the flags of their city and state, and maybe the U.S. flag. Just outside the frame, the shutters of a dozen cameras snap, capturing the official’s somber expression and ever-so-gently bowed head.
Police officers stand guard as people demonstrate outside the Ohio State House after an officer shot and killed a teenage girl in Columbus, Ohio, on April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Gaelen Morse
Chauvin’s conviction was a relief, but our policing and justice systems still need a radical overhaul.
Balmeet Singh. Photo by Simrin Singh.
At Darbar-E-Khalsa, a large celebration of Guru Gobind Singh Ji in Southern California, I invited members of the community to tell me about their struggles and triumphs as Sikh Americans. These are their faces and stories.
Stanisha Land receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Ill., on February 13, 2021. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski
Given that people of color are most likely to die from COVID-19, will those of us who are white Christians choose to get the vaccine in order to practice the selfless love Jesus demonstrated for his disciples? If we’re following Jesus, then the answer to the question of whether or not to get vaccinated must be yes.
On Clubhouse and Instagram, some Black Christians blend practices of enslaved ancestors with traditional African religions.
Protesters hold signs at at Black Lives Matter demonstration in Omaha, Neb., in support of Daunte Wright on April 12, 2021. Photo by Aspect and Angles / Shutterstock.
Christians talk a lot about grace but we don't seem to have the same grace for everyone in the U.S. I’ve heard people say they feel sick for former Brooklyn Center police officer, Kim Potter, who despite serving 26 years on the police force, claimed she grabbed her gun by mistake, killing Daunte Wright just 2.5 miles from the Brooklyn Center Community Center where I went with my church youth group as a kid. Potter seems to automatically receive a lot of grace from the same people who say if Wright had just followed instructions, he would still be alive.
Asylum seeking migrants from Central America await transport on March 12, 2021 after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
This March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents encountered nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children at the U.S.-Mexico border — a record high. To many, this number was shocking; media outlets used militaristic language to describe the arriving minors as a “surge.” However, this influx is not surprising given seasonal migration patterns and the horrific immigration policies instated by the Trump administration — policies the Biden administration has not yet repealed. The current administration must address the immediate needs of people seeking refuge at the southern border while also tackling the root causes of forced displacement and migration: U.S. imperialism.
If you’ve heard white evangelical pundits lately, you’ll know there’s a dangerous “new” enemy threatening U.S. Christianity. If left unchecked, they say, this enemy will wreak havoc on traditional values and transform our entire nation into atheists. What is this growing enemy of evangelicals? Democratic socialism.
Award-winning author and preacher, Diana Butler Bass speaks with Rev. Jim Wallis about her latest book Freeing Jesus.
I believe the church is a critical and indispensable — though not exclusive — vehicle for sharing the good news and advancing God’s beloved community here on Earth. But last week, Gallup caused a stir when it released new research on the trends in Americans’ membership in houses of worship, which fell below 50 percent for the first time in the 80 years.
Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, senior pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, N.Y., and author of Witness to Grace: A Testimony of Favor, speaks with Rev. Jim Wallis about how to reject injustice and racial inequity.
Photo by Grant Whitty on Unsplash
Today begins the Paschal Triduum, the three days leading up to the celebration of Easter and Jesus’ triumphant resurrection. This year in particular, Holy Week is a reminder that we often have to linger in some suffering and struggle in order to fully appreciate the joy of Easter Sunday’s deliverance and liberation.
Jami Webb places flowers outside Young's Asian Massage following the deadly shootings in Acworth, Ga., March 19, 2021. Webb is the daughter of Xiaojie Tan, the owner of the spa who was killed in the shootings. REUTERS/Bita Honarvar
In the wake of the atrocities of March 16, Asians in the U.S. are beginning to mobilize en masse against the hatred directed at our community.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) speaks about how being a Black woman of faith sustains her work keeps her pursuing social and economical justice.
Photo by Danielle Cerullo on Unsplash
The deeply rooted white American need to be comfortable is keeping many organizations (nonprofit, faith-based, and other well-meaning organizations) from engaging in the messy, necessary work of addressing white supremacy.
Protesters gather outside of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta to protest a bill that placed tougher restrictions on voting in the state. March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Dustin Chambers
There’s a preacher in the house — or at least, in the Senate. “A vote is a kind of prayer — to God.” That’s what Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Georgia's first Black senator, said in his first floor speech in the Senate chamber. As many know, Warnock is also senior pastor at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once served. As Warnock made clear, voting rights is not just a political issue. It is also a faith issue — a spiritual test of whether we see in others the image of God, and thus extend the respect and dignity of a fair and free vote.
This sermon was edited from a message delivered Aug. 25, 2019 at Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis.
Last week was extraordinarily difficult for many Asian Americans. The trauma of the violence perpetrated against Asian women in Atlanta was the culmination of a yearlong spike in violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. An already fearful and silenced community was re-traumatized as police and media discounted the identity of the victims and centered the narrative on the challenges of the shooter.
People leave flowers outside Young's Asian Massage following the deadly shootings on March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
After his arrest, the man who confessed to shooting eight people told investigators that he suffered from sexual addiction and saw the massage parlors as “a temptation... that he wanted to eliminate.”