Sara is an opinion writer for the Spring 2024 Sojourners Journalism Cohort. Learn more about the program.
Sara Augustin is a native of Rockland County, N.Y., but currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. No matter her geographical location, Haitian blood always runs through her veins.
She has worked in numerous fields: education, book publishing, technical writing, and more recently, as a research fellow for the Library of Congress.
Sara received her undergraduate degree at Syracuse University, where she studied English and textual Studies. she is currently a student at Emory University, where she is pursuing a Master of Theological Studies (MTS) at the Candler School of Theology. Her research is at the intersection of womanism, literature, and popular culture.
When she isn’t writing, you can find Sara reading fiction, listening to Emeli Sandé, watching women’s basketball, buying more purple things, or ripstiking. Laughter is her birthright and joy, her daily goal.
Posts By This Author
Olympic Chaplains — Not Street Evangelists — Offer Spiritual Care in Paris
Olympic rings are displayed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, ahead of the event, on July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
As a dedicated sports fan, I am extremely excited to watch this year’s lineup of the 2024 Summer Olympics, starting in Paris on Friday, July 26. The U.S. women’s basketball team is competing for their 8th consecutive gold medal; Simone Biles may just win it all — again; and though I know nothing of the sport, I am always excited to catch a fencing bout. However, as a Christian, I am also paying close attention to the ways in which religion is being utilized — for good and for bad — at this year’s Olympic Games.
Haitian Refugees Are Not Dogs: Learning From the Canaanite Woman
Trucks transporting detained undocumented leave an immigration detention center in the Dominican Republic to be deported on May 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Henry Romero
Despite the familiarity of home, Haitian citizens are attempting to leave their country to flee to the United States and neighboring countries in hopes of a better life. Some Haitians are doing this illegally. But what does it mean to enter a country illegally? What are we to make of borders and those who seek to cross them?
Does God Have a Favorite Sports Team?
South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley celebrates with the team after the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. Sunday, March 10, 2024. Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters.
After the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team won the NCAAW championship on April 7, 2024, the team’s deeply emotional head coach Dawn Staley attributed the historic win to God: “We serve an unbelievable God — we serve an unbelievable God.” Staley continued, “Uncommon favor, unbelievable.”
What does “uncommon favor” mean exactly? Typically, that phrase has been used in church spaces to denote an unexpected blessing. In Staley’s case, we find her crediting God for blessing her and the Gamecocks with a national championship.
Is this uncommon favor?
Black Girls Are Dancing to Reclaim Their Sacred Worth
Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter dancing during her mom’s Renaissance Tour in 2023. Credit: BANG Showbiz via Reuters Connect.
My “For You” page is dancing again. Coming off the release of Beyoncé’s country album, Cowboy Carter, the TikTokers have taken center screen and are imitating line dances in celebration of her new sound. Sheepishly, I have been attempting to join in. I don’t dance. Or I should say I do not dance well. I’ve never been classically trained, I’ve got two left feet, and I still have to silently mutter the steps to the electric slide to stay on beat. I’ve consistently struggled to find my rhythm, but I dance anyway.