The Metaphor: So, I planted a rosebush next to my mailbox. I thought it would be a beautiful thing. I thought it would grow up and have pretty pink flowers and like so many of my neighbors’ mailbox flora would … Continue reading “The Rosebush and the Root”
1444 marks the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade. This is when the Portuguese transported the first Africans to Europe as slaves. By 1526 they expanded their reach and delivered their first shipload of enslaved Africans to Brazil. In 1619 … Continue reading Slavery and the Roots of Racism/White Supremacy
I hold each kernel between my fingers. The seeds were planted close together, and, in order to reap the benefit of each new start, I must separate the small plants. Because they are so close, very little dirt adheres to … Continue reading The Ongoing Work of Growing Things
If we truly seek harmony in these yet to be United States, we must stop the hagiography of its founding and fix the fragmentation built into this nation of our cohabitation. Continue reading Racist Roots of a Revolutionary Nation
“Please, we need your help. We have recently suffered from the worst of possible tragedies, of which we had no part in this most unfortunate matter that has been so egregious and damaging to our crops, property, and livestock. Our … Continue reading Remorse, Taking Responsibility, and Reparations
Racial reconciliation has been “a thing” in the church over the course of the last several decades following the Civil Rights Movement. The Promise Keepers took a shot at it more than 25 years ago and made racial reconciliation its … Continue reading Repentance Through Reparations: The Path to Racial Reconciliation
“I don’t see color.” I can clearly hear and picture myself saying these words. This memory makes me cringe now, and that’s okay with me. That’s part of growth. And I am so grateful for the opportunity to have learned … Continue reading I See Color
It was a nice, suburban, country club of a church. Not just ordinary niceness, but professionally polished, customer-service-type niceness being provided by a cheerful, uniformed team of multiethnic ambassadors. Some held signs directing the flow of traffic in one hand … Continue reading White Jesus, Black Judas: We See You See Color
Othering is a way that we create distance between ourselves and other human beings. Operating from an “us versus them” mentality, it can be a form of denial and a crafty defense mechanism. I co-facilitate a workshop with Dr. Alana … Continue reading I’m not like “those people”
Three-Fifths 