White Space Maintaining black dignity in white space is the name of the game of life for a black person in the Anglo-American realm. Conversational and cultural norms are undoubtedly white in this realm. This can be brutal in its exhaustion and confusion and can be seriously disorienting for black folk working and living in this space. Once a black American enters white space, which is usually located right outside of their door, they are instantly an...
Americans don’t like talking about slavery and its aftermath. Of course, many countries and peoples have their truly dark chapters, and none of their citizens “like” talking about those things either. But as is often the case, we do things different in America. Whereas Germany criminalizes holocaust denial and has erected an ineluctable memorial in the center of Berlin for Holocaust victims, and whereas Rwanda has constructed a similar memorial space for the Tutsi lives nearly...
At the table sat seven fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, and the other three apostles who at the very least were Jews. If you’re like me and grew up in 21st century United States, then that probably wasn’t the most eyebrow raising description. Except for the tax collectors, because I don’t think the majority of us have happy feelings when we think of the IRS. But what was it actually like? The fishermen were...
If one member suffers, all suffer together; – 1 Corinthians 12:26 I’m going to be addressing an issue that I couldn’t possibly hope to fully articulate nor cover in a single post, so I’d like to ask for grace in that from all parties reading before I get started. What I do hope to address is the rather vitriolic nature that is brought out among the body when it is discussed, which is divisive in...
In light of the Walter Scott and Eric Harris killings, along with the #ShutdownA14 protests against police brutality this past week, I’d like to share an excerpt from my essay entitled, “To Establish Justice at The Gates”, which was published in the Los Angeles Review of Books earlier this month. How can I be well, when my sister is not well; how can I not be well if my brother has found love? […] in this concept, when...
I’m fortunate enough to be doing my graduate work at a small, liberal arts college in Southern California, where, in the middle of January, I get to walk to and from class in temperatures ranging from sixty-five to eighty degrees. In all honesty, if you’re running late or forget a book, this walk can seem to be, in the moment, an annoyance. That being said, when I’m not sweating, trying to make it to teach...
This is a story about the stories we tell ourselves every time we turn on the television, and every time we leave our homes. They’re the stories we tell whenever we see someone and assume we know who they are, what they’re about, before we’ve met them, before we’ve heard the actual stories that make them who they are. The Zimmerman trial ended a week ago, and there’s been a strong reaction to the verdict. I haven’t...
A few months ago I was walking down the streets of Berkeley. The sun was setting, and as the city darkened I threw my purse around my neck in order to hold on a little tighter. There weren’t many people out and about so as I watched an African American male dressed in dark colors with a hat on approach me from a couple blocks away, my heart started to race just a bit. The...
Let me begin with a bit of full disclosure. I’m black. My wife is white. And we’re going to have our first child this summer. This commercial obviously hits close to home. That being said, the following post about the Cheerios commercial is, surprisingly, not going to be about race or the ensuing “shitstorm” it’s causing online. If you haven’t already heard, the commercial shows a biracial child asking her white mother a question and...
On November 6th, Barack Obama was reelected faster than Thai food was delivered to my election night party. Though it is still obvious that our country is split down the middle, the election easily went to the Democratic Party. The people have spoken, and I think it’s time for Americans to accept this shift of American culture. So the question is, what does this mean for the Christian? This past week I saw many reactions...
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