Posts Tagged ‘Racial Justice’
The Confederate Flag Is Coming Down! Charleston Terror & The Power Of Love
The Charleston legislature voted to make the Confederate flag a relic of the past! Inside I cheered! Then, I paused and took a moment to reflect on the agony and the ecstasy of recent weeks. We celebrated in the midst of grief as we gained marriage equality. When throngs kissed and danced in the street…
Read MoreWhy I Advocate For LGBT People Of Color
Every Sunday, many African American gays worship in churches that preach hate and prejudice against them. We sit in silence in the pews even though we are tithing members of the congregation. After Antonia Pantoja, my partner and colleague for 30 years, died of cancer in 2002, I came to understand just how much the…
Read MoreA Reflection On The Recent Shootings In Charleston
As a pastor of a prominently African American Church, the recent shootings that took place in Mother Emanuel, the oldest African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in the South, continue to remind us that racism is alive, screaming and kicking. According to a survivor, the shooter said, “You rape our women and are taking over our…
Read MoreLifting Up Prayers For The Black Community Following Charleston Massacre
Late on Wednesday evening a white gunman fatally shot nine black people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina before fleeing the scene and evading local police. Anti-black violence in places of worship is nothing new. The most infamous of these attacks was the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist…
Read MoreRemembering Mario Cooper
The email took me by surprise. Sean Strub, the founder of POZ magazine, asked if I would write a few words about our friend Mario Cooper. “What happened to Mario?” I wrote back obliviously. Before Sean had time to respond, I called my friends Maurice Franklin and Phill Wilson and found out for myself. Our…
Read MoreWhen God Met Me On The Bridge
Often times we think that we have to walk into the sanctuary, sit two rows back from the altar and just wait for our “aha” moment to realize what our purpose is, but that isn’t always the case. On March 5, 2015, I loaded two overly packed suitcases into one of three vans and headed…
Read MoreWhere Have All the Black Men Gone?
A few weeks ago I was stunned by a front page New York Times article headlined, “1.5 Million Black Men, Missing from Daily Life.” As troubling as the recent deaths of young black men at the hands of law enforcement have been, they serve as tragic examples of a larger trend of our own “disappeared,”…
Read MoreWhy The Reformation Project’s Atlanta Conference Will Start With A Racial Justice Institute
In her keynote address at The Reformation Project’s D.C. Regional conference last November, Rev. Allyson Robinson exhorted Christians in the affirming Church to consider and overcome the “temptation to power,” the temptation to think the LGBT issue is the only gospel issue we should focus on. She asked what kind of Church will we become,…
Read MoreRev. Dr. Gerald Trigg: A Lifetime Of Biblical Obedience
Rev. Dr. Gerald Trigg was a minister who not only understood, but lived Biblical Obedience through his support of civil rights and later LGBTQ advocacy. He died at 81 years old this week but he left a life-long ministry of social justice work that speaks well of this United Methodist leader. In 1963, Rev. Trigg…
Read MoreSupreme Court Marriage Ruling: No Silver Bullet For LGBT Equality
As we await rulings from the Supreme Court on four marriage equality cases, it is no coincidence that so-called “religious freedom restoration” acts are popping up across the country to sanction discrimination by businesses, employers and public officials. Echoes of the civil rights movement serve as an important reminder that marriage is not a fix-all.…
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