Relevant Articles

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free! While over forty states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, many think it should be a national holiday. Read more about why we should consider this.

Culture and Justice

Our website has, among our resources, links to a report that looks at the violent history of lynching in America. One of the results of this era of racial terrorism was the Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1970, six million black Americans fled the South to escape lynching, unfair labor practices, and harsh segregationist laws. This summer, we invite you to join us in learning about this era by reading Isabel Wilkerson's award-winning history, The Warmth of Other Suns. Mark your calendar for a book discussion on the evening of Sunday, September 20.

In this post, we have a guest blogger, McAlister Merchant. McAlister was the first African-American student to graduate from an all-white Catholic boys high school in Chicago. He started there in 1957 on a scholarship, well before Martin Luther King Jr's efforts came to prominence. McAlister was at the pushing, shoving, bleeding edge of integration, but overcame his situation peaceably, successfully, and with grace.

Culture and Justice

The recent murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, brings to mind the ugly history of lynching in America. Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), defines lynching as "a racially motivated act of violence committed by two or more people where there is no accountability." Lynchings were brutal acts of torture, often in public, designed to terrorize black people. State and federal officials generally looked the other way. EJI has documented more than 4400 lynchings of black people in the United States between 1877 and 1950.

COVID-19 and Race

Galations 6:2 says, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." I think this verse is all about empathy. To me, I carry someone else's burden when I try to really understand what they are experiencing and bear witness to their pain. In doing so, perhaps I can share their load. I was recently watching a webinar titled What the COVID-19 Crisis Tells Us about Structural Racism.

Scripture and Justice

In the first session of our Justice, Kindness, and Humility Bible Study, our speaker calls up an image from Handel's Messiah that I think is fitting to reflect on as we prepare for Holy Week. In teaching us about a biblical theology of justice, the Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero refers to the movement "Ev'ry valley shall be exalted," which in turn quotes Isaiah 40:3-4: "A voice of one calling: 'In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.'"

COVID-19 and Race

The King County Department of Health has published some simple advice on addressing stigmas and the coronavirus.

https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/communicable-diseases/disease-control/novel-coronavirus/~/media/depts/health/communicable-diseases/documents/coronavirus-and-stigma.ashx
 

COVID-19 and Race

Pastor Scott Dudley has told us that Christians in ancient times were known for rushing in to help during times of plague while everyone else was rushing out. Here's a podcast episode from Christianity Today that shares some of the history of Christian compassion for those suffering and the Christian connection to public health.

Scripture and Justice

What do you see when you look out the window? What do you see when you look in the mirror? I first learned to think about these questions in a new way at the Frames and Filters workshop led by Tali Hairston. (This concept was first introduced by Emily Style for the National SEED Project.) Tali explained that when I look in the mirror, I see myself reflected back. When I look through a window, I see how others experience the world.

As a member of the dominant culture (white, native-born American), when I look at movies, magazines, TV, and books, I'm usually looking into a mirror. I get to see my own experiences reflected back a lot. Seeing yourself reflected in the world around you is great for building identity and self-worth. But what if you're not part of the dominant culture? Too often, you're looking through windows and seeing the experiences of others. This is great for building empathy and learning about others, but it is isolating when you rarely see yourself reflected. The truth is, we need both windows and mirrors in our lives.

Scripture and Justice

When we work together to seek racial justice and healing and reconciliation, we often encounter stories of struggle and suffering. We turn on the tv or open the newspaper and we mourn for the vulnerable and the marginalized: refugees fleeing their homelands and seeking shelter in camps or new countries, children separated from their parents as their families seek asylum, unarmed young black men being shot, victims of mass shootings targeted because of their ethnicity or religion. What do we do with the heartbreak we feel when we encounter these stories? The place to start is with lament. But what does it mean to lament?

In his book, Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times, Dr. Soong-Chan Rah examines in detail the most famous lament in the Bible. The book of Lamentations is a response to the suffering of the people of Jerusalem after their city has been destroyed and most of its inhabitants have been taken away into exile. Over the course of his analysis, Dr. Rah outlines many facets of lament.

Culture and Justice

When we hear the name Malcolm X, a variety of adjectives comes to mind: black nationalist, Muslim, radical, civil rights leader, and for others, racist.

Few people who have an opinion on Malcolm X actually know that who he was in the beginning of his career, was dramatically different by his tragic end. His story is that of transformation. Malcolm, at his end, left the Nation of Islam and became a Sunni Muslim and was very publicly for the brotherhood of all people as God's creation.

Search This Site

Tag Cloud

Blog Categories