The Lansing Clergy Forum is issuing a call to action in Lansing about lethal force, racial injustice and the justice system. The Forum has called for a Town Hall Meeting Tuesday December 9th at 6:00pm at Union Missionary Baptist Church (500 S Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Lansing, MI 48915). I will be attending and […]
Love is not the Answer to America’s Race Problem
The sociological research book Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith shows how white evangelical Christians see the solution to America’s race problem coming at an individual level, not a systemic or legislative level (p.115, “Let’s Be Friends” chapter). The predominant thought is that if everyone became a Christian, the race problem would […]
Why the (White) Church Needs to Care About Eric Garner’s Death
Eric Garner, an unarmed African-American man, was choked to death by white police officers in New York City on July 17th. Yesterday a grand jury decided that no criminal charges would be brought against Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who choked Garner to death. Garner was suspected of selling untaxed cigarettes. What is so unique […]
Black Voices on Ferguson: Saints TE Ben Watson, Rapper Bizzle, Pastor Tyler St. Clair
Benjamin Watson, Tight End for the New Orleans Saints: From Ben Watson’s Facebook page: ( http://tinyurl.com/oo9szxv ) “At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After trying to figure out how I felt, I decided to write it down. Here are my […]
WKAR Current State Interview on Church in a Bar & Multiracial Church
I was interviewed today by Mark Bashore on WKAR’s Current State radio program. WKAR is Lansing’s NPR station. The interview covered doing church in a bar and purchasing alcohol for people, as well as our church’s mission to become a multiracial church and do racial reconciliation as a primary part of our mission:
What To Do With Your White Privilege Besides Feel Bad About It
This is not a blog post to try to help white people understand what white privilege is and/or to persuade them to acknowledge it and do something about it. I did a blog post a few months ago that did that. It was helpful for many and received flak from others. I used the analogy […]