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New Birth and Jamal Bryant: Time for the Black Church To Address Its Culture of Sexism, Misogyny and Homophobia
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted.” –Acts 3:19 Rev. Jamal Bryant, the former pastor of Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church, has inherited the pulpit of the late Bishop Eddie Long. While the public has speculated about both Bryant’s and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s motivations for this move or whether Long’s son had applied for the…
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#Election2016: Trump Ain't New, and Clinton Ain't Savior
“To not vote for Hillary is to vote for Trump” is a refrain that liberals have championed this election season. It often rears its ugly head when leftists or black radicals denounce the two-party system, raising significant concerns about Hillary Clinton’s neoliberal tactics alongside Donald Trump’s rabid racism. It also appears when folks deeply question…
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To Black Church Folks Just Waking Up: A Welcome and a Warning
The past few weeks have been rough. We are dying daily, and yet many of you have been sound asleep. You saw Mike Mike’s body lying in the middle of Canfield Green in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9, 2014, but you did not “cry aloud and spare not.” Some of you prayed, and others recited…
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#AltonSterling: Black People and Our Collective Hustle to Survive
The police killed another black man on Tuesday. His name was Alton Sterling, and he lived in Baton Rouge, La. For most black folks, trying to make it from paycheck to paycheck is a hard reality. The perils of poverty, anti-black racism, intergenerational traumas and compounding structural inequalities make the day-to-day hustles—whatever they might be—necessary.…
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Election 2016: Do Black Lives Matter to 3rd-Party Options?
On June 22, I attended CNN’s Libertarian Party town hall featuring Govs. Gary Johnson and Bell Weld. I was hesitant to attend because I am exhausted by this election. Chatter that privileges certain voices, monetizes certain platforms and disparages those who can recognize the bulls—t is the white noise that my black ears refuse. Black…
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#PulseShooting: A Homegoing for Our (Queer) Dead
Last week I attended a church member’s funeral. Hues of black and brown formed a beautiful palette as the saints marched in their white-and-black vestments. White for the sacredness of the one to whom the service was dedicated, and black for their anguish. The preacher read Scriptures as the family processioned into the church. This…
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Stand With Her: Black Men as Anti-Rape Activists
In the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement, I often wonder where are the black men mobilizing against sexual violence against black women? Have we hidden—like the biblical David—away from the eyes of our communities because we are secretly invested in rape culture? Are we afraid because we do not actually know what sexual…
