Ask most people about the “civil rights” movement and you’re likely to eventually hear the names of men woven into their response. Without proper perspective, one could grow up in this country believing that the fight for “civil rights” was led, organized, and executed solely by men. Deeper study, however, will reveal that in...
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I was surveyed this morning about how the urban food movement can improve and more specifically about what the Chesapeake Urban Farming Summit could address in future gatherings. I sent the following note and I share it here hoping to provoke critical dialogue about the possibilities of the urban farming movement as it intersects...
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I remember it like it was yesterday. It wasn’t too long ago, but the emotional roller coaster was so terrifying that I’ll not soon forget the experience. I was in my first year of pastoring sitting at a Christian convention meeting at a West Baltimore church. The meeting portion of the mid-day program had...
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When you take a nearly 90% African American student population and you willfully ignore their culture while subjecting them to a European-American educational setting you set them up for psychological enslavement. The African student population is not permitted to engage in the process of knowing themselves, the story of their people on the map...
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This past Sunday in my sermon I couldn’t resist raising for my congregation’s consideration, the public “resignation” of Anne Rice from Christianity. The best-selling author of many vampire tales announced on her Facebook page last week that she was done with the Faith. She said: “Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I...
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Gardening is really finding its own special place in my life. I’m really becoming hooked on eating what I personally had a hand in growing. The congregation and community are catching on as well. I think it took folks a minute to understand that at this stage we are not selling our produce, we’re...
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Those of you who know me or have been reading my blog for a little while know that I have a heart for “Simple Living” – an alternative Way of life that juts against the grain of popular, consumeristic culture. This affinity for alternative living has engendered in me a deep appreciation for the...
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Casual study of some of the major state-sponsored atrocities of history will reveal that oftentimes there was religious representation somewhere in the mix that attempted to provide theological sanction for the vicious brutality being enacted on others. Somebody who claimed to speak in the name of God, provided “permission” or spiritual cover that would...
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In C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence Mamiya’s classic work on the Black Church, they rightly describe the character and nature of the “Black sacred cosmos.” Much more than just casual weekend activity or flippant denominational recognition; Christianity for practicing African Americans is so interwoven into personal and social identity that it’s hard just to...
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This is the second morning in a row where I’ve had fresh juice with breakfast. My family blessed me with a special gift this year for Father’s Day. Knowing my recent focus on living a holistically healthy and simpler life; they got me a juicer! Earlier this week my wife went to the local...
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