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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The history of African Americans does not begin with slavery. However, that’s what African American students are likely to believe while matriculating through many of this nation’s public schools. Their miseducation instills in them the view that they are an inferior people whose historical heritage starts in slavery. Their miseducation proliferates while at the...
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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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As I continue exploring alternative ways of being in this world, I’m excited by people and groups who have moved past theoretical olympics or revolutionary diatribes against what is and into practical applications of what can be. I’m less concerned if these practitioners are perfect in the execution of their ideas. I’m more focused...
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Last week I attended an urban agriculture conference organized by Engaged Community Offshoots, Inc. (ECO) and hosted at the United States Department of Agriculture. ECO is an organization which “seeks to reverse the effects of systemic poverty, racism, and environmental destruction through establishing and promoting social venture community-based businesses.” My friends at Baltimore Food...
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As I type this, I’m sitting on the roof of a hostel in the breeze of a cool Jerusalem night. My group has recently retired for the evening after a long two days of travel. I’m here in East Jerusalem with a delegation from Interfaith Peace Builders - an organization that focuses on education...
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As I continue on this journey of simple living, I’ve been encouraged by way of documentaries and books to ask the question, “Where does my food come from?” I mean really. Whose hands are responsible for killing, cleaning, arranging, and bagging what I just ordered off of the menu and am about to put...
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