I guess I should start this off by saying that I believe that the attempt on 45’s life was staged (by him) in an attempt to generate feelings of sympathy & manipulate passions towards him days before the Republican National Convention. His media buzz was waning & the only thing that would garner him more attention than saying something incendiary would be for him to be attacked while getting ready to say something incendiary. It is difficult for me to believe that the same man who hired actors to play supporters as he announced his candidacy for the presidency, the same man who supported his former running mate, Mike Pence,…

“…And empty words are evil” – Homer For the women and men who have been blessed with the call of Divine upon their lives to preach, there is an invisible, unnoticed burden that all of them must carry. A two-fold weight that all who fancy themselves preachers will bear for the rest of their natural lives. Whether seasoned in the ministry or scribing the first sentence of their first sermon; there are two principle, perpetual tensions we all have to deal with.  The first tension we bear is the weight of our imperfections. We who presume to be called to preach wrestle with the truth that we all are flawed…

“Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge/I’m trying not to lose my head”-Kurtis Blow I wanted to do something nice for myself. The week leading up to Sunday morning had been particularly long one. Meetings and ministry obligations, sick visits and symposiums, sermon prep and sudden predicaments as far as one could see on the calendar. Following a very beautiful and intense move of the Holy Spirit during our worship experience, I (in no explicitly deep type of way) was just tired.  In the name of self care (a ministry which I have recommitted myself to), I decided that the best way for me to recharge before I went…

-It is so hot!!! I love the summer and I love being hot but this is ridiculous! This heat done woke me up out my sleep (and has also, apparently, confounded my grammar). Lemme go turn this AC on. Global warming is real. -If a glock holds 15 rounds and 90 rounds were fired at Jayland Walker, that means at some point, somebody had to reload. No part of that is not a hate crime. -Every time I look at these hearings around the January 6th riots (because they were “riots”), all I can think about is how if my forever president was in office when it happened & the…

Dear Self, I should start this by acknowledging that I know that I talk to you all of the time, so communicating this way may feel a little foreign. We are always in conversation. Even when I am talking to others, I am often running what they are saying by you. Sometimes, you talk so loud that I wonder if others can hear what you are saying to me. You’re the reason I choose to speak when I have to & not every time I want to. I’m not complaining…just owning the nuances of our relationship. For all of our dialogue (and for all of my scribing) it’s crazy that…

“…They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations”- Luke 21:24 Again, the United States finds its citizens crying, confused and concerned as another mass shooting has taken the lives of those who were doing nothing more than living them. Once again, scores of family members are left to mourn and miss those who have been unnecessarily snatched away from them. Again, the demons of racism, anti-blackness and hatred that live under the floorboards of this country are rearing their heads and still being ignored. Yet again, people, desirous of seeing government address these travesties are left to ingest the impotency of those…

James 1:19-20 “…Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Perhaps I should start with my own biases. I was raised by my parents and my grandparents in a way that told me that my primary function in a relationship with a Black woman starts with my ability to protect her; that a priority in our community must be the preservation and elevation of the Black Woman. I do my best to exist in the world this way & rear my sons to do the same. Ok…got that out of the way….aight….Let’s Go! With…

“I’ve been gon’ for a minute but I’m back with the jump off”- Lil Kim It feels both foreign and familiar to be back in this mode.  For the better part of three years, I had created this space to share my thoughts and feelings about the world around me. Deeper, my intent was to also offer insight into how I sensed God (as I understand God) might feel about those happenings. Things were going well. What I wrote resulted in meaningful conversation, opportunities to think out loud in front of others & and the privilege of being in rooms I would not have imagined for myself. Those who I admired…

I am the pastor of a historic African-American church in Circleville, built in response to slavery. The church was founded in 1856 by a African who escaped oppression and instead of running to Canada, planted a church in Ohio. At one time our church sheltered thousands of runaway slaves and served as a crucial stop in the Underground Railroad. Our church also fought for voting rights for African Americans in the city. I preach every week in the building where Black people drafted legislation that went to the Senate and the House of Representatives forcing then president Ulysses S. Grant to pass the Enforcement Act of 1870. The act imposed…

Nelson Mandela, the revolutionary South African political leader, one said “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.”. By my thinking, Mandela words directly speak to the freedom project African Americans, writ large, have been involved and invested in since the beginnings of our experience in this country. It has been the great task of our people to look squarely at the redundancy of our mistreatment and yet choose to conclude that something revolutionary can come out of something so repulsive.  The burden of hope…