The Friend

Reparations is a conversation about a ‘debt that is owed.’ Reparations is NOT a handout NOR welfare. Reparations is an OWED payment to an entire people group who literally and figuratively built the United States with its own hands. Reparations is biblical, just and it is necessary. Reparations is as it is implied: A repairing of an unjust action against African peoples that lasted for 244 years, 100 plus years of Jim Crow, domestic terrorism, police brutality and an unjust criminal system. Reparations is a restorative process that enacts a repayment process to men who were lashed, sold, beaten, castrated, mutilated and subjected to slave labor until the day their heart gave out. There was no escape from slavery. Reparations is a restorative process that enacts a repayment to women to were taken, shackled, used as human bed-warmers for house guest, raped, taken from their families and forced to produce children who were fathered by their oppressors who wanted nothing to do with...

To the White Church Yes, I believe the gospel is the only solution to the malice that invades the human heart. I believe that the blood of Jesus is strong enough to drench even the most racist of human hearts. I believe that Jesus’ broken body on Calvary covers a multitude of sins. All of humanity, in one fells swoop, was given the opportunity and repent, believe and be saved. Yet, whiteness (as an ideology) must be dismantled. White supremacy must be dismantled. The privilege that exists between you and me must be dismantled. The supremacy of Eurocentric/German theology in academia must be dismantled. The supremacy and racial bias in the white church must be dismantled. Whiteness (the leading disease of racial prejudice) must be named, cast down and replaced with the true ethic of Imago Deì. Each of us represents the glory of God EQUALLY and without discrimination. Therefore anything that reeks of white supremacy (implicitly and explicitly) must be dismantled and the t...

Controversial Monday Morning Topic: Racism and Comedy Here’s the thing. I have listened to A LOT of people and read A LOT of articles, post and tweets about Dave Chappelle and the reaction of people who consider themselves ‘progressive’ and folks who consider themselves ‘conservative’. I have never dedicated a post to exegete the public’s response to a comedy special but I think it’s important that we have a proper conversation that highlights the dissenting opinions surrounding his Netflix special. Dave Chappelle is a black comedian. That in itself signifies a uniquely influenced approach to comedy. An approach that uses comedy as a way to engage the tragedies of racism and persecution in America by using comedic relief to unify and communicate the plight of black suffering. Hip-Hop and Rap music were born from the same roots but black suffering is communicated differently between the two entities. By and large I’ve seen many people who would qualify themselves as “white liberal...

Is the Gospel Preeminent in Your life or Your Political Affiliations? If we are so committed to single party participation that we are willing to sweep any form of injustice against humanity under the rug to be in favor of a little more money back on our tax returns, I would say we have missed the heart of God. If we are willing to make continual excuses for our leaders who offend, degrade and dehumanize any person or ethnic group, I would say we have missed the heart of God. If our commitment to man-made loyalties supersedes our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, I would say we have missed the heart of God. If our racial, social or economic biases prevent us from empathizing with hurting and maligned human beings, I would say we have missed the heart of God. If we care more about being right (from where we are standing) than building bridges between ourselves and our enemies, I would say we have missed the heart of God. If we are more inclined to support s...

# StephonClark “Fearing for their safety” Another young innocent black man has been murdered by police officers.  “Fearing for their safety”  They allowed learned racial stereotypes to lead them to protect themselves by any means necessary rather than ensure that this man was treated as a human being.  “Fearing for their safety”. These officers executed a young black man for being black in the wrong place at the wrong time.  “Fearing for their safety” Too many police officers have been licensed to discharge their cowardice and racist behavior that leads to the accumulation of more dead black bodies.  “Fearing for their safety” Another grandmother is forced to identify her dead grandson’s black body because white fear of black skin is given the green light to shoot first and ask questions later.  “Fearing for their safety”  Stephon, who probably enjoyed watching  # BlackPanther  like the rest of us have, was murdered ...

To the American Church, Enough is enough. I’ve had enough. Many God-fearing hard working people have had enough. Many people of all ethnicities have had enough. We have all had enough of the deceptive, divisive, disrupting, inhuman and inhumane rhetoric that is being echoed through the once most prestigious elected position in the world: The office of the President of the United States of America. Time and time again I have sat back a refused to address him personally because I realize that President Donald J. Trump is not the real issue. The ideology and factions that built, promote and encourage his linguistic ferocity are the real issue. Those who voted for him yet refuse to hold him and his accomplices accountable for his rhetoric and actions are the real issue. Those who sit in the corner in complicit silence while refusing to acknowledge the pain most black and brown people feel as we are constantly degraded and attacked are the real issue. There is a sickness in America tha...

The events in Charlottesville, Virginia were tragic as a domestic terrorist group sought to incite violence and instill fear into the hearts of all non-whites on August 12th, 2017. If 2017 has taught us anything, it is that many members of the white majority have displayed a learning deficiency in regards to the actual black experience, the actual historical degradation and the actual suppressive ideology of white supremacy (beyond the factions of 'white supremacists' who appear on our television screens). The reason I have labeled white ignorance as a 'learning deficiency' is because I have found that many whites are simply unable to empathize with the black experience and much of this is ignorance is because their realm of existence is so distinctively different than that of black Americans. When someone is diagnosed as having a learning deficiency it is sometimes due the inability of the brain to receive or process information. Many blacks have found that when exp...