Tag: Racial Justice
Some Justice, at Last, for Henrietta Lacks
"It was recently announced that Henrietta Lacks’ descendants have settled a lawsuit against a biotech firm which profited from the use of cells taken from her body, without consent, back in the 1950s"
Blue on Blue: A Music Video by Mary Ann Vorasky
CFT Member Mary Ann Vorasky shared a music video she made in response to American racism. "I got the idea for this music video during the pandemic after the news of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer."
The Gracespeak Lexicon
"So if you will please permit me a silly metaphor with a serious point: If sexism is rotten eggs, and racism is curdled milk, and homophobia is expired cheese, a Black lesbian woman will not experience oppression as if eggs, milk, and cheese were all slopped together in her bowl as batter; instead, she will experience casserole. Not delicious casserole, this is poison."
An Analysis of Systemic Oppression in Film
"These women deserve to be at the very top of their organization due to their intelligence, fortitude, brilliance, and internal power. But instead, they live in a world that forces them to fight for their positions in a place stained with institutional racism."
Jesus Was Divisive: A Black Pastor’s Message To White Christians
"While many church communities have been closed since the height of the coronavirus pandemic, some evangelical congregations have fought against their governors orders despite the very real health and safety concerns for many minority communities."
A Year of Anti-Racism Work
"We lose our zeal for justice as (our) lives return to normal, and we get busy with jobs, families, and our own (real) problems. But anti-racism work needs to be ongoing if it is to be effective. We must be in this for the long haul, even when the issues don’t dominate our newsfeeds, and for that, we must pace ourselves, educate ourselves, work on ourselves, and take concrete action."
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
"I’m Still Here" clearly articulates that Christians are called to seek justice, and compellingly argues that systemic racism, white fragility, and the myth of “nice” white people means that true racial reconciliation has not been realized.
Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith
As she acknowledges both their poverty and their richness, she writes, “And only when I recognize how poor I really am do I start to understand that I am right where I need to be” (p. 116). It is in the poverty wrought by her life of privilege that she comprehends what she is being taught by the poorest of the poor.
How the Syro-Phoenician Woman Changed Jesus
August 28, 2017
Unvarnished truth from the remarkable mind of Rev. Wil Gafney, PhD, as she unpacks the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman in Matthew.
"One...
Charlottesville — What Can I Do?
August 14, 2017
The weekend events in Charlottesville have left us horrified. If you, like many of us, are wondering what you can do to...
Immortal Moral Reminders of Henrietta Lacks
One might ask how differently Lack’s story would have gone if the social injustices that disregarded her as a person with agency had long ago been undone. The science and healthcare industries must help address unjust socioeconomic structures that deny the basic humanity and rights of disempowered groups of people before any lasting changes in care can be expected.
There Is No Justice for Philando Castile
June 17, 2017
Police officer Jeronimo Yanez "was cleared Friday in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, a black motorist whose death captured national attention...
I Am Not Your Negro
I urge all of you, as Christians and feminists, to watch 'I Am Not Your Negro' and live with Baldwin through these difficult years of American history. Our struggle for gender justice depends on understanding the many other ways our society oppresses people.
Black History Month — 28 Black Women You Should Know
February 6, 2017
February is Black History Month and that's a perfect time to spotlight some amazing women. Read about more than two dozen courageous black women...
McKenzie Brown’s Reflection on Protest— How We Prevail
I don’t want to be in a position where I must exercise my civic responsibility to stand and defend other human beings from a political leadership who would oppress them [but] it is a responsibility I cannot choose to ignore right now.
An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation
Although Junior’s book offers a basic introduction to womanist biblical interpretation, it is extensive in the amount of material it covers. One aspect of the author’s intent is to show how feminist biblical interpretation relates to African American women’s interpretation.
Ferguson & Faith: Sparking Leadership & Awakening Community
As a theology professor, Gunning Francis approaches this subject through the framework of faith in action. That spoke strongly to me. I also saw, however, that what she wrote could be helpful to those who approach the work from a more secular stance.
Our Lives Matter: A Womanist Queer Theology
"Pamela Lightsey... correctly asserts that despite oppressive Sunday morning sermons, Black and queer Christians can nevertheless be confident that our wellbeing is 'not dependent on human hands but the providential care of God our Creator' (p. 60)."
The Changing Face of Evangelicalism: Rescuing Jesus
Ever since 2007, an award-winning journalist and radio producer named Deborah Jian Lee has been researching contemporary evangelicalism. She has been impressed by a change occurring among evangelicals—a movement that “ditches the Religious Right,” supports working toward social justice rather than political theorizing, and calls itself “progressive evangelicalism.”
A Charleston Lament – #BlackLivesMatter
I am convinced that this is the lesson of Gethsemane / Not Jesus crying humanly about his own impending suffering and death / But rather Jesus's awareness of the depth of the intractable ruin of us / The universal suffering of the other who threatens the status of the entitled just by being
Ain’t I a Womanist Too?: Third World Womanist Religious Thought
This is a movement that embraces life holistically, that seeks justice and freedom for all regardless of gender identity, socioeconomic class, theology, spirituality, and political ideology."
The Stories Clergywomen Tell: How Women are Challenging Sexism in the Church
"Because of the challenges facing women clergy, it is encouraging to see two important resources. Written not only for women embracing their pastoral calls but also for churches and church leaders, both authors make the case that Christian communities must do more to address oppression of clergywomen."
The Invention of Wings: A Novel
The combination of engaging fictional narrative with the outlines of the historical record provide an enjoyable means of learning more about the Grimké sisters, the early abolitionist movement, and the early women’s rights movements during this period.
Appreciating the Richness of Diverse Relationships
The goal of Mix It Up Day or any similar effort is to bring together people whose background is different from ours in some way--racially, ethnically, religiously, in sexual orientation, or any other way. Getting to know each other can be one of the richest experiences imaginable.
Confessions of a Christian Humanist
For Christianity to be Christian it cannot by-pass St. Paul’s confession of Christ crucified as “the wisdom of God,” for it would have nothing distinctive to contribute to the humanist project. But for it to be humanist it cannot ignore the truth wherever it is to be found, for all truth ultimately reflects the beauty and goodness of God.
The Secret Life of Bees
Now the content of her previous books has become the air breathed by Sue's fully-drawn characters. My favorite is May, a woman so vulnerable that she builds her own private wailing wall where she can tuck in scraps of paper from her wounded life and suffering world.
The Help
The Help richly deserves its many weeks at the top of the New York Times best-seller list. Stockett, a white woman from Jackson, overcame her fear and tackled this tricky topic by creating the voices of three women whose lives are forever entangled and unforgettable.
Another Blind Spot Exposed
Yet much of the history of the church -- since it became Roman under Constantine -- reflects domination of other peoples and suppression of their religious traditions and beliefs, often at the point of a sword. And today "Christian" America is fueled in part by such triumphalist theology of the Christian religious right.
Gender, Ethnicity, and Religion: Views from the Other Side
Rosemary Radford Ruether's anthology is promoting exciting new research that challenges dominant theological identities, especially S. Sue Horner's work on who we of EEWC were during each stage of the organization's development, and how that history shapes who we are today.
Latest Posts on CFT
Kind of Okay with It
November 2023 Poetry Selection
It’s the age
of kind of knowing:
As in, I kind of know
what a partridge is...
It’s the age
of kind of knowing:
As in, I kind of know
what a partridge is...
