All posts by Joshua Canada
As a high schooler, I was a decent student; I did well in class, played sports, was in student leadership . . . I figured I would follow my other overachieving peers and go to the University of Virginia (UVA). If you were smart and southern it was one of the pinnacles of American … Continue reading Navigating Otherness in College, Holding out for Affirmation
A Transformative Institution
As an African-American student at a predominately-White institution (PWI) and specifically a CCCU (Council for Christian College & Universities) school, I was intrigued by the lack of diversity I found not only in the student-body, but also in the administration and faculty. Early in my undergraduate experience I reflected and mourned the reality that I would … Continue reading A Transformative Institution
A Poem on God
Is there God out here Amongst the trees Or in the sand Is there divinity in the air Strong with life Echoing with community Where is God in this lake Is she hidden Or so apparent she can’t be found Is the spirit hovering Over dark water Into new day Is … Continue reading A Poem on God
Black (Human) & tired . . .
I am tired of our nation’s social problems. It is easy to get up-in-arms about grandiose tragic events and it is right to do so (my soul is with those Marching in Ferguson). What is more difficult is to go back to our normal lives and reexamine the way in which we all live.
Questioning Diversity on ABC
I worry that shows won’t be successful, not because it isn’t well made, but because “normalizing” a non-White family doesn’t happen often in mainstream TV Film. I worry we would prefer shows that simply take an exotic or hyperbolic view of race and ethnicity and make us laugh even when they end-up making our actual racialized existence more complicated and convoluted.
Living Gently
Stanley Hauwerwas and Jean Vanier’s Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness is the third book in the Resources for Reconciliation series put out by Inter-Varsity Press. I was introduced to Jean Vanier about five years ago. A friend of mine handed me a copy of From Brokenness to Community, which is an edited … Continue reading Living Gently