Category Archives: Uncategorized
I am Arab, Palestinian, Christian, evangelical, Lutheran, and male. Every element of my identity clearly marks and distinguishes me from other groups. In today’s world, especially in a Palestinian context, we are born with these identities, and in many ways, these identities determine our future. We are given religious identities—Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, and Baha’is—before … Continue reading A Palestinian Christian From the Other Side of the Wall
The Burning Bush & the Hebrew Uprising: Short Story
This story is a reimagining of the Moses’ famous Burning Bush experience. Having escaped to a far flung village outside Egypt, Moses reluctantly decides to return to Egypt to help free the enslaved Hebrew people. It’s my hope that this reimagining of the Exodus story reminds us that uprisings against injustice are as old as … Continue reading The Burning Bush & the Hebrew Uprising: Short Story
My Black Lives Matter Sidewalk And My Fragile Suburban Neighbors
Many White Allies are asking themselves, how they can help as the revolution our BIPOC brothers and sister have been needing for centuries, rages on. We march, educate ourselves, sign petitions, donate, amplify BIPOC voices, and show our solidarity and resistance in traditional and creative ways. I attended a recent protest in the primarily White … Continue reading My Black Lives Matter Sidewalk And My Fragile Suburban Neighbors
God Weeps for Black Women & We Should Too
Where are Black Women and girls safe? Who comes to see about us, except for us? Does Jesus weep for Black girls being harassed on bus stops, assaulted in homes, misunderstood in schools, and forgotten in churches? Does God cry when Black women die? Yes. During Jesus’ ministry he came to the home of a … Continue reading God Weeps for Black Women & We Should Too
Our Closed Churches Will Not “Forsake the Assembly”
I came up in a Black Church where there were few things as repulsive as “forsaking the assembly,” a practice derived from Hebrews 10:25. It did not matter if you were sick or dying, when Sunday came around or the doors of the church opened, you entered. I remember my mom, an educator who often … Continue reading Our Closed Churches Will Not “Forsake the Assembly”
The Racism of COVID-19
Cities like Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and New Orleans are all reporting over 70% of their respective COVID-19 deaths being among black people, with similar trends extending through the states at-large. In New York City, which boasts the most cases in the country, Blacks and Latinos are dying at twice the rate of white people and five to six times more than their respective population percentages. This time last week St. Louis was reporting that 100% of its known COVID-19 deaths are among African Americans.