The Man Who Brought Nonviolence to the Civil Rights Movement
This article tells the inspiring story of the spiritual crisis that drove Howard Thurman to write Jesus and the Disinherited, and how that book influenced the character of the American Civil Rights Movement.
Have We Come All that Far in Defeating Racism?
This post reflects on the question whether America has really made significant progress in racial justice. It uses Carol Anderson’s book, White Rage. It also includes three infographics which illustrate forces that have pushed back against the progress and empowerment of African Americans.
Common Sense Economics that is Changing the World (and may also change your mind!)
Two award-winning MIT economists have given us a trove of insight on wealth, poverty, and well-being perfectly timed for a contentious election year.
“Just Mercy:” A Searing Story of Cruelty and Grace
This post reviews the movie, “Just Mercy,” and compares it to the book of the same name. Movie-goers who find the movie to be a moving experience will find extensive notes and chapter summaries here.
THE HALF HAS NEVER BEEN TOLD: Summary and Notes
What Reading this Book has Meant for Me I’ve just finished Ed Baptist’s remarkable book on slavery, The Half Has Never Been Told. This book joins Eric Foner’s and Henry Louis Gate’s books on Reconstruction, (click here and here), Isabel Wilkerson’s book on the Great Migration, Ibram Kendi’s history on racist ideas, and Howard Zinn’s …
The Afterlife of Slavery
This is an infographic, which attempts to depict how the conditions of slavery, though it has been abolished, have persisted into the present. It is designed for students and people unfamiliar with the idea that African-descent people in America continue to be re-enslaved in subtle and overt ways. The idea of slavery’s “afterlife” is derives from the work of social scientis
t, Saidiya Hartman.
How One Church Found a Mission that Mattered
The electronic doorbell sounds next to the church Office Manager’s desk. She sighs in exasperation. It’s Friday. They always show up on Friday. Sunday’s worship bulletin hasn’t started to slide out of the copy machine. The Office Manager can see through the front door’s glass window a petite woman standing outside. She’s the third stranger …