My husband and I sat in the movie theater watching Hidden Figures on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year. I loved the movie—so well written, directed, and acted, and such a beautifully inspiring true story. If you haven’t seen this uplifting film of three African-American women, mathematical and computer geniuses working at […]
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In Honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
A re-post from last year’s “Stories that Need to Be Told: Selma, #BlackLivesMatter, and a Truth Commission,” posted January 21, 2015 (though with an update at the bottom) in honor of this MLK day. With all the heartache and death and division that’s continued to tear our country this year…and yet also many efforts toward […]
Martin Luther King Jr., SelmaTouching History: Woolworth’s Lunch Counter, Medgar Evers, and Me in DC
Sometimes history seems far away. Though we know it happened, the people in those grainy black-and-white photographs or rich-hued oil paintings seem to belong not just to another time but another world. It’s hard to fathom they once lived and breathed and loved and laughed and wept on the same ground we walk today. […]
In the Footsteps of History: Snapshots from a Trip to Washington DC
Well, I’m back, friends! And what a week it was in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC as my sister and I soaked up the green with our drought-dry California eyes, explored this area of our country so saturated with history, and enjoyed the hospitality of dear friend Sandra Barnes and her gracious family. (By the […]
Five Ways to Celebrate Black History Month—Whether You Have Before Or Not!
Last week I wrote of some reasons why I think Black History Month is worth celebrating, whatever our color. But how can we celebrate it? Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with—please feel free add your own in the comments below! 1. Learn Read biographies, slave narratives, historical fiction, and original writings […]
Five Reasons to Celebrate Black History Month–Whatever Your Color
It’s February—Black History Month! Sometimes people feel that separating out a select month for African-American history only emphasizes racial divisions rather than helping overcome them, but I love how my friend Sandra Barnes addresses this issue here. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve really become aware of Black History […]
Stories that Need to Be Told: Selma, #BlackStoriesMatter, and a Truth Commission
Stories. They matter, because God uses them to reflect His truth and reach our hearts. And because He Himself is the most masterful Storywriter of all. I loved some of the comments and insights you readers shared on this topic here last week! But sometimes stories also matter because they need […]
Reconciliation is Possible: Freedom Riders, Police Chiefs, and the Grace of God
I read the most beautiful story in the newspaper yesterday. I’m not much of a newspaper reader. For most of my life, my dad hasn’t been either, but the last few years he’s enjoyed taking in a Daily Times. And he’ll save articles he thinks would interest me, usually those covering Native American […]
Not Against Flesh and Blood: The Spiritual Side of Reconciliation
Have you ever noticed that times when God is working in your life, when He is using you, are the times most likely for relational conflict and tension to crop up? I think it’s one of the Enemy’s favorite—and ugliest—methods of attacking God’s children: to divide them against each other. I’ve seen it in my […]
A Long Talk to Freedom: The Power of Conversation for Racial Reconciliation
Continuing the conversation from last week’s “Friendship as a Key to Racial Reconciliation.” A few months ago, I saw the Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom movie with my dad. What a powerful story of a courageous and hugely influential man. But one thing that struck me from the movie’s title was that Nelson […]