Black or African American
Two weeks ago, a young girl was assaulted by a Student Resource Officer at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina. The internet was ablaze with commentary once the video of the incident went public. Outrage and grief overflowed from Facebook statuses and tweets. Particularly for African Americans, and especially for African American women, the…
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Alarming statistics in the LGBT elders of color population nationwide has prompted local organizations to tackle disparities as this population is projected to double in the coming years. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging, the LGBT elders of color population is projected to increase by 217 percent by…
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It is our duty to fight for our freedom It is our duty to win We must love and support one another We have nothing to lose but our chains Assata Shakur I’ve read and heard these words from Assata Shakur several times. Once I learned the words, thanks to the Ohio Student Association, I…
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Every Sunday, many African American gays worship in churches that preach hate and prejudice against them. We sit in silence in the pews even though we are tithing members of the congregation. After Antonia Pantoja, my partner and colleague for 30 years, died of cancer in 2002, I came to understand just how much the…
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As a pastor of a prominently African American Church, the recent shootings that took place in Mother Emanuel, the oldest African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in the South, continue to remind us that racism is alive, screaming and kicking. According to a survivor, the shooter said, “You rape our women and are taking over our…
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Often times we think that we have to walk into the sanctuary, sit two rows back from the altar and just wait for our “aha” moment to realize what our purpose is, but that isn’t always the case. On March 5, 2015, I loaded two overly packed suitcases into one of three vans and headed…
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A few weeks ago I was stunned by a front page New York Times article headlined, “1.5 Million Black Men, Missing from Daily Life.” As troubling as the recent deaths of young black men at the hands of law enforcement have been, they serve as tragic examples of a larger trend of our own “disappeared,”…
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Black History Month (which kicked off on Feb. 1) became a national annual observance in 1926. The goal of the month is to honor and celebrate the achievements of African-Americans. If Dr. Carter Woodson, the Father of Black History, were alive today, he would be proud of the tenacity of the African American community. It…
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Etched in my memory on a daily basis these days are the Black men who have been killed over the last several months by people whose task it was to protect and serve them. As a black, queer trans-identified male, who is also aware of the violence too often inflicted upon queer and Trans bodies…
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“I believe in living. I believe in birth. I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth.” –Assata Shakur The flight attendant asks me if I would like anything else to drink. Her voice all but falls inaudible on my ears as I continue to march these words back and forth…
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