I was listening to Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon the other day, and marveling at her ability to tell such full, rich stories interspersed with moments of pain as well as moments of humor. I came to a line that beckoned me to pause, rewind, and listen again. Pilate – a character who has become…
Tag: faith
Out of the Wilderness
The Easter season always reminds me of frilly dresses and ruffled socks and memorized speeches recited on Easter morning. From Ash Wednesday somberly beckoning me to remember from whence we came, clear through to Resurrection Sunday’s triumphant declaration of victory over death, Easter brings with it a unique combination of holy contemplation and bittersweet joy….
Episode 112: Faith and Mental Health with Kimberly Galindo
On today’s episode of Something True: An Honest podcast, I sit down for a candid conversation with my friend Kimberly Galindo. Kimberly and I met twenty years ago, when we were both students at the same university. Since that time, Kimberly has gone on to pursue multiple degrees and certifications as well as open her…
Unbound: Prathia Hall
This post is part of a year long series. If you enjoy and learn from my writing, please contribute to support my full-time writing work via Patreon or Venmo. You can also purchase merch from TeeSpring or Bonfire, the proceeds from which enable me to continue this work. As I sat watching Henry Louis Gates,…
Episode 106: Black Church With Clent Holmes
The December 20 episode is such a treat! I got to sit down with my good friend Clent Holmes to talk about something that holds a special place in both our hearts: the Black church. Twitter: Clent Holmes, II (@clent2) IG: Clent Holmes (@clent2) • Instagram photos and videos The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van…
Piece 35: Black Church
When you think of the terror that has been inflicted on the black church in this country time and again, how do you imagine you might feel if the black church was that first place of faith for you? Would you feel safe to worship in the space where you truly felt at home?
Mary, Did You Know?
Truly, is it any wonder that we may find ourselves unable to connect the cross and the lynching tree, when the gross brutality of lynching has been almost entirely left out of the Savior narrative espoused in too many of our pulpits?
Piece 24: Go Tell it On The Mountain
Too often, in television and movies, black gospel choirs are used as a stylistic device. They appear for a moment – to make us laugh because their presence is jarring and their choir robes out of place; to make us feel a surge of giddiness because the guy and the girl finally got together at the end of the movie; to elicit in us a desire to forgive people in our own lives who have wronged us, just like the character on that show we like offered forgiveness to someone who wronged them.
Return, Remember
In my mind, remembering is individual and collective.
Piece 16: Hope and Hard Pills
Her style is systematic and unflinching, two descriptors that seem to be missing from too many public conversations around justice and race today.
