The black community lost another one of its own recently. In responding to the outcry of support that the victim received on social media, I suggested that there were a number of ways concerned white people could be involved outside of social media campaigns that would be quickly forgotten. Rather than answer the specific question … Continue reading 51 questions to get you started
Unlike my other insecurities, my race felt like a death sentence. The search for the secret to being chosen was supposed to unearth something I could change, but what could I do about being black? A loving and wise Father made me this way but could he work around it? Seven out of ten black … Continue reading I Might Be Beautiful: Black, evangelical, and single
For Halloween two years ago I dressed up as the token black friend. I double checked the party invitation list to make sure no other black people were going (it was a formality, I pretty much knew I'd be the only one) and then wore whatever normal clothes I wanted as my costume. Easy. To help … Continue reading Whatever You Do, Don’t Make a Black Friend
The other day, my friend texted me to ask how I was doing after a jarring exchange I had last week with a Chinese DVD seller on the bus that I had shared on social media. Just ran into my favorite Chinese DVD seller on the bus. I moved to stand across from her and … Continue reading Afraid It Will Break Me
First things first: I did not make this list. I surveyed my white racially-conscious, Latino, and black friends for resources that had helped them understand racial justice issues and compiled their results along with a few recommendations of my own. I was, however, happy to provide suggestions for how to get started with the list at … Continue reading “I Want to Know More”: Resources on black history, culture, and racial justice
Ask the “average American” about race relations and they go straight to economically depressed black people, black crime and out-of-wedlock childbirth. This exercise in free association reveals that negative stereotypes about blacks are the most dominant and readily available (versus, say, the myth of the model minority for Asian-Americans) and that either the concept of "relations"—implying the … Continue reading Race Relations and the False Immunity of Black Achievement
Less than a week ago, I sat in the backwoods of West Virginia on fall retreat and listened to a pastor explain how we as Christians could understand God better when we live in community. He used his knowledge of his wife to illustrate. He thought he had known her very well as they were dating … Continue reading Crying from a Life Raft: A request of my white Christian brothers
I returned to America swearing I’d never date a white man. In ten years, I’d come a long way from insisting white people could be trusted. My contempt for their inability to see both their privilege and the pervasiveness of racism was the imprint left behind from thousands of micro- and macro-aggressions—or what my heart … Continue reading The Race Chronicles–Movement 4: Old Haunts, New Grace
It was remarkable I ever moved to Laos. I’d turned down grad school in Hawaii because it was too hot. My adult life had been one extended migration north for cooler temperatures, at some point calling New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Washington state home. I hated hot weather and by extension the beach, tropical vacations, and summer. … Continue reading The Race Chronicles—Movement 3: Black Beauty
In a way, moving to China after college provided an escape from what felt like the oppressive and other-erasing ubiquity of whiteness. I was still one of only a few blacks, but to the Chinese that made me a novelty. I worked hard at Mandarin and dove deep into Chinese pop culture, history, and arts. Chinese people … Continue reading The Race Chronicles—Movement 2: Monsters
Feet Cry Mercy 