End the Whitewashing
There is a palatable tension in the air. Do you feel it? This is the feeling of Black people standing up to our Nation’s racist systems. Another unarmed Black man is shot. This time it’s Jacob Blake and he is shot by police seven times in the back. His children were watching. Collectively we mourn […]
Johnny Fencerider, Demon Sperm, and the Real Threat to Freedom of Conscience in America
I had a pastor friend who at one time I considered to be a mentor. Sadly, he proved to be a disappointment both as a friend and as a mentor. I remember as a very young minister standing in the midst of a meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention where a crucial vote was to […]
Anti-Racist Monument Presented to City Leaders
The local Confederate monument here in Cleveland, Tennessee continues to inspire demonstrations and interest both within the local community and across the nation. Today, the City Council heard statements from the community. I spoke to them because I have put forward the idea of an Anti-Racist monument that is the subject of an article in […]
A life etched into the mountains
“Can you tell me what kind it is?” A rock, thrust in my face by my keen-eyed daughter, looked like the kind of shale we’d been examining for the better part of an hour. The front side betrayed three trace fossils, while the obverse held something much clearer – a small but perfectly preserved trilobite. […]
Confederate Monument Brings out the Hate
**This is an abridged version of the full 13,000+ word monument account which can be found here.** In 1812, my great-great-great-grandfather moved with his twenty slaves to east Tennessee. My middle name, Chambers, comes from this side of my family. However, I was raised in California—the son of Civil Rights activist Cruz Reynoso. When I […]