Between news of gun violence, a civil rights lawsuit against our public schools, and reports of unprecedented child poverty in our city, Durham has had its share of bad news this fall. Of course, there is bad news everywhere. But the bad news never tells the whole story. Thankfully, good news has been getting some air time in Durham this week. Back in the spring, I wrote about efforts in Durham to decriminalize begging. Hundreds of people came out for... Read more
A son of the American South, Clarence Jordan was troubled by his people’s comfortable embrace of both Jesus and racism. After studying for a doctorate in New Testament at the Southern Baptist Seminary, Jordan and his family returned to Georgia in 1942 to start Koinonia Farm, an interracial community in the heart of the Jim Crow South. Greeted by Ku Klux Klan members who told him, “We don’t let the sun set on -people like you around here,” Jordan smiled... Read more
Beginning the first weekend of December this year, Man Bites Dog Theatre will honor Durham’s mother, Ann Atwater, by bringing to the stage a wonderful play about her life. “In 1971, as Durham struggles with school desegregation, Ann Atwater, an African American civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, become unexpected allies,” the ad copy reads. “An incredible true story of change, friendship, and redemption.” Ms. Atwater has been a mentor to us since... Read more
After 9-11, the concept of preemptive war to prevent mass terror became known as “the Bush doctrine.” I went to Iraq and witnessed the collateral damage of this approach for myself. A few years later, after I’d spoken about Iraq at a church in Santa Barbara, CA, I met Jeremy Courtney. Jeremy told me about his work to help kids in Iraq get heart surgeries. Then he started talking about “preemptive love.” He wasn’t just doing good work. He was... Read more
On Friday, September 27th, my grandfather, Alvin Wade Hartgrove, died. His funeral on Monday was part family reunion, part Baptist church homecoming, and part biker rally. I was grateful to get to offer this eulogy. Well, I wasn’t here to see it for myself—as a matter of fact, there aren’t many left who were here to witness it firsthand—but I’ve heard it told that everyone in these parts was a little worried when Alvin started driving. It’s not in the... Read more
A year ago today, my friends Chris and Phileena Heuertz started Gravity: A Center for Contemplative Activism. In twenty years of working among the poorest of the poor, they learned what we’ve learned here: it’s easy to loose your center. But Christian tradition offers us a wealth of resources to help us find our center in prayer. And we have it on good account that this Center holds. To celebrate the first anniversary of Gravity Center, I wanted to share... Read more
Christians who care about justice often talk about our responsibility to stand up as a “voice for the voiceless.” No doubt, there are times when we’re called to break the silence. But most people who suffer injustice in our world have plenty to say about it. They’re not without a voice. They need a platform. I just got back from a press conference here in Durham with friends from neighborhoods like Walltown who have decided to speak out about the... Read more
When bells ring across America at 3pm today celebrating Martin Luther King’s call 50 years ago to “let freedom ring,” I’ll be inside a maximum security prison. I can’t think of a better place from which to remember the Dream. For the past five years, Project TURN has hosted classes inside North Carolina prisons. Half of our students come from outside the prison and half are incarcerated there. For a couple of hours a week, this is the only experience... Read more
The public school that my son JaiMichael attends doesn’t hold classes on the third Monday in January. They have the day off, along with most Americans, to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When he was in kindergarten, JaiMichael and I rode the city bus downtown on the MLK holiday, and I told him the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott—the story that made King famous and won him the Nobel Peace Prize. JaiMichael was mostly excited to ride the... Read more
As America prepares to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, I’m excited to announce that School for Conversion is accepting applications for this year’s 21st-Century Freedom Ride, Dec 14-18, 2013. Fifty years ago, when America’s Freedom Movement was challenging segregation in the South, black and white young people got on buses and rode South together to join the struggle. Their being together was itself a challenge to the system.... Read more
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
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