National Day of PREY-er Is Here

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 6:38 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

Today is the annual National Day of Prayer. People gathered in Washington, D.C. to “pray” and pontificate about their alleged oppression. They gathered to pray that their efforts to prey on LGBTQ+ people are successful. Moral Majority architects and Moral Majority descendants were, most likely, in that number. Ironically, this year’s theme is “Love one another.” Watch Trump speak at the National Day of Prayer Event They’ve gained and maintained political capital, dehumanizing and demoralizing members of the LGBTQ+ family. Anita Bryant... Read more

Everyone deserves the right to Equality

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 6:45 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

Living every day not only as a Black queer man but Black queer clergy is one reason I fight for the Equality Act. Every American — except women, enslaved Black people, and other non-White people — was promised the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Some of those denied were most likely LGBTQIA+ Americans. Denying LGBTQ+ Americans equality is one way our nation has failed to live up to that promise. Speaking of inequality, this future faith leader sat in the... Read more

Why Don’t It Make You Feel Guilty, Gladys?

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 6:52 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

Singing legend Gladys Knight values money more than Black lives. Knight plans to perform at the Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. She’s got every right to get her coins. But, why does Knight want coins from NFL owners clearly confusing stadiums with plantations? Knight justified her decision this way. “I am here today and on Sunday, Feb. 3 to give the anthem back its voice, to stand for that historic choice of words, the way it unites us when we... Read more

Your Checkbook Won’t Save You

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 6:58 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

Not all Americans deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. According to reports, some House Republicans are trying to torpedo a U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade pact, if LGBTQIA protections remain. Nearly 40 House GOP members signed a letter sent to the White House. “As a sovereign nation, the United States has the right to decide when, whether, and how to tackle issues of civil rights, protected classes, and workplace rights,” the letter reads. “A trade agreement is no place for the adoption of social... Read more

Living In A Surreal Time

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 7:09 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

As a child, it seemed living through history was a missed opportunity. This then-adolescent looks back at Watergate with envy. The Iran Contra Affair’s significance didn’t strike me at the time. Although its hearing kept me riveted. Despite his actions, which this then 9-year-old didn’t comprehend, Col. Oliver North intrigued me. I was a young and a repressed gay boy. Do the math. With all that said, Watergate still loomed large. The Watergate obsession and an apparent gift for stringing... Read more

When Truthtelling Becomes Deadly

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 7:20 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

Reporters are no enemies of the state. People with whom this reporter-turned-minister shared newsrooms throughout Illinois, didn’t come to work intent on bringing down the United States government or the president out of malice. They are compelled by calling to spread the news — good and bad. Like my colleagues and journo friends, then and now, most reporters walk into newsrooms with a central commitment to the truth. They search for truth, even when some sources wouldn’t know the difference between truth... Read more

Lawson: Pastors, not civil rights leaders

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 7:26 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

We were just pastors. Rev. James Lawson bristled at both he and the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Being called civil rights leaders during a Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. “You called King and myself civil rights leaders, Lawson said. “ The better term for us, by far, was the term that we used — we were pastors. We were pastors, who insisted that the gospel of Jesus encompassed all humankind and that the other side of love... Read more

Unlike Jesus & Lazarus, Black Bodies Don’t Reap Resurrection

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 7:32 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

Jesus arose. Lazarus arose. Dead Black bodies don’t physically rise again. Slain Black victims of police violence didn’t rise again. Seats remained empty this Easter. Unlike the Deity of Color, there was Resurrection Sunday for them. Historic dehumanization, demoralization, and devaluation of Black bodies brought us here today. Our nation was built on Black people’s backs, thanks to the transatlantic slave trade. Slave management policies are embedded in the American criminal justice system. Slave codes, which outlawed slaves gathering together,... Read more

Inconvenient Truths: Oppressing the Oppressed in the Black Church

Last updated on: August 7, 2023 at 7:45 pm By Rev. Jason Carson Wilson

Racism and White supremacy runs rampant in our society. That reality isn’t up for debate. Its presence in mainline Christian denominations is an inconvenient truth that can’t be denied. Homophobia, queerphobia, sexism, and transphobia is also an inconvenient truth in the wider church. The Black church struggles with those phobias as well as misogyny and sexism. This same-gender loving minister knows from experience. Claims of racism obscure their LGBTQIA+ discrimination and sexism. Some Black male clergy — inadvertently or not — dabble in white... Read more