Jimmy Carter is attacking violence against women and blasting the people who use religion to propagate it. Calling the the physical and emotional abuse, subjugation, trafficking, and inequality of women the “worst and most pervasive and unaddressed human rights violation on Earth,” the Democratic former U.S. President is out with a new book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. In a weekend interview, Carter, a Georgia Democrat, told NPR that “you can pick out individual verses throughout the Bible that shows that... Read more

R3 editor, Dr. Andre E. Johnson, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Religion and African American Studies at Memphis Theological Seminary will offer a new class for the Fall term titled, Madea Religion: The Religious Rhetoric and Media Phenomenon of Tyler Perry. Dr. Johnson will teach the class on Monday Nights starting August 25, 2014 from 5:30pm-8:30pm as part of the new Rhetoric, Religion and Popular Culture seminar. Classes in seminar introduce critical issues in and approaches to the study of religion and popular... Read more

Hisham Aidi’s new book is a sort of musical tour around the world. It’s called Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture. From hip-hop in Brazilian favelas, to Pakistani punk rock, to Gnawa-reggae in North Africa, it’s a look at young urban Muslims and the music they make and listen to. Speaking with NPR’s Rachel Martin, Aidi recalls meeting a French band called 3ème Oeil — “Third Eye” — at a music festival in the Bronx, the... Read more

The recent legal objections to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate make me think of a controversy that figures repeatedly in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus criticizes religious leaders who refuse to temper their interpretation of the law with compassion and mercy, warning his followers of those who “tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.” Two... Read more

By Elizabeth F.Desnoyers-Colas  R3 Contributor Even before the five panelists comprised of Armstrong Atlantic State University Pan African faculty members and graduate assistants spoke before a capacity crowd of administrators, faculty staff and students, controversy surrounding the discussion topic had already reared its ugly head. Earlier in March, George Zimmerman appeared at a gun show in Orlando brazenly signing autographs for his admirers and ardent supporters of Florida’s ‘”Stand Your Ground” law. Closer to home, campus elections for new Student Government Association... Read more

In a meeting room under Holy Name Cathedral, a rapt group of black Roman Catholics listened as Barack Obama, a 25-year-old community organizer, trained them to lobby their fellow delegates to a national congress in Washington on issues like empowering lay leaders and attracting more believers. “He so quickly got us,” said Andrew Lyke, a participant in the meeting who is now the director of the Chicago Archdiocese’s Office for Black Catholics. The group succeeded in inserting its priorities into the... Read more

I feel like shaking everyone and saying, don’t you get it? We don’t need a Movement of Movements – we are a movement of movements. My friends, we have been trapped in old dominant paradigm thinking. We have been steeped in warmongering, hierarchical, competitive, control-based mindsets since birth. We think we are lacking something, or that we’re ineffectual at organizing, or we’re failing. We call for a Movement of Movements, like the War to End All Wars, a rallying cry... Read more

Standing Our Ground: Justice and Equity for All God’s ChildrenJuly 14-18, 2014CDF Haley Farm Clinton, Tennessee  Register Online  Join clergy, seminarians, Christian educators, young adult leaders and other faith-based advocates for children at CDF Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee, for five days of spiritual renewal, networking, movement building workshops, and continuing education about the urgent needs of children at the 20th annual Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry. Welcome Home What better place to renew our spirits, refocus our vision,... Read more

Civil Rights in America 99th Annual ASALH Convention September 24-28, 2014  Memphis, Tennessee @ The Peabody Hotel   Call For Papers Deadline for submission of proposals:  Monday, May 30, 2014  The Revolutionary American Thomas Paine held that “civil rights are those which appertain to man in right of his being a member of society”. From the beginning of our Republic, free people of African descent have seen themselves as citizens, members of society, and therefore due equal rights. From the nation’s... Read more

Dr. Wil Gafney gave the 2014 Susan Draper White Lectures at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, New Brighton, MN. The talk was based on her book Daughters of Miriam and previews the approach in her forthcoming book Womanist Midrash. Follow Dr. Gafney here on her blog. Read more