“I Love the Evangelicals:” Conservative Evangelicals and Their Donald Trump Problem-Pt. 1

Last updated on: March 6, 2016 at 4:30 pm By Andre E. Johnson

As Donald Trump continues his journey to become the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, he enjoys support from many disparate groups. As he reminded us after his victory in Nevada, Trump enthusiastically said, “we won with the young, we won with old, we won with highly educated, we won with poorly educated, we are the smartest people, the most loyal people…..and 46% were the Hispanics.” However, there is one group that supports Trump in higher than expected numbers–Evangelicals. “I... Read more

Has America Ever Been Great: Donald Trump and the Making of America

Last updated on: March 4, 2016 at 9:12 am By Guest Contributor

by Kenneth A. Vandergriff The rise of Donald Trump in the Presidential Race baffles me. He has little to no political experience, his rhetoric is demeaning and at times outright hateful, and his following continues to grow. What began with an off-color comment about Megyn Kelly’s menstrual cycle grew to building a wall on the Mexican border. While I condemn both comments I understand that some Americans desire a wall on the border. What is troubling to me is the... Read more

Hallow Points and Holy Ground

Last updated on: March 1, 2016 at 7:42 am By Earle Fisher

by Earle Fisher First published in the New Tri-State Defender The Black faith community, especially the Black church, is no stranger to death. There’s a funeral every week at some church. But what has become all-too-common is death on church grounds. In times past, Ku Klux Klan affiliates would target and bomb churches to continue the type of physical, psychological and theological terrorism that gave rise to hush harbors. In 2012 a Sikh temple was targeted by a racist who... Read more

#BlackTruthMatters: A Conversation on Race

Last updated on: February 28, 2016 at 10:06 am By Andre E. Johnson

“How do you get past race if you don’t even want to admit that something happened?”-by Andre E. Johnson On Thursday February 25, 2016, I had an opportunity to do the Talk, Memphis Podcast with David Waters of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. In our discussion, not only did we talk about the Rhetoric Race and Religion blog, we also examined the intersection of rhetoric race and religion. I argued that rhetoric (language) matters and how we use language helps us... Read more

Not Always In My Favor, But Always For My Good

Last updated on: February 25, 2016 at 9:52 am By Guest Contributor

First Posted at the Erika Bullock PhD. blog by Erika Bullock Yesterday was one of “those days.” You know how it goes: a pretty good start to the day ruined by a particularly piercing rejection letter, followed by a barrage of emails from people demanding things of you that border on unreasonable and those who are making reasonable requests at the perfectly wrong time, capped off by piercing cold rain that makes it all too clear that the heavens have... Read more

#BlackTruthMatters: The Disregard and Recovery of Black Truth

Last updated on: February 24, 2016 at 9:18 am By blog admin

This post is part of the Memories of a Massacre Project: Memphis in 1866. This project is designed to bring to public attention the massacre that rattled Reconstruction-era Memphis in May 1866. For more information, click here. Below is a portion of the text of the talk that Dr. Andre E. Johnson gave on Tuesday February 16, 2016 as part of Black History Month at the University of Memphis. The lecture was also part of the Memories of a Massacre: Memphis... Read more

#MemphisMassacre1866: The Time That Memphis Burned

Last updated on: February 11, 2016 at 8:20 am By blog admin

This post is part of the Memories of a Massacre Project: Memphis in 1866. This project is designed to bring to public attention the massacre that rattled Reconstruction-era Memphis in May 1866. Malvin Massey, General Manager of WUMR FM 91.7 and host of Spotlight 92 , taped a radio interview with R3 Founder and Managing Editor Dr. Andre E. Johnson on the Memories of a Massacre: Memphis in 1866 Project. Dr. Johnson talked about the origins of the... Read more

The Inconvenient Truth of a Theological Amnesia

Last updated on: February 11, 2016 at 7:48 am By Guest Contributor

by Dameon E. Madison For some weeks now, I have been struggling, attempting to organize my thoughts enough to be able to write. I confess, that I have suffered from sensory overload here of late. There has been so much I have read, observed, conversed about – things that just seem nonsensical. I’m sure you are wondering what has me in such a mental muddle. Well, all I can say is I’m weary of the “isms” of our society, especially... Read more

Out From the Ashes: The Burning of Lincoln Chapel

Last updated on: February 11, 2016 at 10:13 am By blog admin

This post is part of the Memories of a Massacre Project: Memphis in 1866. This project is designed to bring to public attention the massacre that rattled Reconstruction-era Memphis in May 1866. On February 3, the Memories of a Massacre Project kicked off its commemoration of the Memphis Massacre in 1866 with an event sponsored by LeMoyne-Owen College. In celebration of the college’s 91st celebration of Black History Month, Dr. Bobby Lovett spoke on the importance of remembering and celebrating Black... Read more

Bodies of Christ: Visualizing Jesus Then and Now

Last updated on: February 6, 2016 at 11:40 am By blog admin

Calvin College is coordinating a summer seminar that will address portrayals of Jesus in US Christianity. The two-week seminar, “Bodies of Christ: Visualizing Jesus Then and Now,” will be led by R3 friend Ed Blum, author of The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America. The seminar addresses a fundamental dilemma of Christianity: how to represent God’s Son. This is particularly important in the twenty-first century. Issues of race, gender, and sexuality animate debates in church,... Read more