by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. There has been much push back and accusations of race-baiting to have come alongside the #BlackLivesMatter movement. There have been many to argue that race is no longer an issue in 2015, an era where we have the first African-American President in the history of our nation. The push back of racial concerns and benchmarking of the... Read more
Rev. Dameon E. Madison, native of Chicago, IL, founder of D.E.M. Ministries, is concerned with bridging the gap between our intellect and inspiration, passion and community solving, and the application of our faith during life between Sundays. More about Rev. Madison can be found at demadison.org. Read more
A few years ago I was asked to come mentor a few black teenage girls in an After-School program from one of my Pastor friends in Nashville. He said, “Cherisna I got these girls coming to our church after school and I dunno what to do with them!” So I came! As a favor to my buddy but also because of my passion for black teenage girls. My first night there he was nervous. He wasn’t sure how it would... Read more
by Natalie Bullock Brown This thing that has happened to this young black girl in SC continues to upset me. That video of her being slammed, while still at her desk, to the floor, by a grown man, and then dragged and thrown…well… It’s more than any child should have to endure, I don’t care WHAT they’ve said or done, or not. I’ve read a lot of comments from white people defending the officer and blaming/shaming the girl. I’ve read that... Read more
On Monday afternoon at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, school resource officer Ben Fields assaulted a 15 year old student while she sat in her seat in class. Many in social media expressed outrage. We here at R3 collected some of those reflections and expressions below. If you would like to share a reflection, please email us at [email protected] If your first thought is, “what did she do,” or, “she should have obeyed,” or, “we don’t know... Read more
On Monday afternoon at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, school resource officer Ben Fields assaulted a 15 year old student while she sat in her seat in class. Many in social media expressed outrage. We here at R3 collected some of those reflections and expressions below. If you would like to share a reflection, please email us at [email protected] Christianity that cannot or refuses to express MORAL OUTRAGE over the violent and repulsive manner in which officer... Read more
It’s five in the morning and I’m in my kitchen – baking, cooking, writing and thinking. I didn’t sleep much last night. I’m still reeling from the videos that I saw yesterday of a young black girl child in a Columbia, South Carolina school being dragged across the floor after being flipped on her head and body slammed by a white “school resource officer”. In the video, immediately preceding the WWE style take down, the girl is seated at a... Read more
On October 22, 2015 at the forum hosted by the Marshall Project at the White House on Criminal Justice Reform, President Barack Obama said the following below in regard to the Black Lives Matter Movement. There is a lot to unpack here, but most reports suggest that this was a vigorous defense of the Black Lives Matter movement. We would like to ask R3 readers: What did you think about the president’s statement regarding Black Lives Matters? Please share your... Read more
Richard Rohr said two things that are worth repeating: “Many American congregations [are] in effect paying their ministers to protect them from the real God” and that “religion is one of the safest places to hide from God.” Could it be that in much of our singing, shouting, revivaling, dancing, and praising we are really hiding from the real God? Could it be that the god we seek in worship is NOT the God of the Bible, but one we... Read more
by Katelin Hansen After serving a prison sentence and being released back into the world, one is faced with a wide array of seemingly insurmountable challenges to overcome. Discrimination against the recently released is rampant, and is on top of the racial and economic discrimination one may have faced even before entering prison. Those released from prison often have a hard time finding a job that will pay them a living wage, and they no longer qualify for student loans... Read more
Rhetoric Race and Religion
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