God is a Brown Girl Too

Last updated on: October 9, 2015 at 8:37 am By Kimberly Peeler-Ringer

Since dismantling patriarchy is one of my approaches to reading the Scriptures, I thought it best to talk a bit about what it is and why I position myself against it. Patriarchy, in its simplest terms, is the privileging of maleness. Patriarchy is also a system that functions much like racism in that there are institutional and embedded structures that oppress women through social, political and economic practices. The United States reflects a culture that values maleness. A recent study... Read more

Getting to Write and Getting it Right: A Re-Write on #DarriusStewart

Last updated on: October 9, 2015 at 1:39 pm By Andre E. Johnson

Recently, I wondered aloud and asked, “Do We Even Care” about the death of Darrius Stewart. That question came as a response to Chris Johnson‘s powerful piece that appeared on Gawker titled “Killed on Holy Ground: Dispatch from a Sea of Blue.” At the time I wrote that it was “some of the best writing I have read in awhile.” Further I said Johnson powerfully offers not only the story of the Darrius Stewart killing, but tells the story of Tremaine Wilbourn, who is... Read more

Women Preaching: Is This Still a Thing?

Last updated on: December 28, 2015 at 9:09 am By Kimberly Peeler-Ringer

I was recently reminded on Facebook that the issue of whether or not women should be allowed to preach is still a thing. And since the question of calling is one of the questions I get most often get from women, I thought I would address it here. I think one of the reasons why women preaching is still a problem for some is the use of the Bible itself to relegate women to pew occupying-only status. It is no... Read more

R3 Contributor Launches New Website

Last updated on: October 9, 2015 at 8:09 am By Andre E. Johnson

We here at R3 congratulate contributor Kimberly Peeler-Ringer on the launching of her website, The Churched Feminist. Read more about the site and the inspiration behind the launching below. Over the course of my ministry with women, and in nearly every workshop, retreat or Bible study series I’ve ever led, there are always some ‘pulled to the side’ moments when a grateful participant will share with me that something I said was the first time she heard a certain biblical... Read more

Critical Conversations at the University of Memphis

Last updated on: October 8, 2015 at 6:32 pm By Andre E. Johnson

The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change Annual Open House Panel Discussion: The Hot Summer of 2015: The Nation Faces Old and Retooled Forms of Racial Discrimination: The Intractable Issue of Race in America October 15, 2015, 4:30pm Reception, 5:00pm Program The University of Memphis, Michael Rose Theatre Panelists Jennifer Stollman, PhD, Academic Director and Consultant in Detecting and Eliminating Institutional and Interpersonal Biases, William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi Shelia Peters, PhD, Associate... Read more

#DarriusStewart: Do We Even Care?

Last updated on: October 4, 2015 at 10:38 am By Andre E. Johnson

It has been nearly three months since the death of Darrius Stewart here in Memphis, Tennessee and though the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation finished their investigation, we still have not heard anything from our DA Amy Weirich. A few days later, we mourned and protested yet another death of an unarmed black teen killed by police. At the time, I wrote a piece, Memphis Has a Hashtag. In describing the event, I wrote: But something else happened out there that night.... Read more

Anyone Feeling Closure After the Death of #KellyGissendaner?

Last updated on: September 30, 2015 at 11:09 am By Andre E. Johnson

In light of the State of Georgia killing Kelly Gissendaner “in our name,” I am reminded of a question posed to me while serving on a clergy panel. The question was “Is imposition of the death penalty a political/partisan matter or a religious/moral matter? Why is the death penalty largely being carried out in the South? Should Tennessee abolish the death penalty?” In response, I wrote: I will address the questions in the order given. First, the death penalty is a... Read more

After Charleston: Being Black in the ELCA and the SC Synod

Last updated on: September 30, 2015 at 8:59 am By Brian Foulks

I came back to the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 2012 after having a conversation with a professor that would later become a mentor. At his prompting, along with many others, I made a decision to enter into the ordination process of the ELCA. For me that brought mass levels of trepidation because of the horror stories I heard about the process. It became another process in my life that would become a part of my redemptive story. I knew... Read more

#TheologyMatters: Traditional Evangelicalism and the Poor

Last updated on: December 11, 2015 at 4:49 pm By Fredrick Robinson

by Rev. Frederick Robinson Putting pressure on poor and minority people—as traditional evangelicalism does—to just work harder, practice respectability, pray, have faith, pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, etc. only plays into the hands of the Empire. Moreover, we see that while blacks are some of the most religious people in America, religion hasn’t delivered us. Why? Not because faith is bad, but because American-style evangelicalism is oppressive and designed to protect the powerful. It glosses over corporate injustice.... Read more

Edited Collection on the Portrayal of Black Men in Reality TV

Last updated on: September 28, 2015 at 9:48 pm By Andre E. Johnson

Contributions are being sought for a proposed edited collection that explores the portrayals of Black men in reality television. This collection aims to address representations of masculinity, comparisons to Black women in reality TV, class issues, queer theory, masculine psychology, patriarchal constructions, sexuality, invisibility, respectability, and social activism or lack of activism. This collection, tentatively titled There’s No Blachelor: Portrayals of Black Men in Reality TV, is a follow-up to the book Real Sister: Stereotypes, Respectability, and Black Women in... Read more