Sacred Duplicity

I offered this poem I wrote to our church as a lament during our Race Relations Sunday service. And here I offer it again, understanding the role of lament and an honest examination of our current reality - and our history - to move us forward.  Sacred Duplicity America! The proverbial land flowing with milk …

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Advent Lament

They laugh and mock us as we cry out to God for relief They rejoice with gladness as they spill our blood in the streets They smile as they cut programs that help the poor Their bellies are full as they hoard resources that should go to treating cancer, putting kids through college, and ensuring …

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Angry Black Woman

How should I compose myself? Now that you have killed my children, Raped my mother, And beat me beyond recognition? You force me to live in dilapidated housing conditions, Where the rent is higher than a two bedroom in the suburbs Yet you pay me less than the minimum wage, and threaten to take that when …

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Charleston

Your oppressors forced you to carry a cross, That they fashioned with their own hands That killed your loved ones and would eventually claim you. They made you say, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do" As they mocked and spat upon you, And persisted in nailing you to that beautiful, wretched dogwood. Every word you …

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3 Things I’m Thinking About in Light of Orlando

It has been exactly a year since the horrific mass shooting took place in Charleston, North Carolina. As soon as I heard about this extreme act of terrorism against black bodies, I was quick to rush to the internet (Twitter) to denounce it. Tears flooded my face with every tweet I sent - I felt …

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