In this sermon, I reflect on how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. combined the prophetic with the pastoral in his effort to dismantle white supremacy. He taught that our efforts towards a more spiritual life for ourselves and more just society for all can only be pursued together.
On Sunday, January 10, 2021, I participated in a panel organized by the Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston. The other participants were Dr. Harish Chandra (Acharya, Arya Samaj Greater Houston), Rabbi Sarah Fort (Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Beth Yeshurun), Stephanie Thomas, PhD (Buddhist Chaplain), and Rev. Karen Tudor (Senior Associate Minister, Unity of Houston). Here are my remarks:...
Note: I wrote this op-ed on Friday and sent it to the Houston Chronicle with the intention of sending it on to the Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch if the Chronicle declined to run it. Since writing it the editorial boards of all three newspapers have written editorials calling for resignations and so I have decided to just post it to my blog. The Chronicle’s op-ed calling...
Friends, you are no doubt horrified by the events unfolding in Washington, DC. What has happened today can only be described as an attempted coup. Constitutional democracy is under threat. Treasonous white supremacists, fascists, and neo-Confederates are trying to destroy the electoral order of the United States. It is a dangerous moment. In these dangerous times, I invite you into the spirit...
The Danish publication KATALOG — Journal of Photography and Video just published an article that I wrote with my father on Leonard Freed’s photographs of the election that brought Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress to power. Copies of the issue can be ordered by emailing shop@katalog-journal.com and run 19 euros plus VAT. The issue also features an extended piece on...
In this homily I asks "how are we celebrating this strange holly day? What of our customs we have managed to retain amid the heartache and horror?"
Fire, like our connection to the divine, needs to be nurtured, needs to be maintained, if it is to continue. This is a helpful lesson to remember during these difficult days. For it prompts the question: In these times when it can feel like the fires of our spirits flag, what shall we do to maintain them?
The United States needs to establish a National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation if it is to ever address systematic racism, rural poverty, and white supremacy.
Next Monday, November 16th, at 6:30 p.m. Central, I will be giving an online lecture at Rice University on “Varieties of Populism in the United States.”