Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day by Vance Blackfox
It is my prayer that each of you had a wonderful Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and that as you looked around you saw more and more non-Indigenous people observing this holiday in ways that lifted up the gifts and beauty of...
The Beauty and Tragedy of the Mestizaje Mindset by Kristina Diaz
Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month! As we celebrate, I can’t help reflecting on what is being celebrated: independence, legacy and identity. As far as my own identity, I grew up, like many Puerto Ricans, hearing the poems and songs that...
Independence in Inches: A July 4th Reflection by Nathaniel Viets-Van Lear
Independence in Inches: A July 4th Reflection by Nathaniel Viets-Van lear For the last four years, I’ve made the same walk on Fourth of July weekend. Each walk feeling as hot as any other before it. Shoes sticking to cracked...
Relearning our shared history by Linda Post Bushkofsky
I was surprised as the next person when I received the Daughters of the American Revolution History Award my sophomore year of high school. I sure wasn’t one to memorize years of battles or know which general led which brigade...
My Freedom Day as a Female, Black and Queer Pastor by The Rev. Dr. Yolanda Denson-Byers
My Freedom Day as a Female, Black and Queer Pastor To be a female, Black and gay pastor on “Freedom Day” necessitates a certain amount of introspection, for my relationship with the church has long been a queer dance...
A Pastor’s Reflection on The Feast Day of the Emanuel 9 by Rev. Kelly France
I had just started my car to drive to my internship site on June 18, 2015, when I learned from the radio about the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine. As I drove down the freeway and the details of this...