Stories She Understood That Faith Alone Was Not Enough To Face Injustice Fannie Lou Hamer asked, “Is this America, the land of the free … where we have to sleep with our telephones off of the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings?” The answer was more than yes or no – and it impacts our faith.
Stories She Knew ALL – And They Came In Swarms To See Her “I'm going to Newport News just to see Aunt Caroline Dye … She's a fortune-telling woman, oh, Lord, and she don't tell no lie.” – Memphis Jug Band. Aunt Caroline knew ALL – and they came in swarms to see her. What was it about her that made her stand out from the rest?
Stories Why Were We Taught That Jesus Was White? “[The] white man has taught you and me to worship a white Jesus, and to shout and sing and pray to … the white man's God.” – Malcolm X. Does it matter what color Jesus was? And if not, why have white people insisted for centuries, despite all available evidence, that Jesus was white?
Stories Can Our Souls Die While Our Bodies Are Still Alive? During times of danger, Matthew 10:28-31 comforts us: “Don’t fear those who aim to kill just the body but are unable to touch the soul. God knows everything about you … do not fear.” Our souls can live while our bodies die – but can our souls die while our bodies live?
Stories How Can We Stay Spiritually Connected During Trying Times? “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13. Our hearts are heavy with the recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. How do we connect with the sacred when everything feels hopeless right now? A soft reminder: the sacred is in ALL that we do.
Stories The Benefits Of This Spiritual Practice Bless More Than Our Hearts Iyanla Vanzant said: “In my deepest, darkest moments, what really got me through was a prayer. What I've discovered is that intimate connection … with my creator will always get me through …. my help is just a prayer away.” What happens to us during the intimate connection that is prayer?
Stories Regardless Of How You Practice Spirituality, Know This Crucial Thing Dr. James Cone didn’t mince words: “How can one believe in God in the face of such horrendous suffering as slavery, segregation, and the lynching tree? Doubt … keeps faith from being sure of itself. But doubt does not have the final word.” So who really does have the final word?
Stories In The Corridors Of A Church, They Planned A Rebellion James H. Cone reminds us: “To sing about freedom and to pray for its coming is not enough. Freedom must be actualized … by oppressed people.” One preacher embodied this – by using his pulpit to change the world for centuries to come.
Stories How To Fit Spirituality Into Your Busy, Hectic Day “A daily spiritual practice … [is] the best way to take care of yourself.” - lyanla Vanzant. There are only 24 hours in a day, most dedicated to work and sleep. With only a few hours to do everything else, how do we make time for a spiritual practice?
Stories The Key To Black Liberation Lives Within Us – And They’re Terrified “How can we intentionally create the future for which we long and dream?” – Rev. Amanda Weatherspoon. We have the power within us to get free – which is why they’re doing everything in their power to keep us from using this one incredible tool that all of us have access to.
Stories He Took The Greatest Risk Of All To Save His Community Malcolm X said, "I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole." So what happened when one man, tired of seeing his people abused by powerful leaders, took a stand for their humanity
Stories This Special Ingredient Is What Makes “Soul Food” So Delicious “[H]am, fried-potatoes, scrambled-egg, breakfast in the morning air; fried fish and pan-cooked biscuits on the hind side of noon … We were all there … bound by something we could not name.” When Toni Morrison wrote these words, she understood something crucial about why our cooking is so important.
Stories Would She Bend To The Pressures Of Greed And White Supremacy? “Racism ... keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” – Toni Morrison. Ms. Morrison understood what it meant to be hated for being Black. But long before her, there was another woman who fought against the world’s biggest empire – for the right to simply exist!
Stories When’s The Last Time You Checked-In With Your “Shadow Self?” “Light and shadow are opposite sides of the same coin. We can illuminate our paths or darken our way.” – Maya Angelou. Ignoring your “shadow self” could be blocking you from blessings! Here’s why it’s important to check in with the side of yourself you hide from everyone else.
Stories Erasure Of Black Burial Grounds Impacts Our Ancestors “You may shoot me with your words. You may cut me with your eyes. You may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, I’ll rise.” – Maya Angelou. Our ancestors were abandoned and disposed of, never able to rest in peace. Now, another threat looms over them.
Stories Prayer Is Always An Option, Whether We're Thriving Or Hitting Rock Bottom “Open your heart and quietly to yourself say the only prayer that’s ever needed: Thank you.” – Oprah Winfrey. How do you pray? Prayer is powerful, but there are infinite ways to do it. Are you praying in a way that roots you in YOUR power?
Stories This Prayer Helped Her To Be Joyful – Even When Facing Death “God is present in everything. In the universe, in creation, in me and all that happens to me … everywhere. In the midst of suffering, I feel God’s presence and cry out to God for help: ‘Lord, help me to hold on.’” – Thea Bowman. Is God truly with us during our worst pain?
Stories They Were Silenced, But Used Their Faith To Fight Back “We are in the same boat.” – Arabic Proverb. When white enslavers tried to violently erase their faith, these Black communities found ways to resist that would not only preserve their religion, but shape all of America.
Stories They Used Religion To Fight Back Against The Brutalities Of Enslavement “Whites not only had no patent on Christianity; they were often its obstacle.” – Toni Morrison. White enslavers used religion to oppress those enslaved – but our clever ancestors realized they could use that same religion to get free.
Stories These Evil Institutions Use Religion To Prey On Black Children Psalm 82:3 gives us an important spiritual responsibility: “Stand up for the poor and the orphan; advocate for the rights of the afflicted and those in need.” But what happens when those who are supposed to stand up for the orphans in our communities exploit them instead?
Stories Even Jesus Chose Violence – When The Situation Called For It “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” – Malcolm X. Everyone assumes that Jesus was nonviolent because he wanted peace on Earth, but in the name of freedom and justice, Jesus himself chose violence when the situation called for it!
Stories When Someone Dies, Does Their Spirit Continue Living In The Afterlife? “Death is like a dress that, at some point or another, everyone has to wear.” – African Proverb. At some point we will all die. This community believes that how we live is how we'll exist beyond death. Based on their rules, would you make it to the afterlife?
Stories How Black People Can Love Each Other For Real 1 John 4:20-21 is clear about love. “If someone claims, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother or sister, then he is a liar. He gave us a clear command, that all who love God must also love their brothers and sisters.” But how do we love people we think aren’t living right?
Stories A Black Woman Ahead Of Her Time Discovered The Truth About God “God Is Change.” – Octavia Butler. The idea of change can be terrifying … but here’s why we should actually be embracing it!
Stories She Shouted From The Spirit Realm, Praying Someone Would Hear Her “Open your ears to the ancestors and you will understand the language of spirits.” – African Proverb. She shouted from the spirit realm, praying someone would hear her. War was on the horizon, but her people would be slaughtered if she couldn’t get her message to them!
