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What Does Love Look Like?
My Aunt Doris loved me. In all the years that I knew her, however, I don’t remember her ever telling me that she loved me. While she was alive, I told her all the time. I’m disgustingly affectionate! I know, I make my own self sick sometimes! But, I don’t think Aunt Doris ever once…
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Do You See This? Are You Listening?
(High school students march around the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago to denounce youth violence. Twenty-two Chicago Public Schools students have been killed since September, including 20 by gun violence. (Tribune photo by Tom Van Dyke / April 1, 2008) In the last few weeks, school children in Chicago held a rally to…
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Raising Otherworldly Youth
Otherworldly. The word is so frightening. We could go down the list of all the reasons why the thought of being associated with the word “otherworldly” sends people running for the door. We all know those reasons, enough said. But I have never been one to allow others to co-opt my faith. No one defines…
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“I Belong To God”
When those to whom I belong forsake me,then the Lord will take me up.Psalm 27:10 I remember the day when I finally understood that I belonged to God. It was the day when it was clear to me that I belonged to no one else. Not even myself. To belong to God is an incredible…
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But God…
But God knows the way I takeWhen he has tried meI shall come forth as gold.Job 23 For all the things we think we can predict, this much is true. We cannot predict what God will do with a child. Jesus was born of a young mother. From before his birth, questions swirled about regarding…
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Justice for Nixzmary Brown
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned,and the flame shall not consume you.Isaiah 43: 2 Who is “I”? Passing through stormy waters, moving through rivers that threaten to overwhelm…walking through fire unscathed and facing…
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Not Genetic, It’s Systemic
In talking about the fact that more black boys receive GED’s from prison than graduate from college, educational consultant and author Jawanzaa Kunjufu says, “It’s not genetic, its systemic.” Consider this: One predominantly African American high school in Brooklyn has managed to get 85% of its graduating class on the track for college. The principal…
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We Need Some Body Sense
Sex Infections Found in Quarter of Teenage Girls By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN Published: March 12, 2008 Rates are particularly high among young African-Americans, according to new federal data. Here are three things we must do right now: 1. Insist on that young people receive age-appropriate but comprehensive health and sexuality education. The abstinence only education…
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My God, My God, Why…..?
A friend sent a newspaper clipping to me last week and it utterly bowled me over. An 11 year old girl in the midwest has given birth to a baby. Apparently, she has been raped by her mother’s “boyfriend.” Family and friends knew of the abuse…and when the police did the DNA testing and determined…
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What are We Doing?
A few years ago, I recieved an invitation to preach for a women’s retreat. I love ministering to women. I love the church. And I appreciate any and every opportunity I get to gather with sisters and “get away.” But there was something about this invitation that just really turned my stomach. Maybe it was…
A Voice In Ramah
Another world is possible…
A Voice In Ramah 