Category Archives: Barack Obama

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Why Racist Reactions to Mall of America’s Black Santa, the Emanuel AME Church Shooting Trial & More Show America is Still Sick…

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

black-santa

Hello World,

It’s supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year,” a time when built-up grievances melt under the glow of multicolored Christmas lights and warm Christmas music, families flung far across the country corral themselves to remember their roots and strangers smile at one another for no other reason than to demonstrate “peace and goodwill to all men.” But this Christmas season of 2016, despite all of the light displays and songs, planned family pilgrimages and spontaneous smiles, the parasites of racism are still attached to America’s underbelly and will not release its host even for the reprieve of Christmas…

While I celebrate Jesus and not Santa Claus at Christmas, the image of Santa Claus, though not real, has always brought comfort and joy! A jolly man awarding nice not naughty children with gifts, who swoops down, with the help of reindeer led by Rudolph and his red nose, on homes across America every Christmas  – what’s not to love? In the broader culture, yes, Santa Claus is typically white, but here in Atlanta, the birthplace of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I remember black Santas malls in black neighborhoods when I was growing up. Though I may be wrong, I don’t remember there being any controversy regarding being black Santas in some neighborhoods.

But I guess the first black Santa at the Minnesota’s Mall of America, no less, is too much! At least for some Americans…According to rawstory.com article “Santa is WHITE. BOYCOTT Mall of America’: Online racists are Having a Meltdown Over Mall’s Black Santa,”  Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s editorial editor had to shut down comments on its black Santa article because of offensive comments. How disturbing particularly since Santa Claus is not even real! And Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicholas, who according to New Testament and early Christianity expert  Harvard Professor Laura Nasrallah was ” born into a family that probably considered itself to be ethnically Greek but in an area of the world that we now call Turkey.” She further noted that,  “Historically, you can’t import a category like ‘white’ into fourth century Asia minor,’ according to the politico.com article “Scholar: Santa Race Claim Nonsense” which was written after Fox’s Megyn Kelly said Santa Claus and Jesus were white in 2013.

Last year, I wrote the post  “Why is the ‘Real Face’ of Jesus Controversial? The Real Christmas Story” about the medical artist Richard Neave’s rendering of the real face of Jesus going viral. I expressed confusion because “although my earliest recollections of portraits of Jesus featured a man with blonde hair and blue eyes which I probably learned about in Sunday School and or the private Christian school I attended as a child, I stopped believing those depictions were accurate once I understood the Christmas story even as a child. That was probably around the time that I read ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ and began to study world history. My deductive reasoning led me to believe that Jesus, while in human form, must have been of a darker hue and looked similar to those who live in the Middle East.”

All of this to say, a black Santa, or an Asian Santa, or a Hispanic Santa, etc.  shouldn’t be offensive to anyone born in America (or elsewhere for that matter), which is promised to be the melting pot of all cultures and countries…

And then juxtapose that display of racism with the display of racism that is unfolding in Charleston, South Carolina where Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooter Dylan Roof is on trial for killing nine black churchgoers following a Wednesday evening Bible Study in 2015. In an FBI video, Roof said of his murderous acts, “Somebody had to do it.” According to the CNN article “Mass Shooter Dylann Roof, With a Laugh, Confesses,’I did it'” he also said, “Black people are killing white people everyday… What I did is so minuscule compared to what they do to white people every day.” He specifically targeted the church because it is a historic black church. “It’s historic, too, you know. I think at one time it had the highest ratio of blacks to white during slavery, and AME is a historic church. I researched black churches.” Maybe it’s no coincidence that this church is named after the name of Jesus Christ that we use at Christmas time and that this trial is unfolding during the Christmas season.  The Jesus Christ I believe in and know to be real wants all of His children to be treated as human beings. Anything less than that demonstrates that America still needs healing despite how far we have come.

Just miles away from me in Carrollton, Georgia, another display of racism at Christmas time happened last week. Gerald Byrd, who is black and Carrollton’s Mayor Pro Tem, was collecting pine cones in a local park for an art project, when he was approached and threatened by a white man after the man questioned him about why he was in a state park. “Then he said, ‘My wife is coming and she has something for you, too.’ Up comes his wife with a German shepherd and I’m too far from my car to run and I’m petrified,” Byrd said,” according to a wsbtv.com story. Byrd posted a video about the incident at the park shortly afterward on Facebook and has received death threats since then!

These are just three incidents that demonstrate how deeply America has been and is still infected by racism. At this time of the year, I would like to pretend that racism doesn’t exist and even just for a month (the last month of President Obama’s presidency,) we can all get along but sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case…

Any thoughts?

 P.S. This some came out in 1973…

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The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Articles for Black Christian Women in November 2016

november-articles-2016

Hello World,

As of today, we’re one week into December so before any more of the month gets away from me, below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or articles for black Christian women ( but you don’t have be a black Christian woman to to check them out:) ! ) As usual, let me know if you like my list! Enjoy and share!

1. “In the Wake of Trump’s Election, A Meeting in the Ladies’ Room” by Amy Butler and Leslie Copeland-Tune

Excerpt: Four percent of black women voted for Donald Trump to be president of the United States. While others didn’t like Hillary Clinton or didn’t trust her, we understood that there was really no other choice for us. We have lived the tension between racism and sexism our whole lives. We know that as a black woman you have to be even more than 10 times better, more educated, more prepared than a man to just be considered minimally qualified. We knew that we could not give the office of president of the United States to someone who used racism and misogyny to win, someone who belittled women and sexualized his own daughter. No, not on our watch. Amy, what we don’t understand is why our white sisters, who as women share at least a part of our struggle, came out and voted to support him? How can this be? What in the world happened? See more at: baptistnews.com.

2. “U Name It: Viral Star Shirley Caesar”

3. “Keepin’ It Locked ‘Til She Gets A Rock: What We Can Learn From Insecure’s Yvonne Orji” by Stephanie Caudle

Excerpt: Yvonne, despite her character Molly’s sex life, is a 32-year-old virgin. Charlamagne jokingly told her that she played her character a little too well to be a virgin but Yvonne persisted that this was in fact her truth. “Personally, I had plans to have sex when I turned 18,” she said. “I was dating [dude] and I had it figured out. But, I got to college at 17 in D.C and then I got saved.” See more at: xonecole.com.

4. “Pastors Tell Black Women to be Passive and Wait for Love. I Don’t Believe in That” by Janelle Harris

Excerpt: Because the statistical odds are not in our favor, many of us are so desperate to understand why we’re not married and what we need to do to get married that we will listen to whoever seems as though they have the answers. Most often that boils down to two categories of folks: men and ministers, because as far as we know, they have an inside connection. It’s a situation ripe for exploitation: best-selling books, sold-out conferences, some of them birthed from a genuine desire to help, some of them preying on the vulnerabilities of good, Christian women trying to figure out why, despite faith and diligent prayer, their spouse’s arrival has been indefinitely postponed. See more at: washingtonpost.com.

5. “7 Women Besides Susan B. Anthony Whose Graves Deserve ‘I Voted’ Stickers” by Maddy Foley

Excerpt: Every election, a pilgrimage to Rochester, New York takes place. People from all over the United States, a large number of them women, place their “I Voted” stickers on suffragette Susan B. Anthony’s grave, an homage to her fight for the 19th Amendment. But there are a number of women besides Susan B. Anthony whose graves deserve “I Voted” stickers — and today, let’s honor them…Born into slavery, Sojourner Truth escaped with her baby daughter in 1826. In 1828, she sued her former owner for custody of her son and won, becoming the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. Truth is perhaps most famous for her extemporaneous speech “Ain’t I A Woman?” delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. The speech argued for the equal rights of women as well as African-Americans. Truth is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, Michigan. See more at: bustle.com.

6. “Off-Duty Buffalo Officer Saves a Life on Plane to Las Vegas” by Lou Michel

Excerpt: Buffalo Police Officer Jennifer D. Whitaker arrived at a 911 call for a woman who had collapsed last year. She panicked and froze. Other first responders soon arrived and revived the woman. “I made a vow to God that I would act immediately if given the opportunity again,” Whitaker said. She kept her vow on a recent flight to a friend’s wedding in Las Vegas. “I was listening to Gospel music on my headphones when I heard somebody saying, ‘Help this lady, help this lady.’ It must have been loud. I could hear it over my music.” Whitaker jumped up and looked behind her. A woman was lying unconscious in the aisle. See more at: buffalonews.com.

7.  “Sasha and Chuck Fenda Collaborate”

Excerpt:  Born Karen Chin, Sasha is no newcomer to the music industry. In 2004, while still a secular artiste, she enjoyed international success with “I’m Still In Love With You,” a duet which she recorded with Sean Paul for his Dutty Rock album on Atlantic Records. The song topped reggae charts globally and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Although she has walked away from the secular stage since she became a Christian, she is not afraid of being judged on this project as it is reminiscent of her earlier recordings. See more at: jamaica-star.com.

8. “‘The Girls’ Gatherings are Great Assets for Black Women” by Alonzo Kittrels

Excerpt: A few Sundays ago, I overheard several female members at church discussing plans to attend a gathering at the home of a church member. I must admit that I did not pay much attention to the conversation until I learned that the gathering, only involving females, was a luncheon for “the girls” to come together as a way to show appreciation for those that provided kindnesses and support to this member during a recent medical challenge. The get-together was also an opportunity for friends and family to bond. See more at: phillytrib.com.

9. “New Music Center at Evanston Seminary to Focus on Black Church Experience” by Genevieve Bookwalter

Excerpt: The Center for Music and Worship in the Black Church Experience will begin educating students Jan. 22 with four-day classes of intense study, designed for church musicians who want to advance their skills but don’t always have the time or finances to enroll for a full semester, officials said. The Rev. Cynthia Wilson, assistant vice president of student life and dean of students at Garrett-Evangelical, said she expects the inaugural class to come from the Chicago area and throughout the Midwest. Students can choose from a variety of disciplines, including dance, choral development, liturgy and “worship and holy hip-hop,” among other courses. See more at: chicagotribune.com.

10. “BET’s ‘Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration’ Brought Us Some Much-Needed Joy” by Shamika Sanders

Excerpt: As the last days of the Obama administration fade into yesterday, we are reminded of their love story with programs like BET’s ‘Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration’ special that aired last night. Hosted by Terrence J. and Regina Hall, the celebratory event featured star-studded performances by Jill Scott, Janelle Monaé, Common, Usher, Bell Biv DeVoe, The Roots, De La Soul, Yolanda Adams, Michelle Williams, Kierra Sheard, and former Hamilton star Leslie Odom, Jr. See more at: elev8.hellobeautiful.com.

If you know of any black Christian women bloggers and or writers, please e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com as I’m always interested in expanding my community of black Christian women blogs and websites. As I noted before, while this is a roundup of interesting blog posts and or articles for black Christian women, you don’t have to be one to appreciate these pieces  🙂

Any thoughts?

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Not My President? – Coping After Donald Trump Beat Hillary Clinton…

trump-pence

Hello World,

I had plans for a Wednesday morning blog post. Believe me. And then the election happened (or the Great American Apocalypse…I’m still not sure which and it’s too early to tell just yet…). I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday to confirm if what was being reported was really true: Donald “Make America Great Again” by insulting all of America Trump beat Hillary Clinton, clearly the most qualified candidate of the two. When I finally put myself to bed hours after my husband tried to coax me away from my office television, I was sure  I was so exhausted I would sleep until at least 9 a.m. and then I would get up and whip up a blog post. But as the night disappeared and a new day emerged, I found myself waking up about three hours later. At first, I felt nothing, still in the hallway between the bliss of slumber and the jolt of a new day. Moments later,  though, I felt it. All of it. The disbelief. The disappointment. The despair…The Donald…The Donald is the president-elect.

And then there was the déjà vu…I had felt like this before, but I couldn’t remember when. As the depression started to envelop me like the clouds that suddenly showed up in metro Atlanta on Election Day and haven’t dissipated since, I remembered. I felt the same way I did the first time I got dumped in high school. It was my first high school relationship, and it was magical. He walked me to class. He bought me teddy bears. He called me. And then it stopped because another girl decided she liked him. (Incidentally, he married that girl so I don’t feel so bad….I guess it was meant to be, but that’s another story for another day.)

But on the day I finally realized our relationship was over, I came into my house, slammed the door behind me and let out a wail as I made my way to the bathroom. My father, who worked from home, came up to me and attempted to comfort me. When I explained him what was wrong, he said something that was the emotional equivalent of “there, there.” I learned that day that there is some pain that parents cannot prepare you for and that the only way to get over the pain was to go through it…

So that mourning after Election Day, I did what I had to do: I got up, dressed and went to work. I could barely look at people wondering if they had voted for The Donald and inwardly blamed them for this country’s certain demise. For moments, I would forget and then it (all of it) would wallop me all over again. And then, the emotions would spread throughout me like I was coming down with something and then I would figure out a way to distract myself until the Ds reappeared again…

(The Donald dancing on my soul. )

So at this point, maybe some of you are asking what The Donald is so depressing about Donald Trump being the president-elect? If you don’t know, I don’t know if I can truly explain it to you…

But I will at least try…

It all goes back to when I was in first grade. I was the only black kid in my first grade class of white kids. No one was mean to me. I got along with everyone. But I felt different. I was different. My hair was kinky and didn’t flow down my back. My skin tone was a golden brown and the only other kid whose skin tone was close to mine was a Hispanic kid ( I think he was Hispanic. He was definitely brown.) I was an American girl born of Jamaican parents. I very much identified with Mowgli in “The Jungle Book.” I liked to learn and enjoyed what I was learning about, but I wanted to know more about my people – black people. As my reading skills progressed and I was promoted to higher grades, I sought out books about slaves in my school’s library and found many that I understood even as a child.

As I continued to grow, I continued to learn, recognizing that my skin tone connected me to the deep and dark history of the downtrodden of this country. Black people emerged from slavery only to be disenfranchised following Reconstruction. Jim Crow was exchanged for civil rights after much struggle. (A simple summary I know…) And then despite all of that, Nov. 4, 2008 happened. A miracle in our midst. I was so proud. Barack Obama was the right man for the right time. He represented the best and worst of our history. The son of a white Midwestern woman and a black African man, his very genealogy represented the free will joining together of Africa and America rather than what was forced on Africans centuries ago.  As the son of a single parent (since he was not raised with his father), his rise to the presidency demonstrated that single mothers (who are often looked down upon when they are black ) raise children who are just as talented as those raised in two-parent households. His gentility. His sophistication. His good looks. His unabashed adoration for his black wife. His two beautiful girls. All of it. made me fall in love. I confess. There is little he can do wrong. (although I don’t agree with all of his stances.) He was the real-life manifestation of the dream of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

(What’s not to love about this?)

So when The Donald, who questioned the very birth of President Obama for years, was named president-elect to succeed him, I was let down, all the way down. What a dreadful insult! Aside from denouncing President Obama, Donald Trump has denigrated black people by calling us “The African Americans” with a tone that reminds me of how a zookeeper describes the different packs of animals that inhabit the zoo. In fact, the disdain in his voice seems to be a dog whistle for many white hate groups as many have voiced their support of him. (I’ve read a report that the Ku Klux Klan chapter plans to host a victory parade in North Carolina on Dec. 3.) Not to mention the fact that he seems to think we all live in the inner city and are fearful from emerging from our domiciles lest we be decimated by gun shots. Unlike President Obama, he was given millions to start his businesses. And he has been the husband to three women with children from each one. (Well, at the very least,  people with baby mamas should no longer be disrespected.) He doesn’t look presidential. I’m not sure what that “look” is, but he doesn’t have it.  And I don’t have the desire at the moment to get into his despicable  “locker room talk” and disrespect to other groups. Other posts for other days…

I know that now that the election is over, we’re supposed to put all of that dissing away in favor of all is fair in love and politics, but who does that? And it’s not like he’s even asked for forgiveness. I mean according to the gospel of Donald Trump, forgiveness is not needed. Furthermore, his words tear down instead of build up. His beliefs change as much as he updates his Twitter feed. His nebulous past (since it seems we will never see his tax returns) only predicts a dim future.

So after all of this, is Donald Trump my president? Or is he #notmypresident ?

As a Christian (and that is the only reason why), I have declared that God is the ruler of my life and I know that He is the one who puts people in positions of authority. And so, I will do all I can to respect the office of the presidency despite those who decried it (namely Donald Trump) when President Obama was named. But that does not mean that when Donald Trump does something that goes against my principles, I won’t do all that I can to stop him. Some of history’s greatest rebels have used their Christian faith to dismantle injustices down through the years…

…I guess that’s all that I have to say about that…for now…

Any thoughts?

P.S. I have so many questions for God when I get to Heaven…Two more have been added to the list…1. Why did You allow Donald Trump win the election? 2. Why have black people had to suffer so much in this country?