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The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Magazine Articles for Black Christian Women in January 2021…

Hello World,

I’m back with my monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine articles for black Christian women in Black History Month no less! Below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine/newspaper articles for black Christian women for January, 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. “Kamala Harris’ Husband Doug Emhoff puts her Career First as Second Gentleman, Breaking Gender Stereotypes” by Jessica Guynn & Charisse Jones

Excerpt: Emhoff and Harris met on a blind date in 2013 after being set up by a friend and married the following year. Harris became “Momala” to his two adult children, Cole and Ella from his first marriage. So what will the country’s first-ever second gentleman focus on during his time in Washington? “Everyone’s got an opinion on this, which is nice to hear,” Emhoff said during a September fundraiser. “Which means people are actually excited about the prospect of someone like me in this role – and I get that.” See more at: usatoday.com.

2. “Amanda Gorman Will be the First Poet to Ever Perform During a Super Bowl” by Salvador Hernandez

Excerpt: Amanda Gorman, the young poet who grabbed the national spotlight at President Joe Biden’s inauguration with her inspirational and powerful reading, will recite more of her work at Super Bowl LV.According to an NFL list of past performances during Super Bowl half-time and pre-game shows, she will be the first poet ever to perform at the event, which is one of the most watched broadcasts in television. See more at: buzzfeednews.com.

3. “Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman Signs With IMG Models” by Chris Gardner

Excerpt: The 22-year-old Los Angeles native, who recited her original work “The Hill We Climb” on Jan. 20 and instantly became the breakout star of the inauguration ceremony as the world looked on, now has a team of reps that includes Writers House, WME and the law firm Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown and Passman. As Gorman’s partner in the fashion and beauty industries, IMG Models will focus on building her profile through brand endorsements and editorial opportunities. See more at: hollywoodreporter.com.

4. “New CEO on Return of Ebony, JET: ‘I Want my People Back’” by DeMicia Inman

Excerpt: “This is personal for me,” said Michele Ghee who has been hired to relaunch a new era for the Black legacy magazines. Former NBA player and entrepreneur Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman purchased Ebony and Jet magazine last month and is ready to bring the publications into a new era. Now, Michele Ghee has been tapped as CEO to work with the Bridgeman family and in a new interview, she detailed her desire to get to work. See more at news.yahoo.com.

5. “Walgreens Taps Starbucks Operating Chief Roz Brewer as its Next CEO” by Amelia Lucas, Melissa Repko, Marc Gilbert & Christina Cheddar Berk

Excerpt: Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Rosalind Brewer will replace Stefano Pessina as CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, the drugstore chain confirmed in a statement Tuesday evening. Starbucks had announced Brewer’s departure earlier in the day, saying she is leaving at the end of February for a CEO position at an undisclosed publicly traded company. As CEO of Walgreens, Brewer will be the only Black woman leading a Fortune 500 company. See more at: cnbc.com.

6. “Biden Moving Forward With Placing Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill” by Shannon Pettypiece

Excerpt: President Joe Biden will move forward with a plan announced five years ago and stalled by the Trump administration to place abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. “The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. She said it is important that the country’s money “reflect the history and diversity of our country, and Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the new $20 note would certainly reflect that.” See more at: nbcnews.com.

7. “Celebrate MLK Day by Honoring the Women who Worked Alongside Dr. King” by Victoria Uwumarogie

Excerpt: Dorothy Cotton: A leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Dorothy Cotton got her start in activism after joining a church in Virginia and working alongside Wyatt T. Walker, who was then the regional head of the NAACP and would go on to be the chief of staff for Dr. King. Cotton rose to prominence after training young people to picket for the civil rights movement. After Dr. King spoke at her church and met Cotton, he encouraged her to move to Atlanta to help form the SCLC. Her biggest contribution would be the Citizen Education Program, where she help thousands of Black men and women learn the requirements for voter registration, and help them get over efforts to suppress the Black vote. This was possible by teaching reading and writing to help people pass literacy tests. A collaborator of Dr. King’s, she was with him in Norway when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. See more at madamenoire.com

8. “Woman Celebrates 105 Years of Life, Reflects on Marching with MLK” by Ashley Gooden

Excerpt: “Well I wanted to be right. Just right, like Martin Luther King was. Yeah, he was a real Christian man,” she says. Being right has gotten her this far. “We just couldn’t let 105 years go by and not do anything. Really it just turned out to be way more than we’d ever expected,” says Robin Dial, Strait’s granddaughter. She loves having visitors, but also loves having her independence. Her secret to 105: serving God and serving others. “Today it’s paying off. People is so nice to me. I don’t mean just this day, everyday. They good to me,” she says with a smile. See more at: wpde.com.

9. “Janice Johnston Becomes the First Black Woman Executive Producer for ABC’s ’20/20′” by Shanique Yates

Excerpt: ABC’s “20/20” just named Janice Johnston as its newest executive producer making her the first Black woman to hold the title, reports The Root. No stranger to the network, Johnston got her start as a network associate, producing segments for “World News Now” and “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.” She also served as supervising producer of “Good Morning America” for a decade. See more at: afrotech.com.

10. “Taiwo Agbona, the 23-year-old Medical Laboratory Scientist Ruling in Nigeria” by Theodora Aidoo

Excerpt: Agbona was born in the royal family, headed by her father, Oba J.B Agbona, Orimoro 11th, the late king of Aaye. She is the first daughter of the king. The death of her father has had a lasting mark on the fate of the young princess, who probably never imagined she’ll ever be a ruler. “The chiefs consulted the oracle and told me that I was the chosen one and that I was worthy to be enthroned”, she told BBC. The 23-year-old student said she requested the chiefs to give her three weeks to decide to be the regent.She said for as long as she sits on the throne, she is forbidden to get pregnant or marry. However, she enjoys ruling her people. See more at: face2faceafrica.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 blog, magazines and websites. As I noted before, while this is a roundup of interesting blog posts and or magazine and newspaper articles for black Christian women, you don’t have to be one to appreciate these pieces  🙂.

Any thoughts?

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Pastor Tom Buck Calls Vice President Kamala Harris ‘Jezebel’ on Twitter & Stands By Slur After Backlash…

Hello World,

Even though I’m hurt, I’m not surprised. Tom Buck, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas tweeted this about our country’s first female vice president, Kamala Harris, who is of black and Indian descent. See below:

As was noted in an article “SBC [Southern Baptist Convention] pastor calls Vice President Kamala Harris a ‘Jezebel’ two days after inauguration” written by Mark Wingfield of BaptistNews.com, “calling a black woman ‘Jezebel’ is a racist trope documented by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University. It has roots in slavery and the perceived sexual promiscuity of black women compared to white women.”

Below is how Pastor Buck explained his statement because he likely was told that his comment seemed racist.

Obviously, many had lots to say in response to these tweets. Here is one  response from Wingfield’s article: “Some noted his hypocrisy for eagerly supporting Donald Trump; others castigated him for advancing a racist trope. One commenter wrote: ‘It’s funny how willing the SBC was to overlook Trump’s divorces, his affairs, his sexual assault allegations, the dishonesty, and the constant cruelty, but it is a woman whose politics they disagree with who draws their contempt.'”

You can read the entire article HERE for all of the details. But this is why I’m hurt. Everybody knows that black people have been marginalized and much more in these not so United States of America for generations. As black people have ascended, through the grace of God, to places and positions that would have been unthinkable to previous generations, black people feel a sense of pride that we are finally able demonstrate that we’ve had the potential all along although it wasn’t recognized on a wider scale before recent history.

And people of other races, ethnic backgrounds, etc. should be able to understand why although some don’t or maybe won’t, which I’m not surprised by. Sadly, it’s been that way for longer than I’ve been here. Even if you disagree with Vice President Harris’ politics and that is fair, name calling, particularly, in this example is insensitive. The more productive thing to do would be to work to change policies with which you disagree. The same grace that was extended to the former president despite how his choices didn’t always reflect Christian principles  is the same grace that needs to be extended to Vice President Harris. Actually, let me rephrase that as some supporters of the former president appeared to be in a cult or else the insurrection at the capitol wouldn’t have happened. A better way to say this is that many Christians were willing to work with the former president even if they didn’t agree with everything about him. That should be true for Vice President Harris.

Christians will be never be able convince the broader culture that we are different unless we are different. I try my hardest (well not always) to be different. Anywho, that’s all I have to say about that. Below are a few more of Pastor’s Buck’s tweets just for additional information…

Final thought:  I will stop being proud of “first black” or “first female” designations for that matter when we no longer need to denote “first black” or “first female.”

What say you?

Any thoughts?

 

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22nd Super Bowl Gospel Celebration Returns February 6 at 8 PM ET on BET!

Hello World,

For the eighth consecutive year, the 22nd Annual Super Bowl Gospel Celebration will air on BET during Super Bowl LV week on Saturday, February 6th at 8/7c.

The theme “Nothing Can Stop Us” is the inspirational message for this highly anticipated night of praise and worship during Super Bowl LV. This year’s event will be hosted by national radio and TV personality Rickey Smiley and feature performances by The NFL Players Choir, Erica Campbell, Voices of Fire presented by Pharrell Williams, PJ Morton, Kierra Sheard, Koryn Hawthorne, Zacardi Cortez, and an exclusive performance by gospel music pioneer and living legend John P. Kee. Additionally, the show will feature appearances from NFL Players Desean Jackson-Philadelphia Eagles WR and Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys QB.

The Super Bowl Gospel Celebration will present Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson with this year’s “Faith In Action Award.” The son of a courageous cancer survivor, Watson is one of the NFL’s youngest philanthropists and is committed to causes that support families and youth in underserved communities.

In collaboration with the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration, the American Cancer Society will highlight the need to eliminate barriers to prevention and treatment in the black community during the broadcast. African Americans have the lowest survival rate for most cancers, and the pandemic has caused a devastating drop in cancer screenings. Viewers will be encouraged to donate during the show on BET by texting HOPE to 20222 to donate $10 to the American Cancer Society.

Originating at Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999, the annual event joins key NFL Players, top Gospel/Contemporary Christian, and mainstream GRAMMY® Award-winning artists, and special guests all on one stage to bring audiences an evening of uplifting music and inspirational messages.

Super Bowl Gospel Celebration (SBGC) is the largest multicultural event during the Super Bowl weekend. In its 22-year run as an NFL-sanctioned event, SBGC has featured artists including Patti LaBelle, Yolanda Adams, Gladys Knight, Natalie Grant, Mary Mary, Fantasia, Donnie McClurkin, Anthony Hamilton, among many others.

Melanie Few is the Founder and NFL Sanction Holder of the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration. The show’s Executive Producer’s are Connie Orlando, EVP of Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET, Jamal Noisette, VP of Specials & Music Programming at BET, Jeannae Rouzan-Clay, CEO of J. Rou Productions Inc.

For more information, visit superbowlgospel.com and join the social conversation using #SuperBowlGospel and #NothingCanStopUs.

Any thoughts?