Witness. Research. Write.

California Owes Reparations for Making Ronald Reagan President

America is in the birthing pains of a new racial age. The struggle is as old as the nation itself, as Black justice strives against white fears to shape our nation’s soul and shared future. 

And no two states better represent the competing visions for our national destiny than Florida and California…

Evangelical Christians once were saved.
After Trump, they’re lost.

Religionnews.com Blog: For much of the last four years, Donald Trump has put this rhetoric at the center of his message. Trump will be remembered as a president who did more than capture white evangelical Christians’ votes:

Why we must oppose politics like SB 138 that seek to shrink young minds

Courier-Journal.com Blog: On the evening of April 24, 1968, America was a racially traumatized nation. Only a few weeks prior, a sniper’s bullet killed Dr. Martin Luther King jr. It was unclear what direction our nation was headed.

Finding hope on Martin Luther King Day, even in these times of struggle

Salon.com: It is easy to wonder how to hold on to hope for King’s dream of racial and economic equity in an age at war with both. Celebrating King’s legacy is complicated and confusing when, as…

'Same God' Reviewed

Chron.com Blog: The AMC 8 theater premier of Larcyia Hawkin’s ‘Same God’ hosted by Joel Goza is this Sunday, March 4th! Check out the review below.

Capital Punishment and the Racial Execution of Justice

The North Star: Wendell Griffen, an African American judge from Arkansas, is battling what he refers to as the state’s “white power structure.”

The Declaration of Independence Haunts Black America

The North Star: On the Fourth of July, many Americans celebrate the US Declaration of Independence. Yet there is no denying that it is fraught with tensions.

Black Mayors and the Power of Local Politics

The North Star: The continual chaos emanating from Washington, DC makes it easy to lose sight of the local political transformations taking place in communities and cities across our nation.

The Fight for Educational Equity 65 Years After Brown vs. The Board of Education

The North Star: By the time I began reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, the racialized world the book describes failed to startle me. I knew a little bit about that world — at least in its Houston form.

A Palm Sunday Reflection on America’s Addiction to White Supremacy

The North Star: Generations ago, one of my relatives fought alongside General Stonewall Jackson and continued the South’s struggle with General Robert E. Lee to the Appomattox Court House.

U.S. Christian Churches Identity Crisis Deepens

Houston Chronicle: An identity crisis is building in the American Christian church. Since 1990, the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans has grown from 6% to 25% , making them the largest religious group. 

Continuing Martin Luther King's Struggle for Justice

The North Star: “The white backlash had become an emotional electoral issue… Political clowns had become governors… their magic achieved with a ‘witches’ brew of bigotry, prejudice, half-truths and whole lies.”

Spike Lee calls us to recognize the racism baked into America’s DNA

Houston Chronicle: Virginia lived under a spotlight during Black History Month. Revelations of racist pasts and accusations of sexual violence turned the state upside down.

A War Speech Worth Remembering: LBJ 1964 State of the Union

Chron.com: Few American’s place much hope that 2019’s State of the Union will cure our crisis, but the exercise of reflecting on where we are as a nation and how we lost our way is critical to navigating our…

Finding hope on Martin Luther King Day, even in these times of struggle

Salon.com: It is easy to wonder how to hold on to hope for King’s dream of racial and economic equity in an age at war with both. Celebrating King’s legacy is complicated and confusing when, as…

Black Churches and White Evangelicals: Divided by a Common Religion

Houston Chronicle: As we reflect back on the 2018 election, few moments will leave a mark as indelible as Ed Young, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston, describing the Democratic Party as…

It's Christmas Time: A Sermon from Luke 1

Chron.com: I don’t know what season you find yourself in, your feelings about our nation’s life together, but Mary’s got a song for us about her baby Boy; a song written to bring us out of our life’s circumstances…

A Familiar Formula: The Racial Politics of Ted Cruz and George Wallace

Chron.com: For Republicans who desire to reject racism and bring an end to racial inequalities, Ted Cruz poses a significant problem. The problem is not that Cruz is ignorant on racial issues.

The Most Dangerous Negro:

Chron.com: We live in the ripples of the impact of Martin Luther King’s inspiring life. Yet as we celebrate the first MLK day with President Trump in office, we must remember what is often lost from popular…

What Now: Opportunity to Rebuild a City

Chron.com: I watched as the rain fell in Houston’s 5th Ward. During the hardest down pours, I worried for the safety of our daughter and son. But when morning came, 5th Ward remained relatively…

PASTOR IN CHIEF: Reflections on a Presidency

I began working at a church in the 5th Ward as President Obama ramped up his unlikely run for the White House. I never voted for a Democrat until 2008. I remember well awaiting the election results in our offices.

WHITE SOUL MATES: How James Dobson Evolved the KKK’s Values for an Evangelical Embrace

I drove home from Baylor University on the evening of Election Day with knots in my stomach, knowing by the time I arrived home, a new president would likely be selected.

From Lincoln to Trump: How Democrats and Republicans Fuel Today's Chaos

In facing the reality of Trump, we would do well to listen to Lincoln’s address to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, IL. It was the place of Lincoln’s famous prophecy: “If destruction be our lot…

The Swastika of the South and the Sins of Our Fathers

As Sarah paid, my eyes caught sight of a Confederate flag. My mind spun like a disoriented top. I cannot say where it went first. Did it go to the grey uniform and musket of Private Elijah Goza, a father of mine…

The Gospel Next Door: Book Review

Usually, it is precarious to review a book written by a friend that you desire to keep working, eating and fishing with. The Gospel Next Door, thankfully, was a bit easier to agree to review because…

New HISD Chief and 5th Ward Poverty

The Houston Independent School District’s search for a new superintendent is an important reminder to all of us that the most significant challenge and opportunity for our city is the success…

The Power of Unspoken Commitments: Reflections on Wheaton College

I graduated from Wheaton College in 2002. Wheaton College made a deeper person out of me by providing a haven for me to reconsider my faith in the context of fellow sojourners seeking to live into…

Fuel for the Fire: A Baby for Such a Time as This

In a barn outside a little-known ghetto, a baby was born to a woman with a questionable reputation. Such scandalous beginnings happen every day, but after this baby’s birth, the world would never fully recover

In a world of wolves: Reflections on the Christian Response to tragedy

Bombs went off again. Terrorist killed innocent people. Children are without parents and parents are without children and the world feels different. In one sense, what 9/11 was for America is now what 11/13 is for France. But at a deeper level, the wounds of 9/11 and 11/13 are as much wounds of the world as wounds of any particular nation.