In the foothills of East Tennessee, not far from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, lies the small town of Clinton. You may have heard of it before. It is the home of the Clinton 12, a group of twelve Black students, who in 1956, bravely integrated the local high school after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling two years prior. It was also the last place of residence of famed author and activist, Alex Haley, who gave us Roots: The Saga of an American Family. But for the last 32 years—since Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) acquired Haley’s final residence, Alex Haley Farm, Clinton has been the home of the children’s movement, welcoming hundreds of faith leaders to realize the vision of a more fair, equitable, and
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In South Carolina, it feels like you can't throw a rock without hitting a place of worship. Historically, this plethora of options had a purpose in the South. Churches centralized social life and infrastructure in rural frontiers where little had existed before—making social and economic hubs for dispersed communities. It's become such a mundane visual on my daily drives that I've stopped noticing all of the “First Churches” of this and that. I've recently taken to noticing the wild roadside plants instead. Counting mimosa trees and beauty berry bushes. Noting “ditch lilies” and plantain, kudzu creeping from the shoulders up onto the hillsides—taking over power lines and swallowing tidy landscaping.
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The decades of occupation of Palestinian land by the Israeli government and the current genocide of Palestinians is something no one can ignore, especially people of faith. Our faith moves us to call out the injustices of our world, the killing of thousands of people, and governments that take advantage
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In June, we moved to San Diego, and I stepped away from being a pastor. I’ve still built connections with clergy, and a recent meeting with one pastor stuck out. We talked about following up, and he said, “Reach back out in January.” It was December 1. Caught off guard
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For 31 consecutive weeks, Israelis have taken to the streets, mostly in Tel Aviv, to protest the decision by the current right-wing government of Israel to initiate an overhaul of its judicial system. Israel’s “Unreasonableness Law” is a measure that removes the courts’ power to overturn decisions made by Israel’s
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