A Challenge from former NFL player Trent Shelton

Injustice and a guest post

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." 

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let’s face it, there’s a lot of injustice happening in our world.

Black people in America were rocked by the verdict on the death of a young black teenager named Trayvon Martin who was shot and killed by a Hispanic/White man named George Zimmerman because he “looked suspicious” when walking home in a gated (rich) community in the state of Florida with a bag of Skittles and iced tea in his hands, wearing a hoodie. Who knew a hoodie could look sinister? Apparently if you’re a black male in America and you’re wearing a hoodie, walking in through a rich housing development minding your own business (in fact he was going to a relative’s house) then you are suspect. Zimmerman was found not guilty and Black people in America who could relate to these situations, were immersed in despair.

See, for Black people in America, it’s MORE than a black boy who was killed by a White man. It’s about the history of oppression, hatred and injustice that still hurt people in America today. It’s about feeling that your voice will never be heard and if ever is heard, it will be disregarded. It’s about being "sick and tired of being SICK and TIRED" and yet forced to stay sick and tired because people in power do not care about helping you change your situation for the better. It’s about the silence. Yes, the silence. Black people in America are often forced to suffer in silence for fear of being heard and by being heard, offending people who have the power to make your life miserable.

I wish we all would remember that we are ALL from the SAME two first parents—Adam and Eve--who were the first human beings created by God at the beginning of time on planet Earth (read the Bible book of Genesis for proof). I wish that we would remember that and then DRAW from it, in turn being motivated to treat others the way we wish to be treated and then being resolved that NO ONE is BETTER than ANYONE because in God’s eyes, we are ALL created EQUAL. And not only are we equal, but we are LOVED, yes, LOVED by GOD and I do believe that the good Lord wants us to get along with each other. 

Unfortunately, since we live in a sin-filled world, true harmony with all humans will not happen entirely until Jesus Christ returns to this Earth to take His faithful followers home to heaven and put a permanent end to sin (as it says in The Holy Bible, read the book of John and Revelation for details). BUT until then, God DOES hold us accountable meaning there ARE consequences to our actions and He does NOT expect us to sit idly by and watch injustice have a field day! No, God wants us to ACT, to promote peace, to as it says in Micah 6:8, do what is required of us mortals which is to, “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God”.

Read Isaiah 58:6-7 (New International Version) which says, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

Part of acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God is sharing your story with the world in a way that encourages dialogue, dialogue that prompts change. Today, I’m being hosted by writer and editor Deidra Riggs on her blog with a guest post for her "Going There" series about race relations in America. You can read it here.

Sincerely,

Alexis

A New Kind of Bachelor

Really, It Matters

(A guest post by Deidra Riggs)

I swore off watching “The Bachelor” about seven seasons back. I used to be SO into it. Addicted, really. The romance! The drama! The exotic dates! The Fantasy Suites! The heartbreak! The sobbing in the limo! I. Loved. It. All!!!

Believe me. I don’t blame you if you feel the desire to click away right now and read something that will enhance your intellect, rather than this drivel about a — insert air quotes here — reality show where thirty eleven women throw themselves at one man who ignores the advice you shout at him from the sofa and who never picks the right woman and in the end the one he does pick drops him like a hot potato once the spotlight fades to black. You read about their breakup on the cover of a tabloid at the check out counter in Target and you shake your head and say to your own man, “I knew it! Why do these men never listen to me?” to which your man looks at you with eyes glazed over and says, “Really?”

Yep. I had quit. Cold turkey. But the other night, while scrolling through Facebook, I glimpsed something about a minority on The Bachelor! “What?” I thought to myself. I responded with something like, “We’ll see how long she lasts,” and figured that would be that.

Well, my curiosity got the best of me, and the next day, I logged on to my laptop to watch the episode online. Sure enough! Three black women! THREE! And, not only black women. This is the most diverse cast I’ve ever seen on The Bachelor (and I used the word “cast” intentionally because, let’s face it, the reality show thing is only so real). Later that day, I snuck downstairs and set the DVR to record this season of the show. (Surely, my husband is planning an intervention.)

The irony of this does not escape me.

All around me, people are dating and marrying “outside their race” (as our elders like to call it), and The Bachelor is just now airing an episode where there is a higher than usual statistical possibility that a woman of color will last beyond the halfway point of the season. And...I’m watching it! Can’t tear myself away.

Sean is this season’s blue-eyed, blond-haired bachelor, and my goal is to get inside his head, while not being manipulated by the producers at ABC. Don’t laugh.

Here’s what I want to know: Is he serious? Is he sincere? Is he really okay with dating someone whose culture is different from his? How much of this is about ABC and ratings (I know, I know)?

No. Those aren’t my real questions. What I really want to know is this: Haven’t we come further than this? Why is this such a big deal? Why are we Tweeting and writing status updates and blog posts about women of color on a television dating show? Why has it taken so long for The Bachelor to mix things up like this? And honestly...the real question is...why hasn’t the bachelor or bachelorette ever been a person of color?

Of course, I’m not just talking about The Bachelor. What I really want to know is, how can we say race doesn’t matter — on television, at church, in the corner office, in politics, in the classroom, etc. — when it obviously still does?

~~~
A believer in the unmatched power of story, Deidra seeks to connect people to one another and to God through words. She believes in the value of every person’s story and works hard to make sure we each find our place at the table, and grace to speak the words in our hearts.

Deidra serves as Managing Editor for TheHighCalling.org and writes for DaySpring at incourage.me. The host of JumpingTandem: The Retreat, Deidra is fervently committed to the idea that God wants to change the world through you — yes, you! Connect with Deidra at deidrariggs.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

RACE in Movies

So I went to my first Writer’s Group recently and toward the end of our meeting, we all did a free writing exercise. Free writing is when you take to pen and paper (or keyboard to word processor), set time and write with reckless abandon until your time clock stops. At this particular event, we had exactly 7 minutes to respond to a prompt. Our prompt given before the timer was set began, “It’s always interesting that…” and from there we were encouraged to write, freely until the time of 7 minutes was over. 

I would like to share with you what I wrote and I encourage you to respond, freely! 

My 7 minutes of free writing: 

It’s always interesting that the movies made about Black people that win all of the awards have storylines based in stereotypes! Sure, Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won the Oscar. But look at the roles they played and the stories they portrayed! Denzel put on an award-winning performance in the movie John Q and The Great Debaters yet did not win an Oscar. And Halle had to DEGRADE herself to win that honor. 

It’s not just Black people who suffer this phenomenon. I’m sure Latinas are tired of seeing themselves portrayed in movies as the maid who doesn’t speak English or the Dominican woman who is ready to slice you with her collection of knives. And I’m certain Asians do not want to always fill the roles of the owner of the 7-Eleven or dry cleaners! 

The problem with these stereotypes is that they only show ONE SIDE of a person’s culture and history! There is SO MUCH MORE to Black culture than the ghetto and Ebonics and eating fried foods! There is SO MUCH MORE to Hispanic culture than gang violence and knives and border crossing issues! There is SO MUCH MORE to Asian culture than dumplings, sushi and the caste system! 

Now let this be your writing prompt: What do you think about the roles given to minorities in movies and the stereotypes they have to battle in real life?

Respond in the comment section. 

Sincerely, 

Alexis 

Join the conversation

RACE: Let's talk about it

They say that if you want to keep your friends, don't talk about three things: race, religion and politics. 

Today, I am going to talk about race. If you don't want to read my blog anymore after this topic is discussed then okay but I need to talk about this, in fact WE as a people who live on this planet Earth, need to start talking about things that nobody wants to talk about because only when we have the courage to speak our minds can we invoke change. Only when we have the courage to be REAL can we take off our masks and truly connect in a way that will inspire us to not only better understand each other but you might discover that you have more in common with people than your superficial differences.

Originally, I thought I'd do one of those "31 Days of..." blog post series about race but I've decided to write as the topics emerge from the recesses of my memory. So today's first post may be more of a rambling of several topics but I promise to make sure it gets more organized in presentation as this series on race relations continues in hopes of bringing about understanding and change for the better.

I would like to begin this discussion with my views on race and race relations: 

First, I'd like to say that I love and appreciate ALL of God's children from around the world. I love how He's made us different and unique and beautiful in our own individual ways. Do you know that not even our fingerprints are the same? That's right, with over a billion people around the world, you will NOT FIND ONE fingerprint that has a copy not even in the case of identical twins! God is Awesome! :)

So since God has made us all wonderfully unique and beautiful, it bothers me when people use our differences to draw lines and divide us up into different "race" categories and give the world the idea that there is only ONE way to look, act, speak, write and present yourself to the world that is "right". The mere fact that we have to identify ourselves as either a part of a "minority" or the "majority" bothers me because use of those two defining words gives the illusion that one party is better than the other or superior. God made us ALL equal as members of the HUMAN FAMILY! And on some days when life hits the hardest, the ONLY thing that comforts me is this fact: GOD DOES NOT PLAY FAVORITES! Read Acts 10:34 if you don't believe me. God loves us all! And He will always treat us fairly and equally not based on race but based on the pure fact that HE created us ALL and LOVES us with all His heart EQUALLY. And the only truth that comforts me one some days is that there are NO SLUMS IN HEAVEN. There's no "best part of town" or "worst part of town" because Jesus Christ is there as I write this, preparing a place for us that includes MANSIONS! There is no "rich class" or "working class" or "poor class"  in heaven! It's pure, it's holy and the very STREETS are MADE WITH GOLD! A pastor once said something to the effect of "Everyone is on LEVEL playing ground with God." It reassures my soul that in a world that can be unfair, cruel and cold, God is still in control and to Him being wealthy and affluent or poor and outcast does not make a difference in how HE deals with us! Again, GOD loves us ALL and only HE can see the true nature of our HEARTS, examine our motives and determine our true intentions and as a result, when He judges us, God is 100 percent fair in his conclusions, decisions and actions!

So yes, I love people from around the world and I believe that our features that make us different and unique should be celebrated NOT made fun of or looked down upon depending on where you live in this world or what situation you find yourself experiencing.

Okay, so now that you know how I see things on a primary level, I will stop here for this post today and continue another day.

A true writer at heart, I thrive on feedback. So please, tell me what you think! Leave a comment, encourage a conversation to invoke change. I know that all the problems of the world will NEVER be fixed (the Bible says that it will get worse until Jesus comes) but that's no excuse to make things worse on purpose through living in ignorance of people who aren't like you. Remember the "Golden Rule": Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, treat people the way you'd like to be treated. Remember, everyone is fighting their own battle-- some you can see and some that you cannot-- so please try to be kind to everyone you encounter each and every day. And if you can't be nice then just don't say anything at all.

Finally, here's a thought to ponder: "There's only ONE RACE, the HUMAN RACE."

Black Woman Redefined!

Oh dear, where to begin?

The image of Black women in America and around the world has been assaulted, misconstrued, misunderstood, misrepresented and promoted as negative for what feels like FOREVER!

But here is a book that aims to redefine the image of Black women and how they are perceived.

Best described on the book's website, Black Woman Redefined is, "A groundbreaking, long overdue book that unveils an honest and thought provoking glimpse into the lives and souls of 21st century strong accomplished black women. This book provides a pathway and solutions for black women to reach beyond the stereotypes that often limit them, and the achievements that often define them. The book also encourages black women to redefine for themselves the important things in life, such as emotional wellness, intimacy, spirituality, and balance which often eludes them in their everyday lives. The book includes fresh, never before done national research on professional black women & men, as well as First Lady Michelle Obama which includes the opinions and observations of a diverse national sample of 1000 Americans (+/-3). The book's most interesting feature, however, beyond the author's personal narrative and research findings is that it brings together some of the best and brightest. Some of the most renowned journalists, celebrities, educators, life coaches, politicians and thought leaders of our time give young women of this present and next generation "sage wisdoms" to help them successfully navigate the storms of life."

Author Sophia A. Nelson does an amazing job of educating, informing and uplifting her audience in this page-turner of a book! You will want to read it straight through and you will want to have a conversation about it afterwards!

Speaking of conversation, here's a direct link to Sophia's conversation about her book and the reason she wrote it: http://postscriptd.com/the-image-of-black-women-needed-a-makeover-says-author/

I recommend this book to EVERYONE. Black women will be uplifted and encouraged that they are not alone in their plight which society would rather not acknowledge and women of all nationalities will be inspired to start a conversation about the issues discussed in this book.

Check it out on Amazon.com!

Sincerely,

Alexis