Remembering King’s Assassination 50 Years Ago

On April 3, 2018April 2, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Race, Identity, and History, Uncategorized2 Comments

By Bill Wylie-Kellermann

I remember precisely where I was when I got the news of Martin Luther King’s assassination. It was my freshman year in college, a midwestern liberal arts school, and I’d just walked into the lounge of my dormitory when a bulletin broke into regular TV programing. The lone other student, whose face and name I mercifully do not recall, was seated high on the back of an overstuffed black leather chair. He muttered, “Somebody finally got that n****r.” I remember running the length of hall to the pay phone booth and calling my folks in Detroit, weeping into the receiver. In those tears, something shifted in me vocationally that day which bears on who I am. Continue reading “Remembering King’s Assassination 50 Years Ago” →

Activate That Love

On March 24, 2018March 16, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

In an interview a few years back, Rev. Lynice Pinkard of the Oakland’s Seminary of the Street was asked if there was ever a time that she lost her faith. This was her answer.

Through it all I’ve continued to love Jesus and the prophets. I love the church. I am a product of it, and I have spent my life serving it in various ways. The problem for me is that institutional church programs and denominational structures are too often removed from real, radical, biblical discipleship. The institutions often become bulwarks against the movement of the Spirit and act to preserve old patterns of power ill-suited to the real message of our faith. And I have to admit that Christians sometimes scare me. I even scare myself.
Continue reading “Activate That Love” →

#RevolutionOfValues: A Week of Creative Action

On March 16, 2018March 14, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Just Peacemaking, Race, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture has no connection whatsoever to the government. It is a people-powered department—a grassroots action network inciting creativity and social imagination to shape a culture of empathy, equity, and belonging. The USDAC is calling on artists, creative organizers, concerned citizens, and all community members to join together from April 2-8, 2018, to draw inspiration from and breathe new life into the prophetic words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., strengthening our commitment to speak truth to power and sparking creative action in the year ahead. Below are some ideas that the USDAC has provided to help spark the imagination.

MORE INFO ON #REVOLUTIONOFVALUES:

“Radical” is a much maligned word: it comes from the Latin radix (root), and refers to anything that goes to the root of the matter, rather than tinkering with the leaves and branches. Many people have downplayed Dr. King’s deep spiritual and political radicalism, trying to whitewash his true views. Now it is more important than ever to use our creativity to nourish the roots of love and justice. Continue reading “#RevolutionOfValues: A Week of Creative Action” →

Dos ancianos locos una para otra

On March 12, 2018February 14, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Race, Identity, and History, UncategorizedLeave a comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Author asked to remain Anonymous.The author and her novio have been in relationship for over six years. When people ask why they don’t get married so he can get a green card, her answer is, “It only works that way in the movies.

So we’re walking through slush on a February Sunday

Going up to the drugstore so you can get some medicine for your friend Continue reading “Dos ancianos locos una para otra” →

Fallen Upon Me To Do So

On March 11, 2018March 8, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Cloud of WitnessesLeave a comment

Re-posted from the brilliant New York Times series of fifteen obituaries written for women that were overlooked over the decades. This piece on Ida B. Wells was written by Caitlin Dickerson, a national immigration reporter who still uses the reporting techniques that were pioneered by Wells.

It was not all that unusual when, in 1892, a mob dragged Thomas Moss out of a Memphis jail in his pajamas and shot him to death over a feud that began with a game of marbles. But his lynching changed history because of its effect on one of the nation’s most influential journalists, who was also the godmother of his first child: Ida B. Wells.

“It is with no pleasure that I have dipped my hands in the corruption here exposed,” Wells wrote in 1892 in the introduction to “Southern Horrors,” one of her seminal works about lynching, “Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so.” Continue reading “Fallen Upon Me To Do So” →

Black History: Where to Begin?

On February 21, 2018February 25, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, RaceLeave a comment

By Jyarland Daniels, executive director of Harriet Speaks

My inbox usually contains questions from friends (and strangers) about things related to race. Today was no exception. This question, from a friend (a white woman) who I have known since childhood, reminded me why the Universe has called me to teach to the best of my ability. Here is the inbox message (shared with permission):

I’m asking this question because you are one of the most well read people I know – especially of your own culture. I’d like to spend this month getting to know the story of at least one Black person that has contributed to the goal of change. Now, I’d prefer it not be the mainstream celebrated figures. That’s too easy. And I don’t need a book reference unless you just happen to know one you WANT me to get into. I have no problem doing research and following that path. It’s part of why I enjoy historical fiction. It inspires me to get into the ditches and find my own truth. I could go online and easily find a random book. But I wanted to get to know someone who inspires you and get a new insight or deeper appreciation of one of the strongest, most driven women I know and who keeps my compass going forward. That would be you my friend — in case you were looking around trying to figure out who I was talking about.

I could barely contain my excitement and eagerness to respond. I quickly made two recommendations to my friend, and I might make the same recommendations for those who enjoy historical fiction and are making a sincere effort to learn about Black history. I recommended, The Warmth of Other Suns and The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. The reasons I recommended them might be of interest to others.

Continue reading “Black History: Where to Begin?” →

BONHOEFFER: A LEGACY OF FAITH AND RESISTANCE FOR OUR WORLD TODAY

On February 14, 2018February 11, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Cloud of Witnesses, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

If you are in the Philly area this weekend, check out this adventure in radical discipleship:

Saturday morning, February 17
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Project HOME, 1515 Fairmount Avenue

Bonhoeffer is a 93-minute documentary film that tells the dramatic story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the young German theologian who offered one of the first clear voices of resistance to the Nazi regime. Bonhoeffer openly challenged the church to stand with the Jews, and eventually joined his family in a plot to kill Hitler. His books, Cost of Discipleship, Letters and Papers from Prison, and Ethics, have had an enormous influence on people of faith and conscience seeking to live with integrity in a world of evil and oppression. We will view the film together and discuss its relevance to our life of faith and witness, with very particular emphasis on the current political realities under the Trump Administration and a world endangered by climate change, increasing wealth inequities, and violence. Join us for this important time of reflection and discernment. A light breakfast will be served. A $10 donation is requested to cover costs (though if you can’t pay, please feel free to come anyway!).

See the Facebook posting here.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Will O’Brien
at 215-842-1790 or willobrien59@gmail.com by February 13.
For more information on The Alternative Seminary,
see www.alternativeseminary.net.

Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Dear Trump #2. The perfect gift.

On February 9, 2018February 8, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Uncategorized1 Comment

27545226_1517543381692953_9067731188216851540_n By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

There has been a small, weekly vigil happening across from Isaac’s school for a year now. It started when a young girl told a social worker at school she was afraid of her friends and family being deported. When the social worker asked her if there was anyway that we could support her family, the little girl said she would feel better if ICE could see that people cared. So, this small vigil is one attempt at that- to publicly say to ICE that we stand with our neighbors and that we are paying attention. There is a commitment to keep standing in solidarity until there is a justice immigration policy in place and children can live without fear. Continue reading “Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Dear Trump #2. The perfect gift.” →

A Gateway to My Indigenous Soul

On January 31, 2018January 28, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

By S. Lily Mendoza (right), from Paula Miranda’s Pinay Protrait Project

I am a native of San Fernando, Pampanga in Central Luzon, Philippines. I grew up in the small barrio of Teopaco next door to calesa drivers with their handsome horses and their backyard stables. I shared with my five siblings duties feeding pigs and raising chickens and collecting horse manure for fertilizing our small family garden. Although I grew up colonized (tutored by American missionaries and Peace Corps Volunteers and Filipino teachers who taught strictly in English), I retain memories of sitting at my Apu Sinang’s feet listening to her tell stories as I strung fragrant sampaguita leis or as I watched with fascination as she prepared her betel nut chew, breaking open the nut and sprinkling shell lime on the meat, then rolling the concoction in betel pepper leaf before putting the bite-size pouch into her mouth for chewing. Then there were the home deliveries of fresh milk in unbranded glass bottles that you handed back when the milkman came back around, and the early morning toot-toot announcing the arrival of Apay Tinapay on his bike, the hot pandesal vendor, who magically kept the fresh-baked buns steaming hot in his big newspaper-insulated basket hanging by the side of his bike. Continue reading “A Gateway to My Indigenous Soul” →

How Do I Reassure My Children About the Future When the Future Is Terrifying? An activist’s lament.

On January 23, 2018January 23, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

images By Frida Berrigan, Re-posted from TomDispatch.com and MotherJones.com.

As a mother and an activist, here’s what I’ve concluded as 2018 begins: It’s getting harder and harder to think about the future—at least in that soaring Whitney Houston fashion. You know the song: “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way…” These days, doesn’t it sound quaint and of another age? Continue reading “How Do I Reassure My Children About the Future When the Future Is Terrifying? An activist’s lament.” →

Radical Discipleship

Category: Biography as Theology