Locs, Heels, and the Bible

One day, the nation woke up to an ultimate heartbreak. After days of frantic searching, nine-year-old Chantel Crump was found lifeless in the bushes of Weatherills. Her abduction had mobilized the entire community, and her death shattered it. Chantel had simply been walking home from school when she accepted a ride from a woman. She trusted, as children should be able to, and for that, her life was stolen, along with a piece of Antigua's innocence. The island wept for Chantel and the others who have either disappeared without a trace, or found murdered and mutilated. You see, Antigua’s soil holds the tears of too many. Just months earlier, teenagers Yenifer Bridge and Achazia James were found murdered. Yenifer, a 16-year-old mother, disappeared one night and her toddler son was found wandering alone. Her body, later recovered, bore signs of brutal violence. Achazia, only 15, was found mutilated on a beach, the wounds so telling, they spoke of a wickedness the island still can...

Good Friday was never apolitical. From the beginning, and certainly from the moment Jesus stood trial before Pilate, the cross became its usual site of death and a symbol of empire - the brutality of state-sanctioned execution, and the lengths to which the powerful will go to preserve themselves. Good Friday is the state at its worst, colluding with religion to silence the disruptive, to crucify the liberator, and to make a spectacle of justice-turned-on-its-head. Luke 23 drips with irony and political theatre. Jesus - nonviolent, prophetic, healing the sick, feeding the hungry - is accused of inciting revolt . The charge is deeply  political . “He stirs up the people,” they say, “teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee to this place”. 'Stirring up the people' can get you lynched under empire. Jesus was lynched by a coalition of political elites and religious leaders because his presence disrupted the order of things. He refused to play nice with Rome, and exposed corrupt...

Lately, I've been wondering a lot whether ignorance can be cauterized. Ignorance, in its most insidious form, is the willful rejection of knowledge and growth. It is a seething wound, that is festering beneath layers of propaganda, fear, and historical amnesia. And today, in the shadow of a regime that echoes some of the most terrifying chapters of human history, have been asking: Can ignorance be cauterized? Can it be seared shut, burned away like diseased flesh to prevent further infection, or are we already too far gone, consumed by a sickness we refuse to diagnose? Because, the way some people are acting as if any of the nonsense is defensible, I am shuddering as if somebody just dropped ice cubes down my drawers. The current state of this nation is not the result of a single election, a single figure, or even a single party. It is the product of a slow, deliberate erosion of basic decency. Decades of revisionist history, corporate-controlled media, and an education system g...

  Kendrick Lamar turned the Superbowl halftime show into full Sunday experience of reckoning! Liss’n! I always loved English Lit and I have been real good at it too. Let me tell you how I had a grand time with the masterclass in storytelling, history, and the urgent rhythms of now that Mr. Lamar brought to the stage on Sunday February 09th. Admittedly, I was not even aware that it was Superbowl Sunday. I am not a football fan, and I only tuned in to previous Superbowls for the commercials and the halftime shows. When my friend told me that Kendrick Lamar would be performing at halftime, I knew it was about to be on. I am a Kendrick Lamar fan. Now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about halftime. We had a WHOLE time at halftime! The lights dimmed and the first beats dropped as a 1987 Buick GNX was revealed. It was personal. It was Kendrick’s birth year, and an echo of the Buick Regal his father drove. It represented power and defiance. To me, it was also a symbol and a rem...

I n a move that has sent shockwaves through the international community, the Trump administration has effectively pressed a hard stop for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), freezing foreign aid and initiating a rapid shutdown of its operations. This decision, spearheaded by Elon Musk and executed with warped speed, has left thousands of employees worldwide in a state of uncertainty and has jeopardized critical humanitarian and development programs across the globe. My teeth are still chattering at the speed at which we arrived here. And my noggin is still puzzled at the slow pace at which we are moving towards sensible gun laws. Are we still wondering about the US value system? The Human Cost USAID has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy for over six decades, channeling billions of dollars into health, education, and economic development initiatives in more than 120 countries. The abrupt cessation of its activities means that thousands of employees, many of wh...

We live in a world where hatred is wielded as a political tool, leaders exploit fear for personal gain, and  those tasked with reflecting the image of Christ too often choose silence (or cowardice). The other day, Bishop Budde chose courage and invited Donald Trump into acts of decency. Since then, her prophetic challenge in the form of a call for mercy on behalf of the undocumented, LGBTQ+ individuals, and others targeted by sweeping hate policies has been met with the expected hatred and cowardly retaliatory death threats. The response she has received reflects the depth of polarization in this country and the frightening reality of a faith community that has often chosen power over principle. I shudder (literally) when I think that religious leaders have once again chosen either to err on the side of ignorance and hatred, or cowardice and power-grab.  What kind of preacher/pastor/priest/decent human being would truly support the actions of the Trump administration? It takes...