I never quite know how to express the greeting on this day which is when, Christians believe, Jesus was crucified. The day is "good" only if you accept the foundation of the faith: Jesus arose from the dead the following Sunday. EASTER!
Too many of us who profess to be Christians pay no attention to the solemnity of the week between Palm Sunday and Easter; we focus on the more secular trappings. I try to do both. Indeed, yesterday I went to several supermarkets in Harlem in search of the hog maws I thought I needed for the chittlins I'm cooking for Easter (Don't turn up your nose; I'm also cooking a ham and a duck). I ended up having wonderful conversations with people who were also trying to keep the culinary tradition alive -- even if they didn't know what a hog maw looked like.
In the end, I didn't find any hog maws and a chef and the aunt of my recently deceased friend, Steve, told me I didn't even need them! Oh, well!
I don't think one should say, "Happy Good Friday!" One friend said he just says, "Good Friday!" I also heard someone else say, "Blessed Good Friday!"
Well, you get the drift. Observe and enjoy as the Spirit moves you.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
This is not all Obama all the time, but...
...this is the person of the moment representing issues that we've swept under our rugs. Weigh in. All perspectives invited.
HOMEWORK: Obama and the Rev. Wright
"Part of my job is to see if I can help push the country into a different place with a new set of understandings." -- Barack Obama
I pray that you hang in here with me, but from time to time I require that you stretch yourself. Here are some things you should familiarize yourself with as you prepare to discuss -- intelligently! -- race, presidential politics, religion, etc.
This is Obama talking to the Chicago Tribune on 3/14 about his relationship to his former pastor, the now-retired but still much loved Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and his fundamental disagreement with the vision of 21st centtury United States that Rev. Wright has:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-080314-obama-audiogallery,0,3649641.audiogallery
Excerpt: "There is a generational shift that is taking place....I represent a different generation with a different set of life experiences and see race relations in different terms than he does."
This is from EUR Gospel (3/17 Headline: Obama Denounces and Dumps Rev. Wright)
http://webmail.aol.com/35304/aol/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=New%20Mail&uid=1.20462559&seq=18&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0
Here’s what journalists are saying, as compiled by my colleague Richard Prince:
http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/080319_prince/
I pray that you hang in here with me, but from time to time I require that you stretch yourself. Here are some things you should familiarize yourself with as you prepare to discuss -- intelligently! -- race, presidential politics, religion, etc.
This is Obama talking to the Chicago Tribune on 3/14 about his relationship to his former pastor, the now-retired but still much loved Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and his fundamental disagreement with the vision of 21st centtury United States that Rev. Wright has:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-080314-obama-audiogallery,0,3649641.audiogallery
Excerpt: "There is a generational shift that is taking place....I represent a different generation with a different set of life experiences and see race relations in different terms than he does."
This is from EUR Gospel (3/17 Headline: Obama Denounces and Dumps Rev. Wright)
http://webmail.aol.com/35304/aol/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=New%20Mail&uid=1.20462559&seq=18&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0
Here’s what journalists are saying, as compiled by my colleague Richard Prince:
http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/080319_prince/
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Hearing Obama
Perhaps it was a fitting sign of things to come as the sound system at Philly's Constitution Center had a few snags. So Barack Obama's speech was delayed for 30-40 minutes Tuesday. You could imagine the technicians asking, "Can you hear me now?" And, indeed, that is the question I have for the nation after I heard Obama's remarkable speech on race in America.
From many of the pundits -- the usual mouthpieces on network TV and on cable -- it is evident that they did not hear what they were not prepared to hear, even as they replayed snippets from Obama's speech. Many kept asking why he put race out there. He did not. Others did and he responded brilliantly. Many asked if he went far enough in distancing himself from his longtime, now retired, pastor. And then they proceeded to display their ignorance of the complicated nature of Black Christianity in the U.S. and how foreign any Black worship service is to them, no matter the denomination, the geography, the history. Many asked if race will hound Obama for the rest of the campaign. Only they -- the hounding media -- can answer that.
Some people heard. They got it. This is not just about denouncing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This is not just about walking a tightrope between Black and White. This is about the new world he envisions and challenges us to join him in creating.
I'll have more to say on this later, but for now I invite you to see -- and hear -- Obama by going to his website:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords
Via National Public Radio (NPR), you can find audio and a transcript:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88473796
From many of the pundits -- the usual mouthpieces on network TV and on cable -- it is evident that they did not hear what they were not prepared to hear, even as they replayed snippets from Obama's speech. Many kept asking why he put race out there. He did not. Others did and he responded brilliantly. Many asked if he went far enough in distancing himself from his longtime, now retired, pastor. And then they proceeded to display their ignorance of the complicated nature of Black Christianity in the U.S. and how foreign any Black worship service is to them, no matter the denomination, the geography, the history. Many asked if race will hound Obama for the rest of the campaign. Only they -- the hounding media -- can answer that.
Some people heard. They got it. This is not just about denouncing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This is not just about walking a tightrope between Black and White. This is about the new world he envisions and challenges us to join him in creating.
I'll have more to say on this later, but for now I invite you to see -- and hear -- Obama by going to his website:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords
Via National Public Radio (NPR), you can find audio and a transcript:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88473796
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