News, Editorial, & More
Run and Not Grow Weary: Cultivating a Spirit for Social Justice
October 20, 2020
Every injustice we face in this world is a result of evil. The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against powers of darkness, so we must put on the armor of God and pray continuously on all occasions...
A Word: Black Women Deserve Men Who Understand Our Rage
September 24, 2020
It’s been over a month since the body of Oluwatoyin Salau was found and I’m still enraged. In tweets shortly before her murder, the 19-year-old Black Lives Matter activist revealed truths that still haunt me with aftershocks of anger and grief...
A Prayer for Times of Great Injustice
June 2020
Prayer is an important first step in the struggle for justice.
Scholarly Publications
Good Pedagogy: Arguments for Critical Pedagogy in Higher Education
April 2021
In March 2020, the now late Congressman John Lewis made a surprise appearance at a march commemorating the 55th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama. During his remarks, Lewis urged attendees to get into “good trouble,” echoing the refrain that has come to characterize his activism and career. According to Lewis, “good” trouble, or necessary trouble, is trouble that is required to create lasting change for some of society’s most pressing issues.
Multiple Pedagogies Required: Reflections on Teaching Race and Ethnicity in the Intercultural and Intergenerational Classroom
March 2021
Have you ever heard the imperative, "fail faster"? It is a mantra that has been embraced by a range of authors, artists, creative tinkerers, and entrepreneurs to refer to the process of failing as necessary to improve and, ultimately, succeed.
“Tell me the story of home”: Afrofuturism, Eric Killmonger, and Black American malaise
April 2019
Marvel's Black Panther (2018) begins with a young N’Jadaka (aka Erik “Killmonger” Stevens) asking his father, Prince N’Jobu, to tell him the story of home. N’Jobu shares the origin story of Wakanda, a fictional African nation that is the most technologically advanced in the world. However, as the film progresses, a more complicated narrative of “home” emerges for N’Jadaka—a character who fluctuates between three identities: N’Jadaka, a Wakandan; Erik Stevens, a U.S. American; and Killmonger, a soldier and Navy SEAL. While multiple consciousness may characterize “home” for many Black U.S. Americans, the integration of a familiar account of the Black U.S. American experience into a fantastical, seemingly Afrofuturist text drives the cinematic storytelling of Black Panther into a compelling future-present. With its grueling attention to detail, Black Panther masters the telling of multiple stories, some imaginary and others not, in one sitting. Viewers are swept into an imagined future anchored by heroism, nationalism, and identity coupled with a gripping re-presentation of Black American malaise that gets at the heart of both Afrofuturistic and Hollywood storytelling traditions.
Trending Topics: A Cultural Analysis of Being Mary Jane and Black Women's Engagement on Twitter
January 20, 2019
Mary Jane's drama-filled story line includes a string of undeniably attractive love interests, a family whose troubles seem never ending, and untethered career ambition that propels her into the realm of the famous and wealthy. However, for black audiences, the characterization of the protagonist as a black woman serves as a double-edged sword. While many viewers celebrate Mary Jane as one of the few leading black women on television, others may lament how her role appears to oscillate between familiar and stereotypical depictions of black women as jezebels, sapphires, or matriarchs...