“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter the way people look at reality, then you can change it.”
An alternative to despair
In a season that can feel laden with moral panic and conscious apathy complicated by the illusion of innocence, two pastors invoke hope, courage and a commitment to justice as paths to transformation.
From empire to freedom: The hope of our faith
Facing the reality of governmental oppression, as a form of imperial reaction and suppression to the revolutionary movement of the church, early Christians anticipated unavoidable suffering. Living within an autocracy, anyone or any movement that stood in contradiction to this empire was poised to endure retaliation, retribution or repression.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A THRIVING BLACK CHURCH
The black church can be defined as the body, entity, or institution formed in hush harbors of plantations — secret gathering places for the enslaved to engage in their religious and spiritual practices — which over generations, emerged into a valuable and pivotal place of community, protest, and worship.