by Nicole Symmonds, Urban Faith Contributing Writer | Aug 19, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
It has been a little over a week since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by officer Darren Wilson and there has been no rest for the weary in Ferguson. With militarized police presence, protesters, reporters, and an ever-looming sense of hostility and violence many, particularly those who don’t live in or near Ferguson, are wondering, “What can I do from where I am?” Below are some of the ways that people can help Mike Brown’s family, the people of Ferguson, and the black community in general.
1. Donate money to Michael Brown’s family.
The Brown family attorney started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for funeral and burial costs as well as travel and living expenses for the family as they seek justice for their son. Michael Brown Memorial Fund.
2. Purchase supplies for protesters on the ground.
Protesters in Ferguson are initiating clean-ups and are in need of supplies. A group of Spelman college women came together and created an Amazon.com wish list where people can purchase necessities for protesters and organizers such as toiletries and snacks. So far $11,995.90 worth of supplies have been delivered to Ferguson.
3. Attend marches, vigils, and rallys in your city
This past weekend alone 119 vigils were organized across the nation and there are plans for more within the next few days. These marches, vigils, and rallies are a show of solidarity across the miles and they are seeds planted toward change.
4. Sign the petitions for the “Michael Brown Law” and for federal law changes
There is a petition circulating calling for police to be required to wear cameras body cameras (at the time of publishing the city of Ferguson has pledged to outfit police officers with vest camera) as well as a petition to enact federal laws that will protect citizens from police violences and misconduct.
5. Help Churches that Are Helping in Ferguson
Churches in Ferguson are pitching in to help with clean-up efforts, providing lunches and activities for youth while public schools are closed, and providing crisis counseling to families in the area. Click here for a list of some of the churches in Ferguson that you can help.
6. Join and support movements that have vested interest in civic engagement
Indeed hashtags and tweets have spread awareness and helped people to mobilize in Ferguson but what is also needed is a long-term commitment to to civic engagement and seeking justice. Organizations such as Black and Brown People Vote are focusing on early engagement with minority voting populations in order to get 1,000,000 to the polls this November. They are doing so through education on policies that directly affect persons of color, engagement with other civic and social organizations to arm them with resources for their constituents, and generally empowering black and brown persons to realize their ability to effect change.
If you aware of other ways that people can help Ferguson or get active in the long-term fight for justice for young black men please let us know in the comments below.
by Maya J. Boddie | Aug 19, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
Mo’ne Davis (Photo Credit: People Magazine)
Mo’ne Davis has reached national prominence on the baseball field this summer. While most boys pitch in the high 50s or low 60s, she throws at 70 mph. Her skills have helped her team, the Philadelphia Taney Dragons, go undefeated thus far in the World Series in Williamsport, PA. Although she is currently recognized as the best in the little league, Davis says she doesn’t really like when the media places all of its attention on her. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without my teammates,” she says. According to WSJ, when asked post-game by ESPN how she handles excessive media fascination, she said, “I can always say no.”
As one of two girls in the World Series this year, Davis dominates the score boards. On Friday night, she became the first female pitcher to throw a shutout (the act by which a single pitcher pitches a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a run) in the Little League post season, and struck out 8 batters on Sunday. Her stepfather says, “She was pitching one day and someone hit a home run off of her, so she felt she needed to work on it more. And from there, it got to this point.” (NPR)
ESPN interviewed parents about how they view girls in baseball and most parents found it empowering for girls to be seen as just as good as boys on the playing field. One skeptical father of a middle school girl said that girls can get hurt by playing with boys. Yolanda Washington, two seats down from him, disagreed and said if her daughter “had the skills,” she would support her in baseball. “I’m excited that as an African-American girl, (my daughter) sees another African-American girl doing something so unique and positive.
If Davis continues down this path, she could definitely wind up in the actual World Series, having been compared to Philadelphia Phillies Jonathan Papelbon and Atlanta’s Ervin Santana. However, Davis plays other sports and has dreams of playing point guard at the University of Connecticut and of making it to the WNBA.
Regardless of the opinions of parents, and whatever she decides to play in the future, it is evident that Mo’ne is a role model for her generation and other little girls that might want to pursue a career in a sport that is normally considered a “male” sport.
An 11-year-old gymnast and Phillies fan who traveled from New Jersey to Philadelphia with her father to watch Davis play says she doesn’t seem stuck up, but just a girl with great confidence. “Mo’ne would be my role model if I was on a baseball team. She would be my role model even in general.” (ESPNW)
by UrbanFaith Staff | Aug 14, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
2014 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
FERGUSON, Mo. (RNS) On the fourth morning after Michael Brown’s death, residents from different parts of the region came together to pick up the pieces.
Some were young, some old. The majority arrived as part of the faithful. Others trickled in after spotting volunteers marching up and down West Florissant under the hot sun. Carrying brooms and large garbage bags, they collected whatever they could find: rubber bullets, broken glass, liquor bottles, tear gas grenades.
“I needed to come out today just to get some stability,” said Gary Park, 34, an auto mechanic who lives near the area in Ferguson where Brown was shot and protests erupted. Close by is the looted and burned QuikTrip that sits as a symbol of the severity of the unrest that resulted from an unnamed cop fatally shooting an unarmed 18-year-old.
“I wanted some encouragement,” Park said.
Park is a member of Passage Community Church in Florissant, which together with a few other local congregations, organized the Wednesday morning cleanup. Pastor Joe Costephens said that although the trash-collecting effort was a last-minute plan, more than 100 people joined the endeavor.
It was a simple act but not an insignificant one, especially since authorities reported two shootings only the night before. In fact, the continued violence has put future volunteer efforts on hold, Costephens said.
Elise Park, 31, a stay-at-home mom, arrived with her two young children who were excited by the novelty of using garbage pickers.
“I was very encouraged coming out here today, seeing all the groups helping,” Park said. “It’s an opportunity for me to invest and really become part of the community.”
Others, including a group of 20 somethings, came out to help on their own.
Larry Fellows, 28, of Ferguson, said that since the shooting he’s been doing what he can to spread a little cheer. Together with a group of friends, Fellows walks the neighborhood’s roads, handing out free water, snacks and cleaning supplies.
Fellows, who works for a health care company, said recent demonstrations aren’t just about the Michael Brown shooting.
“This has been building up for years,” he said.
He said he’s even offered supplies to police, but authorities rebuffed his offers.
Fellows believes that attitude is part of the reason the community remains angry.
“We’re the enemy.”
In an attempt to inspire compassion, another volunteer, Derrick Spencer of St. Louis, said he planned to return a sign to his truck’s windshield that recites a line from the New Testament: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
“We can’t take justice into our own hands,” Spencer said. Those who loot businesses are doing so at the expense of Michael Brown, he said.
After working for two hours, nearly 20 people gathered in the parking lot of First Baptist Church in Ferguson and held hands in prayer. They prayed for the family of Michael Brown and for businesses in the area that have been damaged by the riots.
Michael Williams of St. Louis, who described himself as a troubled individual who had managed to reset his life, was among those in the crowd. He said he wanted to show that “everybody is not about the rioting. Everybody is not about the destruction.”
Williams said he knows there are good police officers out there. “Most of us believe in doing the right thing, but this came to a boiling point,” he said.
(Lilly Fowler is the religion reporter at The Post-Dispatch. Follow her on Twitter.)
Copyright 2014 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be reproduced without written permission.
by UrbanFaith.com | Aug 8, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
Ebenezer Baptist, church home to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shares a unique bond with the nation of Liberia. In February, Pastor Raphael Warnock and other members of Ebenezer took a mission trip to Liberia and visited Providence Baptist Church. Together, they celebrated the 192nd anniversary of Providence, the oldest church in Liberia. Pastor 
Warnock and his members enjoyed themselves so much that they promised to return in 2015. Unfortunately, those plans have been altered due to the effect that the Ebola virus has had on Liberia.
Dr. Samuel Reeves, senior pastor of Providence, visited Atlanta this past weekend to deliver a sermon and update Ebenezer on how he and his congregation have been affected. None of Providence’s two thousand members have been infected by the virus but Reeves still asked Ebenezer to lift his congregation up in prayer.
Pastor Warnock understands the poor conditions that Liberia is currently facing and, according to raycomgroup.worldnow.com, says that although he and members of Ebenezer cannot return to Africa until the health crisis subsides, they will continue to support their Liberian friends. This is just in time for Ebenezer’s “Global Missions Sunday,” this Sunday, August 10th.
by John C. Richards Jr. | Aug 5, 2014 | Feature |
There are certain topics that scream single Christian. Sex and singleness is one of those topics. How does one life a fulfilling single, Christian life in a culture inundated with sexual imagery? Author Hafeez Baoku has entered the fray with his new project, Sex, God, and the Single Life: An Honest Journey to Satisfying Intimacy. But his work isn’t the usual “save yourself for marriage because the Bible says so” reflection on sex and the single life. It’s real. It’s transparent. It’s compelling.
A Healthy Sexuality
In the book, Hafeez speaks candidly about his own pursuit of a healthy sexuality. He recounts stories of friends giving him a distorted view of sexuality. As most of us can remember, sex education at school was a joke. Because others failed to help him develop a healthy sex ethic, Baoku admits to receiving his early sex education from Hollywood films. Who couldn’t relate to that?
The Grand Design
Hafeez then introduces the reader to God’s grand design for sex. Sex is good! God created it that way. Hafeez notes that, “Sex is the greatest physical representation of real intimacy between a man a woman” (43). Baoku also notes sin’s ability to fracture that good thing. In analyzing the cultural practices of selfish sexuality, he addresses many taboo issues, including 2-D sex (yeah, 2-D…better known as porn), friends with benefits, and no strings attached forms of expression. Offering advice to fellow singles on what it takes to become a great lover, the book dispels the myth that sex or relationships will bring us fulfillment. The single person needs to know that its “God, not sex, in whom our hearts desperately desire to be fully satisfied” (79).
Avoiding the Waiting Room
But Baoku isn’t just throwing out Christian cliches. He provides practical ways Christians can experience a joy-filled existence apart from sex. Singleness, according to Baoku, isn’t just a waiting room—hoping to get a shot of joy with the needle labeled marriage. Rather, singles can benefit from joy-filled, intimate friendships with (even opposite-gender relationships)—something he details in Chapter 8 (which happens to be my favorite chapter in the book).
Closing Thoughts
Though I’m married, much of what Baoku writes in this book would have resonated with my single self when I was trying to determine ways to live a joyous, single life. I especially appreciated his practical steps for purity (which he also gives a fresh perspective on—it’s not your abstinence ring ceremony type common with young people).
I applaud Baoku’s recognition of his own limitations as a single male. He offers a great Q&A in the epilogue with an older, godly married couple and a young, single woman. It shows his thoughtful approach in making sure he captured information he might not be aware of as a single male. I would commend this book to singles who are thinking through issues of sexuality and intimacy. There are ways you can express your sexuality as a single that leads to God-honoring, intimate relationships. And you don’t have to be frustrated doing it. In Sex, God, and the Single Life, Baoku outlines ways to avoid that frustration.
The book releases today, July 5th, and is available for purchase on Amazon.
by Nicole Symmonds, Urban Faith Contributing Writer | Jul 29, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
At this point the conversation on technology in the church is almost as old as time, highly technological time that is. If you attend church with any frequency you’ve probably sat next to someone who was reading the Bible on an iPhone or Andriod or have seen your pastor scrolling through his or her sermon on an iPad or other tablet device. Long gone are the days when you were asked to turn off your cell phone before service begun. Nowadays you are strongly encouraged to keep them on and maybe even tweet something to the world outside of the church’s four walls. The latter is what Jason Caston and AT&T’s Inspired Mobility campaign are banking on.
Jason Caston
Caston, author of the “iChurch Method,” and manager of Digital Platforms and Innovation for T.D. Jakes Ministries is also a consultant for AT&T and a lead on Inspired Mobility, a national conversation that highlights how people use technology to find inspiration and connect with others in the faith. Through the use of the hashtag #inspiredmobility people can connect with one another and share their faith. Of this Caston says, “We are evolving from the typical ‘tell your neighbor’ on the left model to making that experience global. We believe that technology has a place inside of the worship experience.” Through the #inspiredmobility campaign Caston is hoping to educate church leadership on how to connect with the congregation and help them come to the realization that they need technology to connect and meet people where they are.
It should come as no surprise that the early launch stories on the campaign came from black media outlets and black churches given that the particular demographic are early adopters of technology, particularly smartphones. According to the 2013 Consumer Report, “African Americans outpace the population with smartphone ownership. Seventy-one perfect of African-Americans own smartphones, compared to 62% of the total population. Most African-Americans use Androids (73%) versus iPhones (27%).” But #inspiredmobility isn’t just about the black church it’s about the global church, and Caston suggests that churches must understand that as soon as they go online they become an international entity that impacts more than their local areas. “The content they [churches] have is life changing and all people are asking for is access to it. We, the people, want more access to what churches already know is life-changing content,” he says.
Concord Church–highlighted in the video below–is bringing Inspired Mobility to life through a number of methods such as streaming of services, mobile giving, Hot Spots around campus and even selfie encouragement–encouragement of taking selfies in church.
But there is something else to campaigns such as #inspiredmobility that we must pay attention to, the issue of quality of connection over quantity. Technology allows churches to increase their exposure to people and vice versa, but what of the quality of people’s connection to God? It is easy to encourage people to tweet during service–and for them to comply–but we must also encourage them to cultivate their soil so that the seed of the Word may fall upon it and grow. This is a challenging task in a world that is very reactive and, arguably, sometimes distracted by technology. To this Caston offers up an example of a church that is bridging the quality over quantity gap, the Potter’s House Internet Church Campus. The church boasts 20,000 e-members, a staff of over 20 people, and over 40 elders and ministers who connect with, disciple, and build relationships with people virtually. “We are taking everything we do offline and mimicking it online,” Caston says of the internet campus. This is all in the name of proving that technology not only has the capability to reach as many people as possible but it can also foster solid, life-giving relationships between people and God. The point is to work the technology instead of letting the technology work us, a delicate balance that Caston seems to be taking on in his work for the Potter’s House and AT&T.
Inspired Mobility is a continuous campaign that will grow as people’s participation in it grow, so share your stories using the #inspiredmobility hashtag and help this campaign reach true universal status.
