Social Justice

What Americans hear about social justice at church – and what they do about it

Today, many Americans are pessimistic about inequality, political divisions and ethnic conflict. Yet, as these surveys show, social justice-minded congregations inspire members to work for policies that support their vision of the public good.

Tool for police reform rarely used by local prosecutors

Reform activists and civil rights advocates say prosecutors already have powerful tools at their disposal to curb bad behavior by police

How to Fight Racism: An Interview with Jemar Tisby

In his new book, How to Fight Racism, New York Times best-selling author Jemar Tisby continues the conversation about racial reconciliation in the church, but adds a framework for how to do it.

How Can Policy Help Us Create a Society that Reflects God’s Heart?

How can policy help us create a society that reflects God’s heart? This is a critical question that Christians from all backgrounds and denominations should be asking ourselves today. To begin answering this question, I’d like to first take a look at a passage from...

He Saw That It Was Good: An Interview with Sho Baraka

How can we hear and follow God in the midst of our fractured reality in ways that are faithful and life-giving? UrbanFaith sat down with the artist, activist, and creative Sho Baraka to talk about his new book He Saw That It Was Good, which helps us think through some of the most pressing questions in our world.

William Pannell wrote ‘The Coming Race Wars?’ nearly 30 years ago. It still resonates today

n his book, “The Coming Race Wars?,” theologian William Pannell foresees the poor and disenfranchised engaging in violent urban uprisings and revolts across the world similar to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. It will only be a matter of time, he writes, “before some cop blows it again in his or her treatment of a Black person, probably a Black man.”

Hundreds arrested at Capitol while protesting for voting rights, minimum wage

According to Capitol police, more than 200 faith-led demonstrators were arrested while praying, singing and protesting in the street, hoping to draw attention to voting rights and a slate of other issues participants argued impact the poor and low-wage workers.

Hospitals, Insurers Invest Big Dollars to Tackle Patients’ Social Needs

The move to address social needs is gaining steam nationally because, after nearly a dozen years focused on expanding insurance under the Affordable Care Act, many experts and policymakers agree that simply increasing access to health care is not nearly enough to improve patients’ health.

Slave-built infrastructure still creates wealth in US, suggesting reparations should cover past harms and current value of slavery

The fact that centuries-old relics of slavery still support the economy of the United States suggests that reparations for slavery would need to go beyond government payments to the ancestors of enslaved people to account for profit-generating, slave-built infrastructure.

Why people with disabilities are at greater risk of going hungry – especially during a pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed uncomfortable and distressing truths about American society: namely, the struggle many Americans face just getting by. Yet, while the pervasive food insecurity that has always existed in the U.S. became more visible, how the problem disproportionately affects people with disabilities has received less attention.

Finding Faith and Community on Virtual Campuses: An Interview with Shaylen Hardy

In the midst of the turmoil of a pandemic and national leaders of campus ministries sought to support Black students. I had the opportunity to interview Shaylen Hardy, the President of Intervarsity’s Black Campus Ministries, about her experiences and insight leading one of the largest networks of Black campus ministries through the pandemic.

Remembering the Black Wall Street Massacre

On that Memorial Day weekend, June 1st, 1921, Greenwood, Oklahoma, was brought to an abrupt end. Black wall street was wiped off the map. 300 African Americans murdered, possibly more. Our rural and urban Black communities deserve better. Take our stories and biblical connections and use them to make a difference.

The death penalty’s last gasp?

State executions are not something most Americans want to see “return to normal” after the pandemic. Many of us would like to see the nine-month halt on state executions be “the new normal.” For the first time in my 45-year life, a majority of Americans are done with the death penalty. The states that held on to slavery the longest are the same states that continue to hold on to the death penalty.

Ahead of Andrew Brown Jr’s funeral, North Carolina clergy cry out for justice

Many of North Carolina’s prominent clergy have called for police reform and accountability in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin.
But the killing of Andrew Brown Jr., a 42-year-old man shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies in eastern North Carolina’s Elizabeth City, a town of 18,000 people on the bend of the Pasquotank River, is personal for Rev. William Barber and others.

Can We Respond to George Floyd’s Case with Hope?

People breathed a sigh of relief for accountability by a law enforcement officer, but many noted that this guilty verdict could not bring restoration of George Floyd’s life. There is still much violence in the land and great need for God’s intervention.