church
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Taking My Kids to See White Santa Might Be My Most Unwoke Parenting Act and I’m Sorry
Please forgive me, for I have sinned. The other night, I participated in an act of personal fraudulence and general unwokeness that has caused me great shame as a black man generally and a writer here specifically. We’ve had a good run here, you and I, over the past couple of years, sharing humorous tomes…
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10 Gospel Songs to Make You Feel Like You’re in Church Whenever You Need That Feeling
As many of us who grew up in the church community are aware, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good. He may not come when you want him, but he’s always right on time. Great and mighty is our … well, you get the point. While Saturday and Sunday…
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Jodeci’s Forever My Lady Was Revolutionary for Me, a Church Boy From Okla.
This week at VSB, we’re running a series called Albums That Changed My Life in which different writers let you in on the music that helped shape and mold them into the people they are today. We’re kicking things off with Lawrence Ware, for whom Jodeci’s Forever My Lady album changed the game. Let my…
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What My Frayed Relationship With My Mother Has Taught Me About Grace and Mercy
On Wednesday morning I had the pleasure of being a returning guest on the WDET radio show Detroit Today With Stephen Henderson, who was here in Washington, D.C., recording from NPR headquarters. I was there to talk about the article I wrote a few months ago about my frayed relationship with my mother because of…
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Why I Believed The Lie That Black Men Are More Homophobic Than Everyone Else
Black people are made perpetual victims of confirmation bias. If you’re black, I don’t need to tell you this. But, if you’re not or you just don’t know what it means, confirmation bias is that thing you do when you swear every fat person in the world eats at The Golden Corral every day and…
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Do You Watch Greenleaf? You Might Should Watch Greenleaf.
I came to actively watch the show Greenleaf on accident. I was tip-toeing in my Jordan’s (more like Chuck’s but whatevs) through Netflix and saw that the first season was available. I knew it was an OWN show but I kind of thought it was a reality show about a family in a megachurch. I…
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A Heathen’s Guide to Black Church on Easter Sunday
Easter—or, as the “woke” Christians call it, Resurrection Sunday—is one of my favorite holidays. Not because of the deep, symbolic weight of the day, but because of the fashion. Black folks are aesthetically creative on a regular day—yet, on Easter, everyone is a black dandy. There will be pastel suits, white hats and reflective sunglasses,…
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What's Ailing Bishop Eddie Long?
I’m concerned about Bishop Eddie Long. In August of 2016, Long, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, went viral after video showed that he’d lost an alarming amount of weight. “People are asking, ‘Bishop, what happened to all of you?’” he said on a video posted to Facebook that has since been taken…