by James Melson | Jul 1, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
July 1 is the 20th anniversary of Cornelius Corps. I want to express my deep gratitude to God and to everyone who has made this ministry possible for the last 20 years. It began in July 2001 after I served for eleven years as the pastor of Christ Crossman UMC in Falls...
by James Melson | Jun 22, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
Last Friday Juneteenth was celebrated as a national holiday for the first time. Especially for many white people, the history of what happened on June 19, 1865 was never included in our formal education. On that day, Union General Gordon Granger announced General...
by James Melson | Jun 16, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC This week marks the sixth anniversary of one of the most horrific acts of racial hatred and violence in modern American history. On June 17, 2015 a young white supremacist attended a Bible study at Mother Emmanuel AME...
by James Melson | Jun 10, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
Loving Day on June 12 commemorates the 1967 landmark Supreme Court case of Loving v. Virginia that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. At the time of the unanimous decision, 16 states still had laws that made interracial marriage illegal. Virginia’s...
by James Melson | Jun 2, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
Until recently the vast majority of white Americans were totally unfamiliar with the Tulsa Race Massacre that took place 100 years ago this week. The thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood was destroyed with up to 300 Black people killed and around 10,000 people...
by James Melson | May 26, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
May 25 was the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police. That tragic act of brutality sparked a national and worldwide movement focused on the ongoing struggle for racial justice. A question on the minds of many...
