by James Melson | Apr 25, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
Sometimes lesser known parts of our nation’s history have major impacts on the legacy of racial injustice today. One such event happened 147 years ago this week when federal troops were removed from the state house in Louisiana on April 24, 1877. This marked the...
by James Melson | Apr 17, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
Thirty five years ago on April 19, 1989, a woman was brutally beaten and raped in New York City’s Central Park. Police soon arrested a dozen teenagers who were in the park that night. After long hours of intense and threatening interogation, five teenagers,...
by James Melson | Apr 11, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC was the site of one of the best known events in the struggle for racial justice in our nation’s history. At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a...
by James Melson | Apr 4, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
Fifty seven years ago this week on April 4, 1967 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the landmark speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” at Riverside Church in New York City. Although it is not nearly as well known as “I Have a Dream” or “I’ve Been to the...
by James Melson | Mar 28, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
During this Holy Week, Christians in this country and around the world commemorate the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus 2000 years ago. This provides an opportunity to reflect on what this means for our world and our lives today. Jesus was executed by the...
by James Melson | Mar 21, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
100 years ago this week, Virginia passed an infamous piece of legislation called “The Racial Integrity Act.” It required all babies born in the state to have their race recorded as either “white” or “non-white.” All those classified as non-white were referred to as...
