by James Melson | May 30, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
This week our nation observed Memorial Day, a time to remember those who lost their lives in our country’s wars. I recently came across the story of Private Booker T. Spicely who died during World War II in July 1944. The Army listed his death as DNB (Died,...
by James Melson | May 23, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
During these times characterized by daily reports of division, fear, and hatred, I came across a story of grace and love that has the power to unite people across the barriers that separate us. Earlier this month, Father Gregory Boyle received the nation’s...
by James Melson | May 16, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
This week marks the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision that declared racial segregation in public education unconstitutional. Many historians consider this to be the start of the modern Civil Rights Movement. After hundreds of years...
by James Melson | May 9, 2024 | 2024
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. It is a time to honor and remember the nurturing love of our mother or mother figure. But Mother’s Day 1961 went down in history for a much different reason. On May 14 an act of racial terror took place on the outskirts...
by James Melson | May 2, 2024 | 2024, Weekly Reflection
The protests about the Israel-Gaza war on college campuses around the country continue to be a major story covered by a wide variety of media sources. Most of these stories focus on scenes of verbal and physical violence. The overall impression is that most protesters...
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...
