by James Melson | Mar 31, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
During this Holy Week, I want to share a video called “My Brother Jesus” by Netflix Film Club that tells the story of a painting by that name. It features interviews with the artist Stanley Rayfield and and his friend Steven Conaway who served as the model for the...
by James Melson | Mar 23, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
The news reports this week about hatred, violence, and death from Atlanta, GA and Boulder, CO are devastating. The combination of racist anti-Asian hate and mass murder raise the question, “How long until we put an end to racism and violence in our nation?” Fifty six...
by James Melson | Mar 16, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 In response to Bloody Sunday in Selma, AL, President Johnson gave a historic speech to a joint session of Congress on March 15, 1965. He called for a Voting Rights Act but framed it in a way that spoke to the...
by James Melson | Mar 9, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
Amelia Boynton Robinson after being beaten on Bloody Sunday March 7, 1965 Sunday, March 7 was the 56th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” when peaceful marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL were brutally beaten by Alabama State Troopers and local...
by James Melson | Mar 2, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
New Virginia Historical Marker Erected in Farmville Through the Efforts of 4th Graders at Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Fairfax County. Children in a 4th grade class in Fairfax County Virginia recently helped to change how history is told through Virginia...
by James Melson | Feb 23, 2021 | 2021, Weekly Reflection
This week marked a sad and tragic milestone as our nation exceeded 500,000 deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic. Death on such a massive scale is nearly unimaginable, yet each life represented a unique and beloved child of God. While vaccines and other mitigation efforts...
