My roommate Jessica and I found this little guy on our table in Juicilicious yesterday. Jessica asked the waiter if she could buy him, and much to our surprise, the waiter said that yes, she could: these sculptures of people on bikes are actually sold at the art gallery behind Juicilicious.
The art gallery is a beautiful place, with the handiwork of a variety of artisans, but much better than the open market—there’s no one pressuring you to make a purchase here. It’s a nice, hidden little place with some unique art, jewelry, and sculptures.
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“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” — 1 John 2:9-11
'Back to Church Sunday' Is Coming -
My blog post about Back to Church Sunday coming in September, with some statistics to ponder: a LifeWay Research study found African Americans to be the most receptive ethnic group to church invitations.
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Rwanda: the most beautiful place I’ve ever been
Initial impressions: Rwanda is like a breath of fresh air. That’s the first thing that comes to my mind. It’s quite a first overseas experience, and I am struck by the beauty of the red hills covered by little red houses, by the refreshing scent of the cool night air, by the friendliness of the people here. The last couple of days have at times left me in awe, at times in a chill of genocide remembrance, and at times reminded me that this is, in fact, Africa and living here means you just have to roll with the punches.
“The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.” —
Elie Wiesel, author of Night
This quote appeared at the end of Beyond the Gates, a fictional movie about Rwanda that we watched in study abroad class today. I am left wondering why so many humans failed to feel empathy for the victims of this genocide. Many hard questions.
Happy Juneteenth! Here’s my UrbanFaith piece on what churches are doing to end the new Jim Crow in the spirit of Juneteenth:
Since attorney Michelle Alexander wrote The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, a network of churches has joined her in the fight against a criminal justice system that targets poor minority communities and locks up a disproportionate percentage of African American men.
The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, a group of thousands of black churches involved in local and global social justice issues, is coming together for Juneteenth to galvanize faith-based action against the new Jim Crow that Alexander writes about in her book.
Confronting 'The New Jim Crow -
My UrbanFaith Q&A with Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”:
Forty years ago today, the United States government declared its legendary “War on Drugs,” and our nation has not been the same since—especially if you happen to be an urban male with dark skin.
The Jim Crow laws may have been officially struck down years ago, but author and scholar Michelle Alexander argues that a new racial caste system has grown in its place: the mass incarceration of minorities, particularly African American men.