Why So Many Black Texans Are in the East When I look at Texas today, one thing that catches my attention is how much of the state’s historic Black population has been concentrated in the eastern part of Texas. That pattern did not happen by accident. East Texas contained the climate, rainfall, rivers, fertile soil,
Juneteenth, Texas, and the History Beneath the Celebration Read More »
A Story That Stayed With Me There is an old saying that tells us to be careful what we wish for because we just might get it. I have always thought there was wisdom buried inside those few words. Sometimes we want something so badly that we never stop to consider what possessing it might
Be Careful What You Wish For Read More »
The Black Body and the Making of Wealth When I hear someone say enslavers wanted the strongest Black bodies they could find and worked them until they had nothing left to give, I understand the anger behind those words. That anger comes from recognizing the cruelty and exploitation enslaved people endured. The Atlantic slave trade
When Black Suffering Gets Turned Into a Competition Read More »
When History Starts Looking Like a Cycle The older I get, the harder it becomes for me to think about history as something that simply happened and disappeared. I can listen to Black leaders speaking in 1961, 1962, and 1963 and hear arguments that still sound familiar today. They were talking about voting rights, police
There Is No Past When the Same Questions Keep Coming Back Read More »
The Question That Sounds Simple There is a question that sounds simple until someone asks me to answer it without mentioning the usual things about my life. I cannot use my name, job, relationships, accomplishments, or even my personality to explain who I am. Who am I? Most of us answer by describing what we
I Am Not Every Voice Inside My Head Read More »
When Work Friendship Feels Like Real Friendship One thing I have learned about working with people is that spending eight hours together can make strangers start feeling like family mighty fast. You see the same faces every morning, drink coffee together, complain about the same problems, and laugh about things nobody outside the workplace would
Coworkers Are Not Automatically Your Friends Read More »
The Question That Made Me Look Deeper I have heard people say that the Bible did not simply appear in history exactly as we know it today. To understand it better, I need to look more closely at how it developed over time. That challenge is worth considering because the Bible is not one book
Who Decided What Became the Bible? Read More »
Wrestling With the Idea That We Are God I have heard people say, “You are God pretending to be human,” and that is the kind of statement that can either open somebody’s mind or shut the whole conversation down. Taken literally, it sounds like somebody is claiming that every human being is the Almighty, with
When I Began to Understand the God Within Read More »
When Interest Starts Feeling Like a Test I have learned that dating can become confusing when one person is interested while the other person is still trying to decide what they feel. Sometimes a woman may pull back, communicate less, or create some distance while she sorts through her emotions. A man on the receiving
When Somebody Is Unsure About Choosing You Read More »
When Being “Too Smart” Sounds Like a Problem Something about hearing a nineteen-year-old young man described as “too smart” has never sat quite right with me. When somebody has the intelligence and discipline to reach an elite level, I would normally expect those qualities to be celebrated. Yet intelligence can make certain institutions uncomfortable when
When Somebody Else’s Standard Is Too Small for You Read More »