Dates tell a story. My wife and I will often calculate the decades that we have known each other, and reflect on the fact that at this point in our relationship, we have been together longer than we have lived with our families of origin. As an inter-racial couple, sometimes this prompts questions about how we may have developed differently over time had we not influenced each other through our cultural values nd other shared experiences. The fact that we have known each other for 30 years and shaping one another for 30 years matters to us.
Other dates tell stories too. When you think of what it means to tell the story of the United States of America, when do you start? When telling the story of Africans in America, 1619 is an important date for those of us in the US. There are some who would like to minimize these histories and persecute those who share these stories by defunding agencies and passing laws to prevent these stories from being shared. The history of injustice is full of these moments, and yet, black people and others who love justice push back against these forces of oppression. In this series, we are telling these stories.
One of these stories we are telling today is the story of the significance of 1619 – and what it mean to be Black in early colonial America 150 years before the American Revolution. This story, and a few others are part of our series discussing Jemar Tisby’s book The Spirit of Justice: True Stores of Faith, Race and Resistance. A link to purchase this book is provided in the show notes for this episode.
CREDITS:
THE SPIRIT OF JUSTICE – Jemar Tisby
Christian Asylum Seekers Deported to Panama
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/20/iranian-christians-asylum-seekers-deported-panama/79217451007/
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/22/americas/migrants-deported-camp-panama-intl-latam/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/migrants-detained-in-panama-hotel-plead-for-help-232447557754