Instagram Posts from the Week of August 4, 2019

Headlines and History - August 4, 2019

It is time for another installment of Headlines and History.

In an article in the Los Angeles Times titled “Segregation Has Soared in America’s Schools as Federal Leaders Largely Looked Away,” Seema Mehta and Michael Finnegan wrote about the debate that took place for Democratic presidential candidates in Miami. The authors also explain the current segregated condition of the nation’s schools and the effects of this problem.

The Teaching Tolerance magazine article “Brown v. Board: Timeline of School Integration in the U.S.” provides a chronological record that traces school integration from 1849 to 2007 in Issue 25 from Spring 2004. Reading the progression from one event to the next allows us to see the connectedness of the past to the present.

Our present is intertwined with and informed by our past. We must face the past so we can heal the future. 

*Edited to add: On June 17, 2020, I came across The Redemption Project with Van Jones for CNN. I read the words, “Face the past. Heal the future.” I will no longer use this phrase for my Headlines and History posts beginning in June 2020.

#segregation #schoolsegregation #segregationtoday #loveyourneighbor #seekjustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #lament #repent #repair #facethepast #healthefuture #headlinesandhistory #historyandheadlines #broadeningthenarrative 



Podcast Rec - August 6, 2019

It’s podcast rec day!

Current Listen - For the Love Podcast with Jen Hatmaker: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church with Rachel Held Evans (episode 6 of Series 8: For the Love of Exploring Our Faith from 2018)



“And so it's sort of like the Jewish posture towards scripture is that it's a conversation starter, not a conversation ender. So many Christians kind of come to the Bible like we're looking for ammunition to win a debate, you know? We think there's just one meaning from this story. We have to figure out that meaning and then defend it at all costs. It's kind of this zero sum game.” - Rachel Held Evans


“We try to impose our particular cultural views on marriage and family onto the whole scripture. And frankly, that's actually centering ourselves. I think it's actually a more liberal way of reading the Bible, in the sense of it's more conservative I think to try and understand what was happening in the original moment and context.” - Rachel Held Evans


“I just think the Bible can hold up. I really think it can hold up to our fiercest questions and our hardest questions, and our most significant disagreements. I think it's strong enough, and I think God's a big enough God to handle my doubts ... I mean, it was Job, Job who finally is blessed by God, and it was Job who said, ‘I desire to have an argument with God.’ And it's Jacob who wrestled with God, and wrestled with God until Jacob demands a blessing from God. How many times do we approach the Bible and say, ‘All right, I'm gonna wrestle with this text, and I'm gonna wrestle until I get a blessing, God.’ And it all points to a God and to a scripture that can handle it, that isn't fragile and breakable and always in need of constant defense.” - Rachel Held Evans

“I'll pick a Barbara Brown Taylor quote... she has one, and it's resonating with me for obvious reasons right now. She says, ‘New life starts in the dark, whether it's a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.’ And I just have always resonated with that because it's like this reminder that ours is not a God of self-improvement plans and 10 steps. Ours is a God of death and resurrection, and that God can take anything and bring it to life.” - Rachel Held Evans

I first came across the writing of Rachel Held Evans in June 2018 when I found her blog. I dove headfirst into reading her posts from her One in Christ: A Week of Mutuality series from June 2012. She changed everything for me. When I heard about her passing, the first words out of my mouth were, “No! No! No!”, which increased with intensity each time I struggled to release them. I then sat in stunned silence for almost an hour in the living room while my husband kept the kids occupied and prepared dinner. Each time I listen to another podcast she was featured on or read another book by her, I feel waves of emotions all over again because it just isn’t fair for her to be gone when her brilliance and the hope she provided are still desperately needed in these times of darkness and doubt. When I have listened to every interview and devoured every book, I will set about navigating through them all again to glean additional truth and wisdom from the mind and heart of Rachel Held Evans.

What podcasts do you recommend?

#becauseofrhe #rememberingrhe #eshetchayil #jenhatmaker #forthelove #podcast #podcastrecommendation #exploringfaith #faith #hermeneutics #lovingthebibleagain #loveyourneighbor #resurrection #broadeningthenarrative



Account to Follow - August 7, 2019

It’s Wednesday, so I will highlight an account I follow.

I recently discovered the Speaking of Racism Podcast Instagram page. As you can see on the page, Jennifer Kinney hosts a podcast that is “dedicated to honest discussions on race and racism.” I have shared this account with several people and wanted to share it here today.

On July 16th, a quote by Ijeoma Oluo was posted that has been reverberating in my mind ever since. “The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.”

Follow @speakingofracism if you aren’t already, and support this important work.

#speakingofracism #podcast #conversationsaboutrace #accounttofollow #antiracist #dismantlewhitesupremacy #endwhitesupremacy #seekjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #broadeningthenarrative




Additonal Rec - August 8, 2019

Since it is Thursday, this post will be about an additional recommendation I found beneficial on my journey in broadening the narrative.

In January last year, I read “The Asian American Awakening: That Moment When You Realize You’re Not White” by Connie Zhou on the HuffPost site. I have included two quotes from the article below because the narrative and life experience shared by Connie Zhou is powerful, and there’s nothing for me to add.

“It wasn’t until later in life I tried to analyze the situation and came to this conclusion: I was put in that (ESL) program for one reason, I was a shy Asian girl and everyone jumped to the conclusion that I couldn’t speak English.” - Connie Zhou

“Racism isn’t just black and white. In my experience, all my classes about race are taught by a black professor. I remember sitting in one of my media classes discussing race; we had spent weeks on how blacks and whites are portrayed in the media. As my professor went on and on, I sat there wondering when she was going to bring up Asians, Hispanics, or Middle Easterners. Finally, as if God had heard my plea, a thankfully inquisitive student in the front raised his hand, ‘What about Asians?’” - Connie Zhou

Do you have any additional resources for broadening the narrative in conversations about the experiences of Asian Americans in the United States?

#asianamericanexperiences #asianamericanawakening #conniezhou #huffpost #conversationsaboutrace #beautyindiversity #bettertogether #empathy #learning #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative



Book Rec - August 10, 2019

It’s book post day!

Past Read- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

“White people can be exhausting. Particularly exhausting are white people who don’t know they are white, and those who need to be white. But of all the white people I’ve met...the first I found exhausting were the ones who expected me to be white” (Brown, 2018, p.11).

"The white Church considers power its birthright rather than its curse. And so, rather than seeking reconciliation, they stage moments of racial harmony that don’t challenge the status quo. They organize worship services where the choirs of two racially different churches sing together, where a pastor of a different race preaches a couple times a year, where they celebrate MLK but don’t acknowledge current racial injustices. Acts like these can create beautiful moments of harmony and good-will, but since they don’t change the underlying power structure at the organization, it would be misleading to call them acts of reconciliation” (Brown, 2018, pp.167-168).

I don’t remember who first mentioned I’m Still Here to me, but I am thankful. I read this book in November last year and posted about it on my personal Instagram page. Here’s what I said then: “I devoured this book in a day and recommend it for all the people. The writing of Austin Channing Brown elicited every emotion and demands action. I am incredibly grateful for her vulnerability and wisdom.” I simply want to urge anyone who reads this to support black women.

What are you reading? 

#pastread #imstillhere #austinchanningbrown #memoir #essentialreading #bookrecommendation #highlyrecommend #reading #learning #supportblackwomen #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative