“Keep Moving”
I heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speak for the first time when he gave the Founders’ Day address in Spelman College’s Sisters Chapel during my senior year of college.
Childwatch Column
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A New Year’s Charge
As this holy season in so many faith traditions comes to a close, this is always a time to take stock and embrace the lessons that can be taken from this season with us into the New Year.
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A Christmas Eve Lesson
On December 24, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered the message at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on what would be his last Christmas Eve. The message was titled, “A Christmas Sermon on Peace”. More than 50 years later, I reiterate some of that powerful lesson.
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The Sheep and the Goats
During what is known as a holy season of light in many faith traditions, and as Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of the most famous poor baby in the world, I often reflect on a passage from the Gospel of Matthew that comes long after the Christmas story.
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Rosalynn Carter: Honoring a Legacy
On November 28, the family of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter held a beautiful memorial service for her at the Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University. Mrs. Carter’s friends, family, and pastor all emphasized her lifetime of service to others, including her longtime leadership as a mental health advocate.
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“A Litany of Thanksgiving”
For many years I always cooked Thanksgiving dinner for our whole family and for friends away from their homes. Before our meal, children read various inspirational passages and this beautiful prayer by great Black theologian Howard Thurman, A Litany of Thanksgiving.
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Finishing Unfinished Work
“It should be clear by now that a nation can be no stronger abroad than she is at home. Only an America which practices what it preaches about equal rights and social justice will be respected by those whose choice affects our future. Only an America which has fully educated its citizens is fully capable of tackling the complex problems and perceiving the hidden dangers of the world in which we live.”
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A Place at the Table
Until our nation makes a permanent change in “concern for ‘the least of these,’” there will be millions still searching for their place at America’s table of plenty.
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Toward a New Day
You and I now have the opportunity—and awesome responsibility—to compose and play the next movement of the symphony of freedom and justice. That will be the sound of the joyful new day children and youth everywhere deserve.
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Immigration
Early Steps Forward
Fifty years after Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) was founded, some of CDF’s marks of impact go all the way back to the beginning.