“I’m a Black Italian, a Black European, a woman who was born in Rome with Somalian roots,” said writer Igiaba Scego. She spoke out about herself after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody in Minnesota after being pinned to the ground, and whose last words were, “I can’t breathe.” Read more »
April 7, 2021
It’s not over
“I’m a Black Italian, a Black European, a woman who was born in Rome with Somalian roots,” said writer Igiaba Scego. She spoke out about herself after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody in Minnesota after being pinned to the ground, and whose last words were, “I can’t breathe.” Read more »
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Associate Director of Advocacy the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins participated in a Poor People’s Campaign event Monday, calling for the end of the filibuster in the United States Senate. 
Sharing food is one of my great joys. I know, I know … that isn’t altogether unique, and definitely not unique for Presbyterians I know. We gather around tables for myriad reasons, and in lots of different ways. But the act of sharing food can remind us of other things we share: namely a need for food — hunger — and the interdependence it takes to make a meal possible. 
In 1997 I served as associate pastor at a Korean immigrant church in Atlanta. I led a group to visit the missionary work of a retired deacon commissioned by his Korean Presbyterian church in Maryland to connect with surviving “Koreanos” in Mexico. In 1905 more than 1,000 migrant workers left Korea to work on plantations in the Yucatán through deception, and today many thousands of descendants still live there. 
Just when most young people were beginning to imagine what nontraditional instruction might look like during COVID-19, Sami Han set about picturing an even more nontraditional path.
She moved to South Korea with her parents. 
These days, every organization is coming up with a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — commonly referred to as DEI — strategic plan. The hiring of diversity and inclusion executives has grown 113% in the last five years. As of February 2021, half of S&P 500 companies have a chief diversity officer. The national agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are also putting together DEI plans as a response to the General Assembly mandate for a Race Audit in 2018. However, this is not the church jumping on the latest business trend. 
Each year there is spirited discussion in the media about the nominations for the Oscars. This year, though the movie schedule was terribly disrupted by the pandemic, is no different. 
The objective of this brief reflection is to explore the theological interplay between the Bible and racism. Being an African-Jamaican, I have embraced the Christian faith through Presbyterian missionary Christianity. For me, Scripture centers on being “the Word of the Lord.” 
Looking ahead to the April 22-23 meeting of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, the board’s Coordinating Committee on Friday also looked back to last month’s deadly violence against members of the Asian American Pacific Islander community in and around Atlanta. 
In its 30-year history, the Young Adult Volunteer program has produced future ministers of word and sacrament, ruling elders, educators and leaders of nonprofit organizations. But in this special virtual year some are getting the opportunity to learn in-depth about the Presbyterian Mission Agency and its ministries.