The Birmingham Church Bombing: How Will We Remember?
How do we balance King’s dream with McNair’s nightmare in our supposedly post-racial and now-digital age? We still live in a country of freedom dreams and violent nightmares.
Obama as Lord and Savior
Pundits fume, but the images of Obama as Jesus are out there. And they mean something.
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Cornel West, Using His Powers for Good
In many ways, The Rich and the Rest of Us is political sustenance for the already converted to liberal and leftist causes. Quoting historian Howard Zinn and looking to the insights of filmmaker Michael Moore probably will not convince many conservatives to rally to the cause—and when Smiley and West rely on Barbara Ehrenreich, they are drawing upon a fellow dissident. Put simply, they are preaching to the choir—but choirs need encouragement too. This is what Smiley and West accomplish: they provide the Occupy generation with a text to rally around.
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Judeo-Christian America: The Fall of the ‘Christian Nation’
A new book shows how a cohort of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews altered the nation; from the Social Gospel movement through anti-Communism, Civil Rights and even into the rise of the religious right.
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W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet
Was Du Bois, leading African American intellectual and civil rights activist, an atheist?
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Awake from Dreaming: Forecasts and Fears of the Next Four Years
King’s reputation and influence suffered in the four years after his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Even Obama, who rides high on a tide of popularity, is not immune to the vagaries of history.
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Neither Christ Nor Antichrist: A Reflection on the Election of Barack Obama
When we think of Obama as “savior-elect,” we court trouble. When we forget history we weaken our own resolve; mysteries can be dangerous and days of Jubilee do not always end with eras of sublimity.
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