Pres. Trump’s statement illustrates how perceptions of birthright, citizenship, ownership, and racial entitlement have upped the volume of xenophobia and racism.
Rev. Irene Monroe
Rev. Irene Monroe is an African American lesbian feminist public theologian, sought-after speaker, and preacher.
Posted inOpinion
New voting laws can disrupt GOP’s ‘power grab’
Allowing American voters a more accessible and a stress-free trip to their voting precincts should be a no-brainer.
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20 years later: Was Matthew Shepard’s murder a hate crime (or a drug crime)?
Last week marked 20 years since Matthew Shepard’s death on October 12, 1998. Then 21, he was a first-year college student at the University of Wyoming.
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Does ‘Sesame Street’ need to come out of the closet?
I realize, however, in a culture that constantly sexualizes the coupling of same-gender relationships as gay, we ignore our friendships with our “best friends forever” (BFF) – which is what Sesame Street’s producers are stating about Bert and Ernie.
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Is the Catholic Church unsalvageable?
The question not asked by the church’s governing body is why does sexual abuse persist as it does among its clerics?
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Does the GOP have a racist cut-off point?
President Donald Trump traffics in racial epithets. Since his first year in office, Trump’s displays of xenophobic, misogynistic, LGBTQ-phobic, and racist remarks (to name just a few from his laundry list of bigotries) appear to have no cutoff point. The Republican Party under Trump doesn’t seem to have one, either. In a recent YouGov poll, […]
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That N-word, again
I contend that you cannot conjugate the word, because it is firmly embedded in the lexicon of racist language that was, and still is, used to disparage African Americans. Many slaveholders pronounced the word with the “a” ending, and in the 1920s many African Americans used the “a” version as a pejorative denoting class difference.
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LGBTQ of color being bleached from history
I like to say there was something in the air at Pride 2017, as it was one of the most contentious in the event’s history. Many, however, in our LGBTQ communities say the tension was always present.
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MLK’s assassination reminds the nation of unaddressed gun violence
The 50th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination is, sadly, a searing reminder of unaddressed gun violence in America. Because gun violence has gone unaddressed for half a century, now and future generations of children live in fear of guns when the children are not running scared for their lives. They […]
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A Black girl’s take on ‘A Wrinkle in Time’
A Wrinkle in Time was a must-see film for me, and a must-see flick worldly different from dashing out to see Black Panther. It doesn’t mean, however, Ava Duvernay’s $100 million film with a multicultural cast isn’t without problems. It is, which is one reason why the film has received mixed reviews — unlike Black Panther’s […]
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Pastor’s criticism of LGBTQ not mentioned in his public eulogies
The Reverend William (Billy) Franklin Graham Jr. (1918 – 2018) has died at the age of 99. Too often, hagiographies are painted when people die, especially of ministers. The televangelist, however, is not deserving of such high praises. While Graham’s inarguably the most influential minister of the 20th Century, his ministry — which provided pastoral counseling […]
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Revisiting Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglas is dead. Last year this time, however, President Donald J. Trump didn’t appear to know that fact. In kicking off Black History Month 2017, Trump hosted a “listening session” at the White House leaving listeners scratching their heads wondering if he knew Douglass — a self-liberated former slave turned abolitionist — died in […]
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Pimping King
With 2018 being the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, commemorations honoring the man were taking place across the country. But who would think a Super Bowl ad with a King voice-over would be used to sell pickup trucks? The pitch for Dodge Ram trucks’ “Built to Serve” volunteer program […]
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For Black women, being called the Democrats’ ‘backbone’ is no compliment
Black women voters in the recent Alabama U.S. Senate race are being thanked for “saving” the state from Republican candidate Roy Moore, a homophobe, slavery apologist, and accused pedophile. And we’re now being lauded as “the backbone” of the Democratic Party. As a voting bloc, Black women in Alabama didn’t just suddenly emerge for Democratic […]
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The New Jim Crow targets LGBTQ Americans, too
Last week the U. S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the case “Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.” The case — which has many of us LGBTQ Americans on pins and needles — will litigate a baker’s rights to refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, Dave Mullins and Charlie […]
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John Kelly needs a queer history lesson on the Civil War
Boston-born White House chief of staff John Kelly’s recent remark on Laura Ingraham’s new Fox News show reopened a divide so deep in this country about slavery that I am reminded of American novelist William Faulkner’s quote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Kelly told the conservative media television host that he […]
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Disasters are not spiritual revenge
Since the intentional misreading of the Sodom and Gomorrah story in Genesis 19 in the Bible where the twin cities were supposedly destroyed because of homosexual depravity, the causes of natural disasters always find ways to be placed on the backs of LGBTQ Americans. It has become an easy go-to explanation, usually by Bible-thumping, religious […]
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Who was the intended ‘Detroit’ movie audience?
Fifty years ago, this summer, an urban rebellion took place. One hundred and fifty-nine riots erupted in African American cities across the country. The civil unrest took place in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Birmingham, and Boston, to name a few. The worst riots that summer were in Newark, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan. The movie Detroit attempts to […]
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DignityUSA is moving toward radical inclusion
With the Catholic Church being the largest Christian denomination in the world the fight for the dignity and inclusion of its LGBTQI parishioners is a fight for the church’s soul and moral integrity. DignityUSA since its inception has asserted that God loves the LGBTQI community equally. This year DignityUSA held its 23rd biennial national conference in Boston from July 6-9. Its theme was […]
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The enduring use of the N-word
In this political climate hate speech is becoming common use. And there has been an uptick of the use of the N-word, even from the mouths of people one would not expect. While it came as no surprise to most people of color in Boston when last month Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said Fenway fans hurled […]