I’ve Been Praying for You
It all started with an article in my local newspaper.
The article stated over the next 13 months Tennessee would carry out 11 executions! It had been over a decade since the last execution. Now, in a relativ...
Change the Question
These talented artisans were very happy to have orders coming in. They would continue to work at whatever price we said we could pay. It is the nature of living at the "bottom of the pyramid." It is why companies take their work "offshore." Labor is plentiful and it is as cheap as you want it to be.
Stations of the Cross Illustrated by Tennessee Men on Death Row
May these paintings open our hearts up to the profound depth of God's love, and may they stir in us a passion for extending that love and grace to others. It is our hope that contemplating the execution of Jesus does something to us, in us. We pray that as we reflect on the love of God, it transforms us into people who are merciful and who are committed to ending the death penalty.
A Tribute to Steve Schapiro
Last month, we lost a giant in the movement for a better world – Steve Schapiro. Some of you may not know him because he was usually behind a camera, capturing some of the iconic images of social changes from the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-war movement of the 60s right up until last year.
Walk With Me
Rev Otis Moss III, founder of Unashamed Media Group, asked Common Hymnal to contribute music for "Otis' Dream," the Get Out The Vote film he wrote and produced for the 2020 election. More specifically, he asked them to produce a new arrangement of the old spiritual 'I Want Jesus To Walk With Me' for the final credits.
An Excerpt From Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World – And How to Repair It All
Standing before the court, eighteen-year-old Fortune was born free and should have remained free according to Lord Baltimore’s 1681 legal turnabout. But of course the application of law is different from the law itself.
American Altar: Poetry, Gun Violence, and the Gods to Whom We Sacrifice
We Americans are much slower to see the idols of our own times and cultures.
God of Liminal Space
God was in that spot. God was in the most mundane, powerless, painful place.
Seeking Other Seas
I can’t understand much of what he’s saying, though I desperately wish I could. In this small way, I catch a glimpse of the culture shock that awaits the luckiest of these boys.
What Lil Nas X is Telling Us About the Hell We Create
But the more I’ve consumed content by artists like Lil Nas X, the more I realize the church and some of the puritanical standards I parroted end up creating a special kind of hell on earth for those on the receiving end of that condemnation.