Partisan Preachers

“Thank you Jesus”

“Amen”

“Praise the Lord!”

“Obama for President”

I feel like I’m in a Sesame Street game of “One of these things does not belong”. At least, one of these things does not belong in the pulpit. Yes, the Shepherd of God should encourage his congregation to educate themselves on the issues and to make an informed vote, but I draw the line at endorsing a particular candidate in the midst of praise and worship. I love my pastor and first lady. They both have a heart of God and they seek to spread his word internationally by seeking justice for the world’s most disadvantaged people. However, I would not be myself if  I did not express my disappointment at their decision to continuously endorse Barack Obama during weekly services (my position would be the same no matter who they endorsed).

In a time where the church must focus on unity, partisan pulpits can only serve as a divisive tool in a place where everyone should feel most welcome. A member for over 18 years, I found it hard not to feel slightly uncomfortable as my pastor and those around me turned the worship service into an impromptu Obama rally. I am a student of politics and government, but church is where I turn to find spiritual solace, not instructions on who to vote for. As I looked around, I realized I wasn’t the only one frozen in my seat. Yes, the church should encourage us to seek justice and fairness but pastors who want to endorse the candidate of their choice should do so outside of the pulpit.

Code switching…ain’t nobody gon’ tell me nothing bout’ talking proper.

“I ain’t bout to stand in no line fo’ no hour to vote.”

I’m sitting in a conference room fulfilling the duties of my new position as graduate teaching assistant (translation– I’m babysitting while a few undergrads watch a video). We’re watching a video of the campaign strategies of the 2004 Kerry/Bush election. Halfway through the video, I can only focus on one thing– why is it that 98% of the Blacks in the video spoke some form of African American Vernacular English, Black English Vernacular or as some call it, Ebonics?

Let me be clear, I am an advocate of code-switching. AAVE is my 1st dialect and I encourage my children to use it at home. However, I do insist that they use Standard English outside of the home. While my sons are both very comfortable with SE, my daughter seems to resist. Interestingly enough, since she recently transferred to a predominately white school, my daughter has also embraced the idea of code switching. Do I believe that speaking standard English somehow means my kids are smarter? No, but I do understand that others will make judgments of their intellectual abilities based on their ability to speak SE. Read more »

can’t lie to yourself…even when you try really hard

I deleted my previous entry. Fact is, even as I was writing it I told myself I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly has been bothering me. Today I realized I was just trying to avoid facing the problem. Still hard to articulate but I’m 29 now and my brother has been gone for almost 12 years…why does this year feel like the first?

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