Last week in St. Louis, where I live, worship, and work, crowds gathered to express their profound dismay and frustration at a justice system that is failing to live up to its bedrock value of equality. Last Thursday, a state judge acquitted Jason Stockley, a white...

We at Justice Revival are horrified by the actions of white supremacists in Charlottesville last weekend. We are appalled at the views of those who rallied to re-assert white dominance and privilege in our society. We grieve the violence that has once again resulted...

“A lot of people don't look at housing as a human right, but it is. To have a decent place to live is a basic human right.” – Jimmy Carter When asked about the significance of decent housing for neighborhoods and communities, former President Jimmy Carter was clear...

(@DeclareDignity) As a chaplain-in-training at a major inner-city trauma center, I sat with countless traumatized people: those suffering from grave illness and injury; their families and friends; and doctors and nurses who were charged with their care. Each person...

In his picture we see a handsome adolescent boy with a charming smile, his bright blue collared shirt buttoned up all the way. It’s an image that hints at all the goodness later revealed about the 15-year-old freshman. He was a strong student, a valued teammate, a kid...

“I don’t deserve any rights!” a seminary classmate announced, across high rows of ripe cherry tomato plants on an otherwise mild summer afternoon. We were tending our gardens in the Yale Divinity School Farm, where I spent my happiest hours that season learning to...

“No one is against justice,” my colleague, a gifted professor of law and philosophy, contemplated. He has a way of cutting through complexities to clarify the heart of a debate. “The difficulty,” he continued, “comes in agreeing on what constitutes justice.” In many...

When I was in sixth grade I suggested Jesus was like a benefactor when my Sunday School teacher asked our class to describe Jesus in one word. She was as eager to teach us a lesson on Christ like behavior as I was to try out a new vocabulary word. I remember her...

One bright Sunday in June, years ago, I met the Hebrew prophets in Rwanda. I received their timeless message calling God’s people to justice on the heels of witnessing the worst mass atrocity of my lifetime. This was my second conversion. Growing up, the church was my...