David W. Swanson's (Occasional) Newsletter
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Getting practical about solidarity
February 15, 2020
InterVarsity Press rejected my first proposal of the book that would become Redisciling the White Church. But, graciously, they gave me a couple of...
Racializing Revelation's Vision of Reconciliation
February 8, 2020
Earlier this week my friend Skye Jethani tweeted the following thread. In his usual thoughtful way, Skye asks some important questions about how those of us...
"...the Bible was used to rationalize racial hierarchy and segregation."
February 1, 2020
In 2001 I was a graduate student at Wheaton College taking an undergraduate-level theology class which was a prerequisite for my program. Dr. Vincent Bacote...
Preaching grace and justice (at the same time) to whole people
January 25, 2020
This week a few video clips from some amazing preachers made their way across my social media feeds. The first was from Rev. William Barber of the Poor...
Preaching While White on MLK Sunday
January 18, 2020
A few years ago a friend invited me to preach at his mostly white suburban church the Sunday before MLK Day. I happened to have a couple of friends who...
Scapegoating the Racists
January 11, 2020
My family moved to southern California the summer before my freshmen year of high school. That was the summer the Lakers lost to the Bulls in the NBA Finals....
Five Favorite Books from 2019
December 21, 2019
For the previous few years it’s been my habit to compile an almost-entirely arbitrary list of five of the books I most enjoyed during that year. I posted the...
Remembering a [Christian] Woman We Should Have Never Forgotten
December 14, 2019
I recently reviewed a new book about Ida B. Wells for The Englewood Review of Books. The book, Passionate for Justice: Remembering a Woman We Should Have...
Will there be racists in heaven?
December 7, 2019
A few weeks ago a friend retweeted a well-known bishop who is vocal in his opposition to racism who had declared something along the lines of: I'd rather not...
Trying to Remember
November 30, 2019
Yesterday morning I walked three quarters of a mile from my in-law’s home in Brownsville, TN to this roadside marker beside a small family cemetery. James...
Just how much racism is in our DNA?
November 23, 2019
This week I learned that there's something called the World Socialist Website and that they published an interesting interview with James McPherson who's...
"All of these fanatics were white."
November 16, 2019
There was one place I wanted to visit during our recent 48 hours in Paris. Well, there were a bunch of places I hoped to visit, but there was one place in...
Experiencing racism is harder than, you know, talking about it.
November 9, 2019
A quick request: If you appreciate this newsletter would you please share it with a few friends? Thanks! A couple of days ago I spent an hour with about...
Separated by the Border
November 2, 2019
Between our recent anniversary travel in Greece and helping out with a Sankofa Journey last weekend, it's been a few weeks since I sent out a newsletter....
The Offense of Grace: Botham and Brandt Jean and White Christian America’s Refusal to be Forgiven
October 12, 2019
Maggie and I got home on Thursday after a couple of wonderful weeks traveling in Greece - and 48 hours in Paris on the way home - to celebrate our 20th...
The modest work of Scripture and prayer.
September 21, 2019
This Cooper's Hawk made our garden its hunting ground one morning this week. Eugene Person, more than any other author, has shaped my imagination of what it...
Ideology won't save us.
September 14, 2019
I read two longish articles earlier this week that I’ll be thinking about for a while. The first, “What’s Missing From “White Fragility”, explores the work...
Who gets to keep the Sabbath?
September 7, 2019
Spotted outside Farragut High School on Monday. Last week I mentioned an interview I participated in that covered some connections between worship and...
Living Justly Amidst Moral Complexity
August 31, 2019
We spent this week at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. We'd heard about this place for years but had never ventured north beyond Grand...
Deporting Clergy
August 24, 2019
Our friend Esther Yoon-Ji Kang reported this sad story earlier this week of another deportation in our city. The latest request for the stay of removal — the...
"...we have never been the problem but the solution..."
August 17, 2019
“Virginity is completely identified with sex,” she said, “what a person has not experienced. It’s that closed-off, puritanical kind of thing.” But Sister...
Cracked, Concealed, and Called
August 10, 2019
Earlier this summer I spent a few days at the Whitworth Ministry Summit where I spoke about the imago Dei and race. Those talks have been posted and you can...