In honor of Black History Month 2014

Race and the American Church

50 Years After Birmingham: Reflections On and From the Black Church Fifty years after King's famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," his dream of racial equality remains unfulfilled. Why is change so slow, especially in American Christian churches? Read from scholars, pastors, and authors in a special Patheos feature.

The View from Dixon Hall No Offense: Hating Black History Month by Dr. Maria Dixon I have come to hate Black History Month, because it remains the most visible reminder of the American Church's inability to fully engage in honest, heartfelt discourse about the role of race in our country's past and present.

Poets & Lunatics MLK, Jr's Christian Call and Why It Matters by Wendy Murray "In Birmingham, Dr. King went to jail to help make the point that the pursuit of racial unity and justice is an essential part of the Christian mission." —Edward Gilbreath

Faith Forward Spiritual Practices to Eradicate Racism by Rev. Dr. Michael Waters As a matter of the heart, the fight to eradicate racism is a deeply personal, even spiritual, undertaking.

The Everyday Awakening Am I Black Enough to Be A Slave? by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove My black son's question reminds me of the responsibility I have to introduce him to a certain reality of the world. But I also know another reality that says God is greater than any force that will come against him.

More from Our Writers

The White Hindu Black Hindu Voices: Trent Campbell by Ambaa Krishna most certainly is Black. His name even means "The Dark One." So are Black people welcomed or shunned in the Hindu community?

In Ages Past "Racism Is A God-Damned Thing": Father John Markoe, S.J. by Pat McNamara John Markoe, S.J.: Football star, soldier, alcoholic, priest, and civil rights activist a few decades ahead of the rest.

Muslim History Detective Black History Month: Imam W.D. Mohammed on Religious Freedom by Precious Rasheeda Muhammad Imam Mohammed was one of 200 distinguished Americans - including U.S. presidents, Supreme Court justices, and Coretta Scott King - asked to sign the historic Williamsburg Charter on religious liberty for all.