From now until July 4th, I will be posting reflections rooted in the legacy of the black freedom struggle, the moral insights of our spiritual traditions, and what I’ve learned from conversations with thought leaders, co-conspirators and friends. I will attempt to place the stories I’ve been told about remarkable people and events that transformed American democracy into conversation with the challenges we face today.
Jul 03
A Conversation with Rainer Rilke, James Baldwin, and Vincent Harding
Rilke's “dark hours” have been a companion to me lately: the despair, the grief for a world in turmoil, the desperate search for good news, light in the disorienting darkness. I think of Baldwin, of Harding, of their wisdom for hope, endurance and beginning again.
6 min read
May 07
For The Clergy and Laity Concerned
Clergy and Laity Concerned invited MLK to Riverside Church in 1967. On April 4th, I helped convene a gathering there to mark the 59th anniversary — because this moment demands the same: an unflinching rebuke of war, a call to conscience, a revolution of values.
4 min read
Feb 22
On Depolarization, Nonviolence and Truthtelling
Lately, I’ve been challenged to reflect on my moral and ethical commitments in a toxically polarized world. How does depolarization relate to the work for nonviolent social change? How do my identities and social location factor in?
10 min read
Feb 08
MLK Day 2056
A vision of 2056: thirty years in the future, I explain to my adopted nephew why he should care about Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy — not just because of how many people loved him, but because of how deeply and beautifully he loved us.
6 min read
The Is America Possible? project is a creation of Lucas Johnson in partnership with Union Theological Seminary and in collaboration with Transformative Change.