Youth have a distrust of the system not because of the stuff that makes the news, but because of more regular interactions that never make the news.

Picturing Jesus as blue eyed with sandy blonde hair may seem innocent, but it is not.  We have appropriated the character of Jesus for our own use, robbing him of his Jewishness.  In appropriating the idea of Jesus, we build a religion built on falsehoods and lies, allowing the false lens of white normativity to blind us from the reality of Jesus, and our true selves.

This saying brings legitimate fear and distrust into the hearts of many people.  If we want to move forward we must learn to understand why this phrase has deep roots, and be willing to stop saying it.

Allowing commonly held ideas to infliltrate our mind makes it difficult to look at people through an unbiased lens.

The problem with racism is not the beliefs of individuals but the practices of groups.

Arrogance leades to Ignorance which leads to only getting information from sources that enable our ignorance.  A true pursuit of truth and love will allow us to understand others and work together in a mutually rewarding way.

It is arrogant to think that we can change 400 years of racist history in a few years.  What we can do is love and move towards healing.

Pictures tell stories.  Let's make sure our pictures are telling true stories.

Do we want to understand others, or do we want to validate others pain?  There is a big difference.  One leads to health while the other destroys trust.

There are a lot of well meaning people who don't know what to do.  When I say stop sitting on the sidelines, there are some specific steps that we can all take. They are simple, but not easy.