If you haven’t heard of Kafani, you’re probably not a hip hop head with a particular passion for Bay Area beats. Kafani’s a pretty respected hip hop artist with a somewhat well-known beef with Philthy Rich. He’s particularly famous right now for having been in the wrong place at the wrong time twice, both timesContinue reading “on Kafani and Dreams Deferred and Not (and on violence, escaping it and not)”
Category Archives: Oakland
On earbuds, harassment and not wanting to block out the world. (And on Mrs. Hall and “Seeing a Woman.”)
I use earbuds now. I use them reluctantly but at full volume, ever since a woman shouted out the passenger window of a passing car at me, “eat more salads!” And when I pulled out my earbuds (softly playing This American Life), thinking it might be someone I knew, she hollered, “you heard me!” andContinue reading “On earbuds, harassment and not wanting to block out the world. (And on Mrs. Hall and “Seeing a Woman.”)”
Singing a new story—God, Oakland, and hope amidst change
(The theme of the June 2013 Michigan Disciples of Christ Women’s Retreat was “Our Stories, God’s Story.” This was the sermon I offered on the last day of the retreat, after two days of workshops that invited us to go deeply in sharing our personal journeys, our connection to scripture, our experiences of being peopleContinue reading “Singing a new story—God, Oakland, and hope amidst change”
A Good Friday poem by Sandhya Jha and Tai Amri Spann-Wilson
Tai Amri and I had five minutes to preach on the “third word” at a Good Friday service yesterday. We co-created this poem, each taking a stanza and passing the growing work back and forth, over the course of an hour, in response to the following passage: John 19:25-27: Standing near the cross of JesusContinue reading “A Good Friday poem by Sandhya Jha and Tai Amri Spann-Wilson”
Consensus, my congregation, and a miracle in progress
“I can’t wait to tell my friends back home that I’m a Quaker missionary,” said my co-pastor at the end of the meeting. Born into the Friends tradition, he had just led us through a Spirit-based consensus model for decision making as the second half of our meeting to determine what our next steps togetherContinue reading “Consensus, my congregation, and a miracle in progress”
One straight Christian’s journey into Ally-hood (and a plea for ally-hood with people in the hood)
You may know the weird and sad story of my first college boyfriend. I don’t talk about this a ton, because it was a messy and complicated and deeply personal issue, and publicly I usually only talk about it in terms of how it shaped my commitment to gun safety. But the fact is, itContinue reading “One straight Christian’s journey into Ally-hood (and a plea for ally-hood with people in the hood)”
Righteousness in Complex Times
I have attempted to convert my sermon notes from yesterday into a sermon. By means of explanation, this sermon is part of a series our church is doing on the beatitudes, or the sermon where Jesus lists different groups of people who are blessed, although their lives are hard. We are using an accompanying children’sContinue reading “Righteousness in Complex Times”
Longfellow, Belafonte and the dream of peace on earth at Christmas
It is VERY unusual for me to manuscript a sermon these days. Usually, I only do so if the sermon’s going to be translated. My style borders on folksy with occasional gospel-preaching ramp-ups, neither of which is well served by tightly managed wording or the temptation to glance down at the paper on the lectern.Continue reading “Longfellow, Belafonte and the dream of peace on earth at Christmas”
A dead young man + an outpouring of rage = rules to limit public speech at city council meetings? A pastor’s response to city council
You may know the story of Alan Blueford, shot by police for the crime of running away and then falsely framed by his assailant (currently on paid suspension). You may know the story of his family and supporters taking over a city council meeting last night to demand an unredacted report about the shooting.Continue reading “A dead young man + an outpouring of rage = rules to limit public speech at city council meetings? A pastor’s response to city council”
Seeing God at the Oakland Army Base
There’s a heart, broken in two pieces. Written on it: “Family,” “Community,” “Workers.” And there was a moment on Tuesday, June 12, when those pieces came together—the heart was unbroken, or whole. To me, that was the heart of the faith engagement of the Revive Oakland! campaignfor good jobs at the former Oakland Army Base.
Sandhya Rani Jha 