Church of England Sheds Light on ‘Shameful’ Slave Trade Ties
A new exhibition at a London library explores the Anglican Church’s role in the 18th-cenury slave trade. It coincides with a new report setting out that role in hard facts and figures.
Ending Slavery is on the Ballot
In just a couple weeks, voters in five states will consider proposed amendments to their state constitutions that would remove the slavery exception for prisons. In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at state-level efforts to undo the slavery exception with a focus
PBS Docs Depict Paths of Freedom, Faith for Frederick Douglass & Harriet Tubman
Two significant abolitionists are subjects of a twin set of documentaries, "Becoming Frederick Douglass" and "Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom," co-productions of Maryland Public Television and Firelight Films and released by PBS this month (October).
Samford, Slavery, & Scripture
In this edition of A Public Witness, we take a look at Samford University’s past and find that its current justifications for excluding other Christians from campus rest on a revisionist whitewashing of its own history. After naming Samford’s struggle to face the ghosts in
On Colombia’s San Andres, a Historic Baptist Church’s Roots Run Deep
First Baptist Church is so crucial to the history of the Colombian island of San Andres that detailed record of births and deaths are kept here in crumbling books that date back nearly two centuries.
Lag in Slavery Reparations from U.S. Jesuits Irks Descendants
Last year, the U.S. branch of the Jesuits pledged to raise $100 million for a reconciliation initiative in partnership with descendants of people once enslaved by the Catholic order. On Tuesday, a leader of those descendants expressed deep dissatisfaction with the order’s lack of progress
Excavation of Graves Begins at Site of Colonial Black Church
Archaeologists in Virginia began excavating three suspected graves at the original site of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches on Monday, commencing a monthslong effort to learn who was buried there and how they lived.
Bryan Stevenson Urges Christians to Speak Truth of Racist History
Lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson challenged Baptists from around the world to be truth-tellers about racial injustices. He spoke to a special session of the Baptist World Alliance’s annual gathering on Thursday.
Preacher at CBF Assembly Blasts ‘Slave Bible Hermeneutic’ that Opposes Social Justice
A Black Baptist preacher in Dallas, Texas, offered a fiery call at the general assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship for Christians to engage in social justice even if they get attacked for being “heretics.”
William Jewell has Two Groups Doing Slavery Research. Some Say That’s a Problem
Critics say the college’s Racial Reconciliation Commission’s report is flawed, making it an inadequate foundation for conversations about the school’s past and future.