An Unwinding

June 23, 2020 | Danielle | Cancer Survivorship | 0

It’s past midnight. I’m keeping myself awake by reading posts from white Christians arguing about white supremacy, or a lack thereof, on Twitter. Somehow, the “woke” ones are pointing out that the Middle Eastern Jesus we’ve worshipped our whole lives wasn’t actually white like our wall hangings led us to believe. This seems to be […]

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Grandma Eva’s Black Figurines

June 14, 2020 | Danielle | Family | 0

Growing up, I had a maternal grandma, a paternal grandma, and a pretend grandma. “Grandma Eva” is what we called her. Although she was technically related through marriage (her husband was my great-grandma’s cousin), she was simply “Grandma” to me. None of my other grandparents lived in Kansas City like us, but Eva did—just down […]

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Facing Racism of the Corner of Monroe

May 31, 2020 | Danielle | Family | 0

I live in a house that was built in the late 1920s. It’s a super cute, charming spot in a historic downtown neighborhood of a suburb I’ve called “home” my entire life. Many people who come over make comments about the house’s character and charm. “I love your front porch!” many will say. Others drool […]

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Racism at the bank – A devotional

August 19, 2019 | Danielle | Devotionals | 1

I’ll never forget the day I watched a racist bank customer refuse to let a woman of color help him. I was standing at the teller counter when an older, white gentleman walked in. He had a file folder tucked under his arm and indicated he needed an account specialist – someone who worked at […]

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Assuming the worst – A devotional on racism

June 27, 2018 | Danielle | Devotionals | 2

“I think you’re racist….” I was taken aback at the stranger’s message in Facebook Marketplace. A potential buyer made an assumption about me based on my profile photo. Truly, someone else had requested the free items I listed in the Marketplace first. My response back to him, “I’m sorry, the items are unavailable” had nothing […]

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There’s black people at the suburban restaurant

January 15, 2018 | Danielle | Family | 0

As we followed the hostess through the restaurant, I was so distracted, I forgot to look for the big tank with the live lobsters. Even at 34 years old, I’m still not sure if people have told me the truth all these years – the lobsters in the tank at Red Lobster are just one […]

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Take Both Knees

September 27, 2017 | Danielle | Parenting | 13

“White girls on the bus told me my bad skin was black and another mixed girl said her skin was lighter and her hair was better, and that mine looked like a cat’s fur ball or poop.” That’s the top story from my daughter’s day at school. She drug her feet and nearly missed the […]

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Today I went to a black church.

July 17, 2016 | Danielle | Faith | 16

Today I went to a black church. No, I didn’t have an agenda. It wasn’t for work. There wasn’t a rally to attend or any special invitation (other than the one from my friend Rene who’d been praying for the African American community and felt told to go). I went to listen and pray alongside […]

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