(1) :::Takes deep breath:::
For the vast majority of my followers, you are not gonna know what is happening, still, consider following along, this may still have implications for you. Im about to tell a story, this is gonna be long, but here we go. (2) Earlier this week, my church experience 2.0 began here on social media (we’ll get to that) & I have precious BIPOC friends who, along with my wife, encouraged me not to give into suicidal ideations once they learned I had been talking w/ Suicide hotline.

(1) I want to apologize for a Twitter thread I posted earlier today. I wrote a thread while in a triggered state, both spiritually & racially, and it led me to post a message on here that was uncharacteristically hostile & dismissive, but it was me, I posted it. I’m Sorry. twitter.com/i/web/status/1… (2) I should’ve have posted thread given the emotional & mental state I was in. What has transpired over the past several months, to those who are in the know, has been really hard & honestly I am exhausted trying to both engage while at same time avoid “angry Black man” motif.

(1) For those who may not know, my primary work is providing *free* or *discounted* trauma informed soul care to ethnic minorities who lack financial resources to cover normal cost of care. In most ideal cases, I work alongside clinical therapists to ensure comprehensive care. (2) Tho racial & spiritual trauma has been primary field I speak about most often, I have been providing soul care & guidance by way of marriage counseling (esp interracial), parenting, & singles counseling for about a decade now. My work is not limited to trauma care...

(1) FYI: You can objectify your spouse. Speaking to fellas specifically, reducing the comprehensiveness of your wife’s humanity to her body is objectification & that doesn’t change regardless of context. Yeah yo, you can absolutely objectify someone you regularly have sex with. (2) The fact this is controversial & to many a contradiction is part of the problem, it speaks to how normative it is for men to think sex equals ownership. So many men, no fault to women, find it hard to understand that past sexual consent doesn’t nullify present requirement.

(1) The way non-Black people, especially White, consistently argue that people stopped caring about race once Black people stopped being lynching & legally segregated. It’s funny cuz no one cares more about race than White people, followed by non-Black minorities. It’s facts.

https://twitter.com/blueboxdave/status/1655279468447952899

(2) When a Black person steps into a room, or simply inhabits a space, no one cares more about race than White & non-Black minorities in said room, it just so happens that race most cared about is Black person’s. Black people have to care about race cuz of this reality.

(1) Given that anti-Blackness is a global phenomenon, as well as colorism, I’m gonna need White people to understand that their global cultural curiosity, engagement, & even appreciation doesn’t mean that you value all that Blackness entails & haven’t embraced colorism. (2) White Christian missionaries especially need to understand this. There’s a reason why Evangelical Missiology invests all its energy & resources studying cultures abroad while literally no time at all engaging it’s Black neighbors & expressing curiosity towards their cultures.

(1) The “rod” spoken of in Proverbs 13:21 is most likely a shelters rod & not a pole to beat children. Shepherd rods had two sides, a budded side to fight off predators & a hooked side to hook sheep’s neck & guide them back to right path when they stray. Comic cuz it’s morning.

https://twitter.com/RepMattSchaefer/status/1651363051654742024

(2) Yes, if you do not guide your child, they will likely become lost. If you don’t discipline your child, they will likely become lawless. However, the idea that discipline means using the weaponized side of a rod aimed at predators rather than its guiding side made for sheep…

(1) There’s nothing more anti-Christ than bullying. We’re trained to think of “heresy” as something merely intellectual/ideological, but things that fall within the realm of theopraxi (faith based practice) can absolutely be heretical; anti-Christ things done in Christ’s name. (2) If Jesus tells us that pure & undefiled religion is to take care of the most marginalized in society, & if Jesus sets a new model for engaging our power being to use it to empower others rather than self-empowerment; than bullying is anti-Christian on most fundamental level.

(1) My life prior to Christ was burying friends due to gang violence. My life after Christ has been experiencing & later helping people process thru profound trauma as a result to abuse. I am a 38 year old historical theologian w/ 3 degrees & trauma informed soul care provider… (2) Why do I say all this?

Cuz what I look like getting into Twitter beefs? You will not catch me reducing myself, my expertise, or my work into petty immature social media dramas. I deal w/ matters of life & death, survival, health. I’m not gonna be baited into drama.

(1) You can tell almost everything you need to know about a person by how they treat those who they believe have nothing to offer them. People are often their realest selves to those who they perceive to be smallest threat to their ambitions. (2) This is exactly why those with power & platforms don’t want those without, who they relate to, to ever speak publicly about their experiences. The way those with power & influence treat those without, behind the scenes, they don’t ever want that to be public record.

(1) Within American Evangelicalism, the demonic stronghold that protects White Supremacy also protects misogyny. Women, especially White women, who are assimilated & benefit from culture won’t feel it, but women, like minorities, who stand against the stronghold will be attacked. (2) The war that’ll be declared against you if you truly stand against White Supremacy within American Evangelicalism or stand against Misogyny within same space will give you greater insight into how Roman Catholicism was able to burn Christians alive & declare it God’s work.

(1) BIPOC fam, this is something I’d encourage you all to consider deeply. One of the subtle ways White Supremacy seeks to assert itself is by demanding non-White people’s acquiescence whenever they are “summoned”.

https://twitter.com/kylejameshoward/status/1649460422708264977

(2) Beloved, you are not obligated to accept that “let’s get coffee”, especially if it’s to hear them explain their racism or make you defend your refusal to assimilate. Just b/c a White person requests your time, energy, & presence doesn’t mean you have to say yes.

(1) PSA
:::Takes deep breath::
Several years ago, after experiencing severe abuse, I promised myself I’d never again keep other people’s secret of how they’ve treated me. This promise especially applied to how I was treated by White people. I spoke abt it.
kylejhoward.com/blog/keeping-a… (2) I am sharing what I’m about to share b/c I wanna close this chapter & move on, & I do not want to carry the burden of keeping this to myself any longer, especially in light of the fact that I know this info will be weaponized against me if I remain silent.

Don’t get me wrong, Majors must be investigated & held accountable. Looks REALLY bad! I just find it fascinating how quickly he was canceled while Angelina Jolie has spoken out abt Brad Pitt abusing her & his children & celeb women were publicly swooning over him at awards show. Again, this isn’t a defense of Jonathan Majors, this is a “White men need to be held accountable too & treated the same way Black men are when it comes to accountability for toxic & harmful behavior.” White men most often get a pass. This is a inquiry into “why”.

(1) Jesus had prostitutes falling before him and while in their knees weeping at his feet, even pouring expensive fragrant oil on them & wiping it with their hair, and yet he at no point sexualized them but rather extended dignity, brotherly compassion, & love towards them. (2) if is my prayer that men, especially those in positions w/ authority will stop pretending that all the “purity” rules and guidelines they’ve established for girls & women regarding attire has anything to do w/ holiness & not trying to mask their own lack of Christlikeness.

(1) When I was in seminary, working on my undergrad tho, prior to Masters, I was married with children among a bunch of kids more or less. I remember a class I had where professor prided himself on the fact that he & his wife were not friends. He didn’t like hanging out w/ her. (2) His whole point in sharing was that he wanted to encourage the men & women in the class, especially the young women, that as they were pursued by men while at college, “friendship” shouldn’t be a criteria for accepting a proposal. What really mattered was if he was “manly”.

(1) So I've taken some time to look into this situation & I want to share some thoughts. I haven't yet read @MekdesHaddis book & can't speak on its content, but I have read the review of it that was written by a White man (Brad Vaughn @savinggodsface) under pseudonym Jackson Wu.

https://twitter.com/MekdesHaddis/status/1635156281370742784

(2) I want to speak on this briefly for a few reasons. I think Black women deserve to be seen, heard, & defended & I'll use my platform to that end when I can. Also, As a Black man with Asian heritage, a Southeastern Asian wife, & transcultural children; I'm invested in issue.

(1) Just stumbled across a post, by a woman, that was encouraging women to give their husband's sex whenever, wherever, & however they want it. The encouragement was if wives do so, they would witness their marriages spectacular transform for the positive.

Some thoughts... (2) First off, the framing of sex as "giving to your husband" rather than as something that is mutually desirable (even if one party desires it more) is deeply problematic & speaks to a profoundly twisted concept of sex. Sex defined as something wives give & husbands take is 🚩.

(1) People, esp Christians, underestimate the emotional & psychological devastation using people merely for their “gifts” causes. To reduce people to their skills & talents is dehumanizing, but Christians will manipulatively reassure others it’s not case w/ familial language. (2) In order to guard against a deep cynicism, I have to believe people simply don’t get it & aren’t intentionally so evil. People just don’t get how deeply it 🤬s w/ a person’s mind to reassure them of your love using familial language while in reality you are merely using them.

Thing is, White people in general feel way too entitled to Black people’s bodies, minds, art, & emotions to ever fully grasp an phenomena like this. It will seem extreme & audacious to them. That’s why mentions are filled w/ White people appropriating Black gifs in their scoffing

https://twitter.com/cnn/status/1639960392175697921

To be fair, our society across the board lacks awareness & depth regarding the history & nuances of appropriation & racializations for an article like this, from a platform like @cnn, to ever actually land well. Even Black folks who feel uncomfortable w/ it often can’t verbalize.

(1) When White folks use “woke” as a pejorative, they are embracing White Supremacy even if it’s not their direct intent. The weaponization & re-defining of a positive term in AAVE (African American English Vernacular) into a derogatory term to dismiss Black people is evil. (2) It is the equivalent of an abuser saying “I love you” every time they abuse their victim. Or for a White slave master to say “in Jesus name” as they whipped or raped their slave. To pervert/twist, & redefine love & justice language into terms of hate & injustice is wicked.