Michael T Nixon, V🅿️ 1 of 1, sadly (Chillmonger) Profile picture
DEIB professional specializing in Healthcare & Higher Ed | Formerly Atty 4 @fairhousingnyc & VP DEI @andrewsuniv. | RT ≠ endorsement | he/him #BlackLivesMatter
Oct 3, 2020 • 23 tweets • 5 min read
There has been some chatter about whether or not we should support specific political candidates. Here is some helpful perspective...from EG White herself (source is the EG White estate). All info I’m quoting can be found here: whiteestate.org/legacy/issues-… A local election in Battle Creek in 1859 challenged Adventists to reconsider their responsibilities as citizens in a community. They were pressed to make a more definite commitment on the subject of voting. What were they to do?
Oct 2, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Praying that the President & First Lady, as well as Hope Hicks and others they came in contact with who have now contracted COVID—19, have a speedy recovery with limited long-term health effects. The rest of this post will not be partisan (although it may have some political implications). COVID—19 should not be a partisan issue. I pray that this is also a reminder to everybody of just how contagious and potentially deadly this disease can be. It isn’t a hoax.
Sep 8, 2020 • 10 tweets • 11 min read
I met @tyfgibson back in 2015. I sent him a blog that I had written (something that I am sure happens to him all the time) that was inspired by a blog he wrote entitled "The Old Covenant Brood" which was sent to me by one of @tacyanacarla's church members in Princeton, NJ. My blog was on racism (of course, lol) and he responded with words of affirmation that I didn't even know I needed at the time. This began a personal journey for me of digging deeper into our church's historical race issues, but it was also the beginning of an amazing brotherhood
Aug 20, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
My heart really goes out to Masai Ujiri. All he wanted to do was celebrate a historic NBA Finals victory with the team that he constructed. In a split-second, he was reminded that in the eyes of that security guard he was nothing more than a nicely-groomed black man in a suit. Said security guard blatantly lied about the incident forcing Masai to answer questions about whether or not he got too aggressive with the guard and deal with the familiar innuendo "what did [Masai] do to escalate the incident? he must have done something wrong."
Aug 9, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” -MLK

Thread incoming in response to this article:

cbssports.com/mlb/news/oakla… One of the more painful and confusing dynamics that’s has reared it’s ugly head in recent months is something that I call the “oppression Olympics.” It is the idea that it is necessary to rank the severity of historical and current acts/systems of oppression...
Jul 25, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Happy Sabbath. What better day could there be to arrest the killers of Breonna Taylor. Sunday. Most of our Christian cousins call it the Lord’s day. I’d be happy to discuss that, right after Breonna Taylor’s killers are arrested.
Jul 12, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Get a load of how people are reacting to athletes who are out in public for essentials and actually trying to stay safe. This country has become depressing. Y'all really think this pandemic is a hoax and I'm shook.

deadspin.com/baseball-coron… “[He] was in a store shopping for food and was called a pansy,” Smith said of a teammate who was chided for wearing a mask. “It’s like little do they know. I went out briefly to just pick up some takeout food and I swear I got a dozen eyeballs on me...
Jun 16, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
“We are also deeply concerned with preserving the promise of the free exercise of religion enshrined in our Constitution; that guarantee lies at the heart of our pluralistic society. But worries about how Title VII may intersect with religious liberty are nothing new... they even predate the statute’s passage,” Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.

I'll keep adding to this as I read through the opinion...would be nice if people read the whole document before proclaiming that religious liberty is dead.
Jun 2, 2020 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Not that it’s shocking or anything, but the fact that James Dolan is actually tone deaf enough to not allow the @nyknicks to make any kind of statement in response to the killing of George Floyd is deeply hurtful as a lifelong fan of this mostly dumpster fire of a team. Black people are pretty much unanimously hurt and outraged by what is going on in our country, and you have nothing to say your roster full of Black players who are hurting and need to hear words of comfort and solidarity from their organization? @nyknicks.
May 16, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A short debate: This is an awful idea.

-The Diversity guy. Imagine, in the name of “inclusion,” the almost exclusively white NFL owners (other than Kim Pegula & Shahid Khan) voting to implement a system that would give them an incentive for...not being racist? “Yeah, we’ll hire more of them, but what’s in it for me?” Um, a good employee?
May 8, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Re #AhmaudArbery: I am not going to participate in any kind of discussion which inevitably pivots to asking me, a black person, to tell America how to prevent this from continuing to happen (or what to tell other black men they should/shouldn’t do in order to stop being killed). It’s simple: the only injustices that are allowed to happen in America are the ones that those in the majority culture (usually in power) allow to happen (or are silent about). Until they stop allowing it to happen, unmitigated, the conversation is meaningless.
Apr 12, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
You're going to see a lot of #ResurrectionSunday posts today (as you should!), so I won't be long here: The thing that sticks out the most to me as I reflect on our #RisenKing today is His enduring humility. #HappyEaster Image Jesus, the death conqueror, had every right to boast in what He just accomplished (in communion with His Father and Spirit), but scripture told us that early on Sunday morning, the two Mary's went saw an empty tomb. They were told by an angel that He was risen-He was already out!
Apr 11, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is a still, silent Sabbath. The space between death and life is filled with rest. This rest, in the space between destruction and construction, finality and eternity, hopelessness and triumph is a liberating rest that we fall into. ImageImage This fall into liberating rest is one that resides in the arms of God. We trade our anxiety for His security, our pain for His promise, our isolation for His communion. Before we resurrect in newness of life in Christ, we must rest in Him, as He rested in the arms of His Father.
Apr 10, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
In Christianity, I understand the urge to rush to Sunday - the triumphal resurrection moment. It is a beautiful moment, and it is worth celebrating! But I urge you to not rush past Friday...a Friday that is somewhat strangely referred to as good. Christ didn’t rush past Friday. As much as He may have desired that the cup of pain, anguish and despair that He was about to endure would pass, He drank that cup in full. If we are called to this same death as His followers, than the unfortunate—yet good—reality is that we must drink it as well.
Mar 19, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
“We are in the midst of a highly teachable moment. There’s no doubt that this period will be referred to for the rest of our lifetimes. We have a chance to go deep, and to go broad. Globally, we’re in this together... “Depth is being forced on us by great suffering, which as I like to say, always leads to great love. But for God to reach us, we have to allow suffering to wound us. Now is no time for an academic solidarity with the world. Real solidarity needs to be felt and suffered...
Mar 19, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I have a “love/hate” relationship with the work of equity and inclusion. I know, weird phrase to use, but let me be vulnerable and explain. It is simultaneously the most fulfilling/rewarding and the most draining/deflating kind of work.... It’s rewarding because you are constantly creating opportunities for voices to be heard and collaboration to take place. It’s deflating when you are reminded of where the gaps continue to remain - especially the gaps in ur own heart and the blindness u have had to certain plights
Mar 13, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Church Leaders of larger congregations: Please do not over-spiritualize this moment. You need to be closed. Conference leadership should step in when local leaders decide to be reckless. The internet is abundant. Stay home. EDIT: I thought it was appropriate to add this addendum. Some local pastors who I love and respect have let me know that in some cases, they actually would like to close but they have been pressured by conference leadership to stay open...That is a real shame...shame on them.
Mar 11, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Any way you slice it, this is an incredibly sad, albeit unavoidable move. I can assure everyone that the decision was not made lightly, and we will all make every effort to continue to serve our campus community in the best way possible. The timing isn’t ideal at all, but the situation in our state changed within the past 24-48 hours which led to us having to make the most prudent decision possible given the information at our disposal. Definitely not the way you want the on-campus experience to end. Sad moment.
Feb 9, 2020 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
I haven’t spoken on this since a few days ago, but I feel the need to clarify a few things (as well as say some others) in order to make sure that there is no confusion in regards to how the situation that this tweet thread responded to is being handled. I think I’ll begin by stating something i hope is evident- I did not ask for any of this. I did not asked to be brought up in a conversation that had nothing to do with me. I didn’t ask for it to be played out on social media. But here we were, so I felt i was entitled to respond
Jan 31, 2020 • 20 tweets • 5 min read
I’m gonna share some stuff, but before I do, I just want to say publicly how much I love and respect @nyctophil3. She is an amazing young woman who did not deserve to be talked to like this by anyone - let alone her teacher and employer. Keep grinding. Ur graduating in May 🙏🏾✊🏾❤️ My family moved to Berrien Springs during the Summer of 1998. We moved here from Maryland. While there I was in DuPont Park Elementary school (predominantly black) where I was pushed to excel by my teachers and motivated by my fellow classmates. This propelled me to do very well
Jan 14, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
There is a movie on Hulu called “Black Cop.” Like that’s the name. I’ll update y’all on how this goes.... We’re 10 minutes in and after a patronizing monologue from the guy playing the...Black Cop (you know the vibe) He decided to go out for a jog at night, with a hoodie on. So he’s in the middle of being surprised that he’s getting profiled and hasn’t been able to Identify himself.