Monthly Archives: October 2010
Prison profits drove Arizona’s immigration law
By Alan Bean “NPR spent the past several months analyzing hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports, lobbying documents and corporate records. What they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate Bill 1070 by … Continue reading
Tim Wise: Obama’s post-racial road to nowhere
By Alan Bean Friends of Justice believes in dragging ”subtle” racism out of the shadows. Our narrative campaign in response to the Curtis Flowers case, for instance, asserts that everyone associated with the prosecution of this case grew up in a Jim Crow … Continue reading
Anthony Graves freed after eighteen years in prison
Anthony Graves By Alan Bean Anthony Graves is back in the free world after eighteen years of hell. Charles Sebesta, the prosecutor who sent Graves to death row, still thinks he nailed the right man. If you asked the Texas … Continue reading
Freedom Riders stand up for the Scott Sisters
By Alan Bean Thirty-eight freedom riders who rode buses to Jackson, Mississippi in 1961 to set up a tug-of-war between Jim Crow and new federal law have signed a petition on behalf of Gladys and Jamie Scott. The Scott sisters were sentenced to … Continue reading
Brian McLaren’s “New Kind of Christianity”
By Alan Bean Brian McLaren knows how it feels to grow up “born again”. Raised within the legalistic and apocalyptic tenets of the Plymouth Brethren, McLaren grew up worshipping an omnipotent Christ who would soon return to wreak vengeance on the enemies … Continue reading
Osler: Repentance of an anti-gay bigot
Wow! This took a lot of guts. The national gay debate features plenty of allegations and counter-allegations, but very few words of confession and repentance. Law professor, and Friends of Justice board member, Mark Osler is a blessed exception to … Continue reading
Filed under "civil rights", "Social Justice", Faith, gay rights, Peacemaking
Was Juan Williams sacrificed for our sins?
You have probably heard that Juan Williams has been sacked by National Public Radio. I have mixed feelings. Like Bill Cosby, Juan Williams panders to white America (and a large portion of prosperous black America) by wailing on the black under-caste. For instance, … Continue reading
Journey Back to Parchman, Hank Thomas
Fifty years ago, Hank Thomas entered Parchman prison as a Freedom Rider. I highlighted this distressing chapter of the Mississippi civil rights struggle in a post designed to establish historical context for the Curtis Flowers case. Recently, I shared a personal encounter with … Continue reading
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Tea Party Denial
By Alan Bean It is easy to write off Tea Party enthusiasts as a pack of doom sayers, but they are better characterized as doom deniers. “Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast,” says Alice. “That … Continue reading
