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church affiliation, worship as a group, and participate in the Bible Quiz. That’s right— there was a Bible Quiz and it was a pretty big deal to defend your geographic location. My father, affectionately known as Papa, was not as religious and never understood the small church setting, so he found a megachurch that was a lot faster paced than our old-school small church. My brother and I were involved in both growing up. Needless to say, whether we wanted to know God or not, we didn’t have a choice.
Loving the Other
M A G A Z I N E
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O U T P O U R
Now, being a parent myself, my husband and I are determined to help this country be better for ourselves, and more importantly, for our daughter. It first starts by showing Christ to everyone through unconditional love. In Matt. 22:37-39 NLT “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the LORD your
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I was born and raised in the suburbs of Houston, Texas to a middle-class family, as the second and last child, and the only girl. My mother was very religious, and we were in church multiple times a week: Sunday service was oftentimes more than just one service, and there was Wednesday night Bible study, mid-week choir rehearsal, usher board meetings, and the list goes on. Each summer was filled with traveling across the country to spend a week and a half with our
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“Don’t be upset if you want to play with everyone and everyone doesn’t want to play with you. Just go find new people to play with.” It was 1998 when I begged my parents to take me out of my all Black, Christian private school to start my zoned, public elementary school education. Up until then, I didn’t understand their earlier statement. My parents were very hesitant to move me, not only because my learning needs were being catered to in a challenging and loving environment, but also because the Christian school was family.
P A G E
by Leslie Moore
In the Black church experience, the issue of race was and has always been a topic laced into a sermon or just a topic of discussion. My baby boomer parents only knew from experience to be cautious with white people because they had seen so much racial tension. My mother, born and raised in Brandon, Mississippi, was among the first group of Black students to integrate her high school. She was the first Black cheerleader and continued to break barriers on the basketball team. Papa was born and raised in Buffalo, New York; and although we were taught in grade school that the north was much better in terms of race relations than the south, his stories didn’t seem much different. And because of their experiences, my parents thought it was important to shield my brother and I from the harsh reality that many of us in the Black community face every single day.
