No, no, I’m not referring to Obama’s sexual orientation!! Don’t get it twisted yo! However, I am referring to Obama’s ethnic background: Bi-racial. Or, as many would call it, “Mixed.” Black and White. Hmmm. African American & Euro-American. Hmmm. Or is he just Black as many people, including myself, have summarized him down to? It’s hard being mixed. Trust me, I know, I’m half Black and half Mexican. My mom is Mexican and my dad was African American. I’ve struggled my entire life trying to “fit in” with one or the other. But to have a “mixed” president, is a new and uplifting thing for me.

Back in the day Tiger Woods got a lot of slack for not identifying with his “roots.” In other words, Tiger was slammed by many in the Black community for not claiming his Black side. Tiger simply said that if he only paid attention to the Black side of him, he would be denying his mother. A lot of folk could not understand that, yet, I could. I’ve been forced to choose many times. And not just by “friends.” Take a notice on any type of professional application you fill out, there will inevitably be a section there to fill in your “race.” If it’s electronic it will typically only let you choose one box and they’ll make it clear: African American (non-Hispanic), Latino (Non-African American), etc. America does not do well with “multi racial people.” In most cases you are asked to choose between the two. When I’m with my Latino friends, it’s hard to have the Black in me come out because of the racial tensions. When I’m with my Black friends, those Brown tensions run deep too. Growing up, I was never called a spic, wetback, or greaser. I was called a coon, nigger, and a colored; I therefore began identifying with the Black side of me. Having a mom that loved Black culture didn’t help either!

A couple of years ago, some students in my class asked me ifI thought the U.S.was ready for a Black president. I responded to them and said, “No. I don’tthink that Americacan handle having a Black president and I don’t think it will happen in mylifetime. But…I hope I’m wrong.” Today, I’ve never been happier, ecstatic,proud, and grateful to be wrong! This is a new era for the U.S. people andtoday, history was set. Today, is a new era.

Now, if you’re White, never having dealt with any type ofracial issues, nor having never taken a single class on minorities in Americaor intercultural communication, it will be extremely hard for you to understandwhat this means for not just Blacks in this country, but to people of color allover the U.S. I mean, for the first time since grade school I’ve been proud tocall myself an “American.

I had just moved to Southern California for grad school and I was on the hunt for work. I had found a job on an online forum that listed ministerial jobs. It was a youth pastor position, it was about twenty minutes from where I was going to live, the location of the church was directly in the neighborhood I wanted to be in, and the pay was exactly what I was looking for. What a find, I thought. All I needed to do was “ace” the interview, right?

My wife and I headed into the interview, even more elated because only a week before a friend of mine had a “vision” that I was to be working as a youth pastor in the Southern California area. So, it was a shoe in for us. We walked in and noticed that all of the interviewers were older, much older, than we had anticipated. But hey, I am not prejudicer of age. We also noticed, via church group photos, that the church was predominantly White in a predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood. But, those just arouse assumptions; we needed to get to know the people before we cast any type of judgment. They started with the basic questions, how long had I been doing youth work, how long had I known Christ, what were some of my passions, and the rest of the mundane rigor. Then they started asking if I played basketball. Then they asked if I played the guitar. A few questions later, I was also asked if I was a fan of Black Gospel music.

Not totally sure where those random questions came from, I felt, overall, that the interview was going well. I patiently answered all of their questions and it came time for me to ask them some questions. Then the senior pastor walked in. He was a younger pastor, so I thought that he would better understand the plight of a youth pastor. He was adorned with a very large crucifix that hung down to the middle of his chest covering much of that area as well. I thought it odd for such bling, but hey, to each their own, right? Before I could even begin my questions, and without even asking my name, his uttered the question, “So, tell me who’s your favorite football team?” I smiled and snickered, not taking him very seriously and moved on to my questions. But he asked again, this time more forcefully and appearing agitated that I ignored his initial question. I, hesitantly, said, “Well…it’s the Cowboys.” “The Cowboys?” he responded, “They’re horrible, I can’t stand them, you all have no quarter back and are a bunch of drug infested players that have no place in the NFL!” He continued on this rampage for about two minutes until I said, “Hey, they’re just my team; I don’t own em or anything.” His face then scowled and he said, “Well, they suck! I’m an Eagles fan and I hate the Cowboys.”

By this point I was a little put off by his awkward interaction with me. He finally seemed to pull himself together long enough for me to ask a few questions. So I started in with my questions. I wanted to confirm the pay range, the hours, and what they expected of me as a youth pastor. All was good…except the last question. With that last question, the entire committee told me that they expected me to work primarily and exclusively with only their youth.

I was a little thrown off. I was a little confused. They had told me most of their youth had grown up in the church, most of their youth came from Christian homes, and a large portion of their youth had familial roots in the church tracing back a hundred years. So I was amazed that they only wanted me to work with only their youth. I asked, “Well, what about the community around you guys here? Are you all willing to work with any of their kids?” The entire committee looked at me with a puzzled glare. “What do you mean?” asked the senior pastor. “Well,” I said, “It seems to me that if a church that has mostly Christian youth, is in a neighborhood that is predominately Black and Latino and from lower economic brackets that one might be thinking of doing some missional work and growing the church group using the established youth to lead the way.” One committee member responded to me insisting that their youth needed the most attention. So I persisted. “I’m just saying that this church is in a great location, the youth appear to be on the right track, and that the youth group, including the church, can be grown, especially from the youth department,” I replied. Then the senior pastor chimed in, “What kids are you talking about? Are you talking about the ones with tattoos around their necks and the ones with sagging pants down to their ankles?” I then said, “That’s exactly who I’m talking about!”

At this point the entire committee in one glance looked toward the senior pastor as if to say, “What you gonna say now?” The pastor, in complete seriousness and with a “matter of fact” attitude said, “No, we’re not interested in those kids, they are the scary kids and they’d scare away our older church goers, especially the ones who tithe well.”

I turned to my wife, looked her in the eye, turned back to the committee and said, “Thanks for your time, it’s been educational” and proceeded to walk out. One day later I got a call telling me that I did not get the job. Thank God!

You see, there is a scandalous element to the Great Commission that many, not just this particular church, do not fully understand nor weigh when contemplating missions. The “stranger” for many Christians is someone who is:

In October I get the chance to speak at the Christian Community Development Association’s (CCDA) national conference in Miami, Fl. The overall theme of the CCDA conference this year is peace. So, when asked, I proposed that I do a workshop on Tupac & peace. Oxymoron, right? Some might just say that, but I wouldn’t. In fact, just the opposite. It’s amazing to me how the media can make someone into a villain overnight, and Tupac was just that in many people’s eyes. Last Saturday, September 13, was Tupac’s 13^th year death anniversary. Many people celebrated his life and his message. Here are some thoughts of mine on the Jesus of Tupac and how it all connects to being socially aware.

Tupac pioneered the dialogue about theological matters in the ‘hood and Hip Hop culture. Tupac became a lighting rod for those theological matters, both positive and negative. Tupac connected the profane to the sacred. Moreover, Tupac made religion, God, church, and community attainable for comprehension and understanding by the masses.^[1] I use the term theological message as Tupac’s own interpretation of the scriptures, Jesus, salvation, and Heaven using his own contextual hermeneutic. Here, Tupac’s spiritual message is centered more on both an idealistic and realistic message for living. A lot of Tupac’s spirituality^[2] was shaped over his entire life; his theological understanding came during his formative years as a child through his early adulthood.

I have seen Terry Gilliam’s film Time Bandits (1981) about a hundred times. I first saw it when I was in grade school and it just sort of stuck with me. About a week ago I sat down to re-watch it with a new set of eyes and my godson next to me who is a near expert in film analysis. What took place was amazing.

WARNING, THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS! So if you haven’t seen the film, you can see it here first

Gilliam’s film was before its time. He pits the classic forces of good vs. evil against each other in a British, Monty Python sort of way. Time Bandits illustrates the classical issues of:

This is an ongoing conversation about Hip Hop's theological message. You can read part 1 here.

We have a hostile Gospel. We serve a Jesus that was, and still is in many facets, hostile. In order to move forward in our Christian theological development, we must confront both of those elements within our Christian Bible. For most Christians, Jesus is looked upon as a mild, gentle, all loving, peaceful man who just loved everyone in some neo-60’s, post hippie sort of way. When I read the Gospel of Jesus, I do not see that most of the time. I see a Jesus that caused much trouble, created a movement that has changed the world, spoke up for the marginalized, in essence brought a very contradicting economic message to both His context and ours, and left more questions than He did answers. Jesus also took on the form of humankind, when He could have stayed in His own “luxury” and “comfort.” Jesus embodied hostility everywhere He went. His very language of “viper” and “dogs,” in response to religious officials, was in fact a profane statement within His context.

As I sit here compiling and analyzing research for a new book I’m writing,[1] I am quickly realizing that there is a large gap between the connection with the Hip Hop generation and the church (emergent, traditional, or whatever you wanna call it). Most Hip Hop youth (between the ages of 12-18) see the church as oppressive, judgmental, harsh, and out of touch. They also recognize the double standards that are set forth as well. Double standards like “Do as I say not as I do.” Moreover, there is a vast amount of young urban Hip Hoppers seeking connections with other religions. One young guy I interviewed stated, “Yeah, I grew up in the Black Church, but Sh** they outdated now man, I mean…umm, they just don’t get me and I just can’t get with a punk Jesus they keep portraying to me…Rastafarianism is doing a way better job of meeting me at my level, Sh** I’m tired of being judged, I love God, but…whew…I don’t even know about the Christian church man.”

I am sitting at the back of a large hall on the first night of an “out-reach” camp. There are seventy-five excited, energized, yet agitated, predominately African-American middle schoolers waiting for the next event. As they sing music that has no relevance in their lives nor do any of them even know the words still it is “Christian,” I notice that only their adult leaders are singing the lyrics to the music they obviously already familiar with. Upon second look, I notice that the middle schoolers are actually singing along…extremely sarcastically and mimicking the song leader as she leads out in songs. What is more, there are groups of several students lurking around, looking for the first chance to sneak out. Finally, the end of the last song! The kids seem to clap as if in relief from a terrible bout with diarrhea. All the while their adult leaders seemingly bewildered as to why there were not more songs sung. I then prepare my notes, as I am the speaker for this “outreach” camp for the whole week. I take a deep breath, and begin with my introduction: who is Christ? I feel confident tonight. I am part African-American, part Mexican, I speak Spanish, I am tall, I love the Dallas Cowboys, I am bald, and I am a male (that should count for something right?). All the “qualifications” for speaking to urban youth (or so it has been implied ideologically over the years)! I know that I can “relate” to these youth. Heck, I have “been there” right where they are sitting.

The film Crash places some very serious issues at our doorstep. One of the better scenes in the film is when Tony Danza’s character, Fred, has a unique, but all too common conversation with Terrence Howard’s character, Cameron Thayer. Both Cameron and Fred are producer sorts for a major studio. They are both working on a show that has Black characters in it. Fred begins by asking Cameron if Jamal, one of the actors, is taking speech classes. Cameron, a bit set back and a tad nervous responds “No, why do you ask?” Fred then returns by stating that the line Jamal stated didn’t sound “Black enough.” Cameron, unfortunately, is put into a dire position; does he speak up and potentially lose his job, or does he just grin and “take it?” These are tough questions to answer, for anyone, even more for someone who is of color, in a moderate position of power, and dealing with subversive racism.

Well, the trip is over and the bags are unpacked. What a time. My grandmother is doing a lot better than I thought and she is in good hands at the nursing home she is in. Thank God!

As I sit back and reflect on this event, several things come to mind. First, how did I ever leave this po-dunk town? Why was it me that was “picked” to leave? 99% of my friends from this small town are either baby mama’s/ daddy’s, or are in marriages they really don’t like, have yet to really be out of the “state” on vacation, and have a revolving door policy returning back to the small town. Why me? On the flip side, do those issues make them so “bad” and me so “good” for being “successful?” I mean, what is success anyways? I recall the film Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins in which Martin Lawrence returns home to his small town.