“In the end, the Democrats blinked. Or, at least, just enough centrists, soon-to-be retirees and at-risk politicians in the Senate to give Republicans the support needed to reopen the government.” www.bbc.com/news/article...

During and after my years in seminary, I agonized over where God was calling me to be. I kept trying to find the promised land, the place where I fit, where life was full of calm. I thought that was the goal of the spiritual journey. I found peace when I accepted my place in the wilderness.

In celebration of my birth month, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite essays all month long. I wrote this one 8 years ago, trying to make sense of why I hadn’t returned to church after what was supposed to be a six-week break during Lent. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

Last week I wrote about how we are made for community. This week I’m thinking about how the church fails to embody community more often than not. Read the post at drchanequa.substack.com/p/when-the-c...

Today is a good day to… Take a mindful breath. Feel the earth under your feet. Be where you are. As you breathe in, say to yourself, I know that I am breathing in. As you breathe out, say to yourself, I know that I am breathing out. Repeat as needed. And it will be needed repeatedly.

Who knows the secret to getting off these DNC fundraising lists? And what does the way they sell (and resell) donor info tell us about how they govern?

Call me a heretic but I’m going to say it: Jesus is not enough. We were made for relationship with other human beings. We cannot live without one another because we were not meant to, no matter what Western individualism tells us. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at New Brunswick Theological Seminary on the topic of community, something I’ve been thinking a lot about these days. Today’s post is part of what I shared. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

Head to a protest today. I can almost promise you will feel less hopeless. That's exactly what they don't want. There are more of us than there are of them.

Actual helpful advice.

It’s a hard week for Black Gen Xers. We loved us some Diane Keaton. And D’Angelo? No words for how much he shaped the sound of our generation.

👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

That’s crazy. I wonder what happened in January

Every few months I end up writing about rest as a form of resistance. It keeps coming up in daily life. This time I’m drawing on the wisdom of the late Walter Brueggemann. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

What strikes me is how our perceptions of right and wrong are divided by political ideology.

The failure to do this reckoning has dire consequences.

NEW POST! I had an encounter at the pool this week that triggered memories of when I first realized my power of invisibility (it was in seminary). I’ve come a long way since then. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

This current American presidential administration is run by people who are quite obviously mentally ill, and we need to start talking about that.

We are definitely not meant for this. And our nervous systems aren’t meant to be constantly exposed to global trauma, violence, and grief, either.

“Stop killing us.” “We hear you. We’re going to tear down the Confederate statues.” “I mean, that’s long overdue but…” “And we’re also going to elect a bunch of White supremacists and Nazi sympathizers to fight antisemitism.”

NEW: Air Force jets are doing ICE flights to Africa with transponders turned off, making them nearly un-trackable. This includes the third-country removal to Ghana and another secret flight. We figured out where it landed. From me for @rollingstone.com: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

I’ve been grappling with this idea of captivity for a few years now. Strangely, it’s helped me to prioritize my wellbeing. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

I guess if you're a white person it feels this way to think racism is odious. Poor guy he's getting pointed at by the mean people of color who ridicule him for not being racist.

I wrote this about the intensity of a new academic year and then the political chaos of this week magnified it. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

It's simple. They see themselves in him. They do not see themselves in his targets.

I don’t want violence to be the way that we defeat our political enemies. Violence is a self-replicating virus that will eventually destroy its host. This cannot be the way. I will not pretend to mourn him, though. He fed the violence that destroyed him.

In this week’s post, I’m reflecting on two recent reads that inspire creativity, joy, and hope: Alice Walker’s “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire” and @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social “Hope in the Dark.” open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

I know there's a lot going on, but it should be getting more attention that the governor of Illinois just credibly accused Texas of planning to literally invade his state. I unpack how profoundly alarming this is @theunpopulist.net:

Did Big Pharma bankroll Dems in this last campaign? Because the way this admin is going after vaccines and now Tylenol feels vindictive.

To care is the most human of all human gestures. It is a gesture that comes forth from our common need for one another and the grace of compassion that binds us together. - Henri J. M. Nouwen

Americans were having long lifespans & stuff & RFK took issue with that.

White people not rejecting racism is having world destroying consequences and until they do I don’t know what to say or do

The start of a new school year is always fraught, but this one even more. I’m praying for all of us as we navigate the mundane, the extraordinary, and the horrific. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

My heart breaks over the deaths and trauma of these children. It especially breaks because it doesn’t have to be this way.

Black Women will save us! Perhaps, but who will save black women?

I thought y’all said it was just a distraction.

You know what's crazy? There have been no op-eds or editorial statements in major newspapers this year calling on Trump to resign. None calling for his impeachment. None asking if he's medically fit to be in office. Not one in any major newspaper all year.

I deleted the Facebook app from all my devices earlier this year because it seemed to be tracking my location and web searches despite my privacy settings. Turns out that I was right.

Distractions are him picking fights with Rosie O'Donnel. D.C. is a flat-out assault on democracy, and the civil rights of D.C. citizens. It's a dress rehearsal for slowly but surely implementing such fascism across the country.

Is it me or are only non-melanated people referring to what’s happening in DC as a “distraction?” Because some of us know that this is practice. And we know that Black, Brown, and poor people will be harmed, killed, and incarcerated because of it. Don’t belittle that by calling it a distraction.

The gleeful profiteers from Trump’s police state

THEE Jenifer Lewis has a word this morning. Our children are depending on us!

Thou Shalt Redact The Names of Epstein's Victims, Not His Accomplices.

Extroverts really be out here saying whatever pops into their heads, huh?

Just to reiterate: What this administration is doing right now is orders of magnitude more dangerous for academic freedom and free speech than anything the right has spent the last 30 years complaining about.

President Donald Trump continued his Profit-Off-The-Presidency World Tour this week with a stop in Scotland, where he opened a new private golf course. You, dear taxpayer, footed the bill for most of the trip. Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

This is why we need to stop bashing shame, because some folks suffer from an absolute lack of it.

Last weekend I did a 3-day silent mindfulness retreat. It was everything that I didn’t know I needed. I wrote about it for today’s edition of my newsletter. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...

I thought that most of the institutions would go along with authoritarianism because they support some fascism. But I didn't think it would be so fast.