I make grits on weekend mornings. As a vegan, I try to make organic grits and I have them with soy-sausage or scrambled tofu rather than the corned beef hash, scrambled tofu or fried liver on which I was raised. Eating grits on the weekends reminds me of leisurely family breakfasts with my parents, talking…
I have a confession: I like soap operas. Not all, but a couple. I’ve been following their story lines for years. At the end of almost every weekday, I indulge myself by watching the day’s episode online. It seems like a perfect mindless wasy to unwind. I jokingly tell friends, “Whatever’s going on in my…
I find comfort in those two tones that indicate that an episode of a “Law and Order” franchise is coming on. I don’t mind watching reruns because I’ve usually forgotten the outcome. I feel the same way about the “CSI” franchises and the television show “House.” This might be my personal television vice, but I…
“What does it mean to be a human being?” This is one of those questions I heard in the opening lecture to the required philosophy class in college. It was the kind of thing that made me not like philosophy. I wasn’t interested in hearing historical and contemporary postulations about something that could not really…
For decades I’ve heard Barbra Streisand’s voice crooning out words I know to be true: “People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world.” Of course, I think that people needing people aren’t just lucky; they’re human. I think we all need other people. We all need community. Religious folk like to call…
In the summer of 2002, I was a graduate student in religion who was tired of reading theology. In search of summer fiction, I walked into a large bookstore and stumbled into a book that hit closer to home than I ever could have imagined. There it was in the main display: Unholy Ghost: Writers on…
Growing up in the Sunday school programs of black churches and in Catholic elementary school, I was taught that although there were many disciples, but there were only twelve apostles. That is, there were many people who followed Jesus, but there were only twelve men who Jesus handpicked to preach the gospel. These were…
My father was a student of history and ensured that I would be as well. More specifically, he was a student of African American history. I knew who Mary McLeod Bethune and George Washington Carver were before I went to first grade. I read Carter G. Woodson’s The Miseducation of the Negro in the…
I like the way the gospel of John talks about the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ farewell to his disciples (John 14-17), he talks about a Spirit – a Comforter – that will come to bring peace to the disciples after his death. I like how Jesus knows that his departure will…
when we put the gospel to hip hop and host u2charists, when we share the church building with the Korean congregation, when we preach against homophobia when we break bread with jews and muslims, when the teenagers lead worship on a regular Sunday (not just youth day) when we invoke the ancestors and learn from…
Dr. Monica A. Coleman is an award-winning scholar, writer, and minister dedicated to the intersections of faith, social justice, and transformation. Through speaking, consulting, and writing, she empowers individuals and organizations to navigate change with purpose and integrity.
Copyright © 2025 Inner Prizes Inc. | Privacy Policy
Site Design by Happily Hafsa