KTF Weekly Newsletter: Einstein’s Anti-Racism, Commodifying Sorrow, No-Knock Warrants
Hi everybody!
Guess who’s back!!! That’s right: Suzie, the founder and fearless leader has returned! Expect to hear more from her – not just in these newsletters – but on the bonus podcast episodes and maybe in an article or two in the weeks to come. We are so very happy to have her here again, and we will start with her highlights this week.
Suzie’s recommendations:
In 2013, an anonymous letter outlining a nefarious plot to “Islamize” local schools in Birmingham, England mysteriously turned up on the desk of a local city councilor. Mayhem ensued. The national media sensationalized the letter and the fallout reshaped education and counter-terrorism policy across the UK. Subsequent investigations destroyed the careers and reputations of several local Muslim educators, and the web of oppressive surveillance of Muslims crafted in response persists to this day. So does the mystery of who actually wrote the letter and why. That is, until a British Muslim doctor-turned-journalism-student and an award-winning investigative reporter teamed up to try to crack the case. The resulting eight-part New York Times podcast series, The Trojan Horse Affair, is a striking portrayal of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that Islamophobia operates. It also evolves into an examination of positionality and the privilege of “dispassionate” reporting. Christ teaches us that we are to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” and understanding the nuances of how bigotry functions in the world is vital to following that teaching.
For most people, “civil rights advocate” is probably not a description that immediately comes to mind when reflecting on the life and legacy of Albert Einstein. However, this conversation between renowned physicist S. James Gates and award-winning American broadcaster Krista Tippett illuminates the vivid empathy that animated both Einstein’s scientific inquiry and his ardent anti-racism. The interview is an excerpt from Tippett’s original conversation with Gates on her classic podcast series, On Being. It’s part of a newer series, Becoming Wise, that curates thought-provoking six or seven-minute segments from On Being’s rich archive to infuse your day with a small snippet of wisdom and insight.
Sy’s recommendations:
The terms and conditions of many apps and websites that we accept without reading have found their way into some of our most intimate and vulnerable moments. I recently ran across this article explaining that popular Christian websites collect data from prayers and prayer requests to sell. The culprits include Rupert Murdoch’s Bible Gateway and the Peter-Thiel-backed Hallow. A couple days later, I came across another article, this time talking about companies collecting and selling data from, and this is actually true, suicide hotlines. I should make clear that this is not the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, whose phone and text numbers are often mentioned at the end of news stories. These are tech start-ups designed to help people coping with mental health crises via text and apps. Selfishness and greed truly have no boundaries, and we need to be discerning about what technology we’re using and recommending to others.
The live action reboot movement of Disney movies has set its sights on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The difference between the time of the original movie and now is that little people are much louder and well-organized. This segment from WNYC’s The Takeaway is an interview of Rebecca Cokley, a former Obama administration official who runs the Ford Foundation’s disability programming in the US. She discusses the dwarfism community’s complicated, often degrading relationship with Hollywood and Disney’s sudden change of tune on the Snow White reboot following comments by Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage. She also tells a couple of her own stories of the condescension and objectification she faces in public as a little person, which are consistently among the most flagrantly demeaning stories I hear from any disabled people. There is a lot of perspective and knowledge to gain from listening to this woman and the community she represents. She’s also a great Twitter follow.
Jonathan’s recommendations:
The Minneapolis Police Department is in the news again for killing a Black man. Amir Locke was sleeping on his sofa when the MPD executed a no-knock warrant. The Washington Post reports that Locke was not named in the warrant, and was legally armed. The deadly encounter lasted only ten seconds. This is the same workaround to the Fourth Amendment that killed Breonna Taylor in Louisville and Mario Sanabria in New York City. Followers of Jesus must never accept preventable death as normal. We must not become desensitized to the prevalence of police brutality. God came that we might have life. May we pray and work for a legal system that holds to its own ideals.
Dr. Russell Jeung makes an exquisite case for what Asian American Christians have to offer to the Kingdom. In this introductory essay to a series of essays called Asian American Gifts to the Church, Dr. Jeung does the wonderful work of affirming the ethnic identity of all people while casting a profound vision of his own people’s unique contributions. And this is what all Christians leaving colonized faith must master. We must be able to take pride in our own ethnic identity and cultural heritage that is centered on our uniqueness in the family of Jesus, not our position over and against another group. I am grateful for his leadership and witness and look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
The (entire) KTF team