Trafficking in Andrew Tate, Black Women at Work, Iran’s “Pink Card”
KTF Weekly Newsletter
Hey everybody!
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” so we pray that you are making peace wherever you are reading this message. Our resources this week highlight people, places, and conditions where peace has not yet come so we pray and work for that peace to be present and palpable, especially among the most vulnerable.
And with that, on to our resources for this week! Also, don’t forget to follow, forward, and share with someone who can benefit from a free subscription!
Suzie’s recommendations:
The prosperity gospel is a prominent feature of modern-day American Christianity, but rarely do we stop to ask where this understanding of Scripture came from. How did the Jesus of the Bible; who preached that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God; become the poster child for name-it-and-claim-it health, wealth, and happiness? This Throughline episode addresses that question by tracing the intellectual history of this pervasive theological strain. The show’s careful research includes interviews with premier scholars like Duke Divinity School’s Kate Bowler, author of Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, and UPenn Professor and author of White Evangelical Racism, Anthea Butler. The content is challenging, enlightening, and nourishing food for thought for those of us who seek to follow Jesus of Nazareth and not the White American Jesus of capitalism and consumption.
While many of us were amused by Greta Thunberg’s epic takedown of Andrew Tate on Twitter a couple of weeks ago, what was horrifying (and sadly, unsurprising) was Tate’s subsequent arrest on allegations of human trafficking and rape. What is even more tragic is that Tate’s self-styled brand of blatant misogyny and violence against women has gone viral. This recent Vox interview asks what is so appealing about Tate and explores the current state of the “manosphere,” which describes predominately male online spaces. On a slightly encouraging note, it also offers up a potential antidote to this latest manifestation of toxic masculinity. Big shocker here: it’s real-life relationships with positive male role models.
Black women said for years that they are overlooked, undermined, overworked, and under-paid in the job market and this joint study by McKinsey and LeanIn.org gives us the receipts. The report attests that, “Black women leaders are more ambitious than other women at their level: 59 percent of Black women leaders want to be top executives, compared to 49 percent of women leaders overall. But they are also more likely than women leaders of other races and ethnicities to receive signals that it will be harder for them to advance. Compared to other women at their level, Black women leaders are more likely to have colleagues question their competence and to be subjected to demeaning behavior—and one in three Black women leaders says they’ve been denied or passed over for opportunities because of personal characteristics, including their race and gender.” On the flip side, the report also finds that Black women have learned to create new opportunities where barriers exist, representing the “fastest growing demographic group of entrepreneurs in the U.S.,” albeit with less access to capital. But Black women shouldn’t have to work twice as hard, hide their emotions lest they be labeled the “angry Black woman,” or play to the double standards of exceptionalism to be valued, fairly compensated, elevated, seen, and heard. What this report clearly demonstrates is what Black women have known all along: the system is rigged against them, and it’s not their job to fix it.
Jonathan’s recommendations:
Last year, over 190 countries committed to preserving 30% of the land and sea to halt the unprecedented biodiversity loss due to human exploitation of land and resources, constant expansion into territories once uninhabited by people, and a stubborn unwillingness to live differently. “Consider the Burying Beetle. (Or Else.)" from The Daily explains how cases of mass extinction expose the fact that living like everything exists to be consumed for our decadence and comfort is antithetical to the flourishing of creation. God has called us to be stewards, not consumers, and may we take the small steps necessary to live into that distinction. Listening and being informed is the first step.
At the center of the unrest in Iran are brave women who resist an oppressive regime in the face of violence, torture, and execution. ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcasts production, “Pink Card,” captures the fight for women’s rights through their defiance of a ban on women attending soccer matches in the national stadium, Azadi. Major international conflicts can feel far away and inaccessible. But this podcast series — following three generations of Iranian women and their creative, fervent refusal to accept their suppression — gives us a window into what these women’s daily lives, and thus, their broader experience, is like. It is stories like these that help us honor the image of God in people we may never meet in person; shake off harmful stereotypes; and leverage our privileges, positions, and resources to intercede and seek justice on their behalf.
In a previous KTF newsletter, I highlighted Deion Sanders and his work at Jackson State as documented by 60 Minutes. I think it’s worth mentioning this week that Sanders left that post to work in one of the Power Five college football conferences at the University of Colorado. This piece from The Hilltop, our country’s oldest Black collegiate newspaper, expounds on this event. What I focused on before was the intent of Sanders’ work and life in Jackson and the impact it was having, along with the tension Black Americans feel when pulled between wealth and prestige and a responsibility to our community. This piece does the same because Sanders’ exit will be devastating to the Jackson State football program, the athletes pledged to be involved, and HBCU sports in general.
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
The KTF team