Yale and Slavery, Pardoning Police, Boycotting for Lent

Plus, university antisemitism panels publish unserious reports

Hey Everybody!

Phew! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling how much I need Jesus recently. I need him to be grounded and peaceful. I need him to be able to stand strong against what feels like a swiftly rising tide around so many vulnerable communities. If that’s you too, then join me on Zoom tomorrow at noon Eastern to pray for God’s love, justice, and wisdom this political season. We’ll be with others who also long for strength and courage in this time. See you there!

Worth your attention this week:

- Josh Johnson on the Super Bowl Halftime Show

- Kahlil Greene and Yale’s Ties to Slavery

- The poor scholarship of university antisemitism panels

- Pardoned police officers back on the force

- Staying grounded with Pastor Erina Kim-Eubanks’ boycotts for Lent

- Our next live recording of Shake the Dust

- And paid subscribers, register for our monthly Zoom call!

Josh Johnson on the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Josh Johnson is a comedian and Daily Show correspondent. He manufactures quality stand-up sets at the speed of podcast episodes, allowing him to talk more about current events than almost anyone else in comedy. There has been an enormous amount of commentary on the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, with its political messaging, the verbal assault of embattled rapper Drake, and cameos by Samuel L. Jackson and Serena Williams. But if you need something that makes you laugh hysterically and think deeply about the reach and limits of art when it comes to resisting systems of oppression, then you will love this 45 minutes. The jokes about Tom Brady, Taylor Swift, and the values that are supposed to (but don’t) bind us together were a dose of medicine I didn’t know I needed.

- Watch Josh Johnson on the Super Bowl

Kahlil Greene and Yale’s Ties to Slavery

Kahlil Greene

, known to people on TikTok as “Gen Z Historian,” shows us how historical education can be accessible in the 21st century. He also has a Substack, and an excellent, recent post details the links between slavery and Greene’s alma mater, Yale. the university’s history includes prominent figures like Elihu Yale, Eli Whitney, and John C. Calhoun, who connect the institution to exploitation and violence. However, Yale-affiliated abolitionists also fought to free and settle the kidnapped African people who successfully rebelled aboard the Amistad. Many American families and institutions share this complex and sordid history. It's important to interrogate our pasts and learn from them so we can seek justice on behalf of one another and empathize with those suffering the generational effects of white supremacy.

- Read Greene’s post about Yale

The Poor Scholarship of University Antisemitism Panels

Columbia University’s

Peter Beinart

stands out as a leading voice on Israel’s war on Palestine. He has delivered impeccable writing and thorough research on the subject for years. Recently, Beinart wrote about the committees convened to study antisemitism at universities across the country since October 7, 2023. He laments that much of the scholarship consists of ideology thinly veiled as academic work. He critically examines the committees’ reports from Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington, and UCLA. He notes that none of the committees had an expert studying Israel and Palestine, even though preeminent scholars in the field work at all these schools (the head of the Penn committee is a dentist). But those preeminent scholars’ opinions would have contradicted the narratives that these reports, the administrations, and donors aim to promote. Like Beinart, we must clearly communicate the importance of educating ourselves and others diligently. Without this effort, misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies can shape our reality and harm vulnerable populations.

- Read Professor Beinart’s analysis

Police Officers Convicted of Murder and a Cover-Up Rejoin the Force

President Trump pardoned two D.C. police officers, Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky in January. The two have rejoined the Metropolitan Police Department. A jury convicted Sutton of second-degree murder for killing 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown by chasing him at a high speed in an unmarked car. The alleged violation was that Hylton-Brown was not wearing a helmet while driving his scooter. Both officers received obstruction of justice convictions for conspiring to cover up what happened. The officers turned off their body cameras, denied a chase took place, and falsely stated Hylton-Brown was drunk. They concocted this story instead of calling for emergency medical care, and they did not preserve the crime scene. The expectation is they will get backpay minus their time served on suspension. Zabavsky will likely immediately retire with full benefits. Sutton will probably take a back-office role. Hylton-Brown’s mother begged President Trump not to issue the pardons. Trump ignored her, and misidentified her son as an undocumented immigrant. Hylton-Brown’s daughter was an infant when Sutton murdered him. We pray for peace for his mother, provision for his daughter, and the justice and reconciliation that God can bring to pass.

- Read about Hylton-Brown’s case

Staying Grounded with Pastor Erina Kim-Eubank and Boycotts for Lent

Pastor

Erina Kim-Eubanks

is a voice we need in this moment. Her invitation to boycott and divest from empire for Lent is exactly the Christ-centered resistance that must take root in our hearts to connect our relationship with God to the patterns and practices of our days. If a Lenten boycott sounds strange or vague to you, Pastor Eubanks provides spiritual grounding for the practice and plenty of practical suggestions for different levels of commitment. The piece is a needle and compass pointing us toward the kingdom of God. I hope you join the boycott!

- Read about boycotts for Lent

Join Our Next Live Podcast Recording!

On Tuesday, March 18 at noon Eastern,

Sy Hoekstra

and I will be recording our monthly episode of Shake the Dust live. We’ll be talking about what is and isn’t possible to accomplish via politics in light of what we believe as followers of Jesus. What can we expect to change? What is inevitable? And what do we do about everything in between? It’s going to be a great conversation, and you’ll be notified when it starts if you’re on our free or paid list.

Join Our Monthly Zoom Call