Yarl and Gillis, Ramadan in Guantanamo, White People Work

KTF Weekly Newsletter

Hi all,

If you haven’t listened to “Citizens” by Jon Guerra, we highly recommend it. Not just because it’s the theme song for our podcast, but because its lyrics are especially appropriate during Eastertide. It reflects that we hold the resurrection of Jesus in one hand and the fact that his kingdom has not fully come in the other.  We find the answer in Christ while we also need more assurance. We know it is finished and “need to know there is justice.” The Cross reminds us of what Jesus died for while the empty grave reminds us of where we can put our hope:  to paraphrase Guerra, the city where one day we will arrive as immigrants, but God will call us citizens and welcome us as children home. May it be so.

And with that, here are this week’s highlights.

Jonathan’s Recommendations:

• The family of an Atlanta man named Lashawn Thompson says that an infestation of bed bugs and other insects caused Thompson’s death in a psychiatric ward prison cell. This interview (video and transcript available) with his siblings and their lawyer on Democracy Now details his arrest for a misdemeanor, the chronic neglect that led to his demise, and the subsequent resignations of several prison officials. He died alone in a jail where last year  at least ten other inmates died. Less than two weeks after Easter we must remind ourselves that Jesus was a prisoner, and so were many of the Apostles. Our prison system is home to vulnerable people made in the image of God worthy of opportunities to flourish, work, steward, and create just like those of us on the outside. Lord have mercy on the Thompson Family and bring comfort to all those this tragedy traumatized.