Drick Boyd's Blog
Paulo Freire on the Relationship between Colleges and the Community
These days colleges and universities have come under increased scrutiny and criticism for (1) not adequately preparing students for employment upon graduation, and (2) for being too expensive for the average person to afford. So the question has been raised and...
Donald Trump, Howard Beale and “Network” Revisited
Last night I decided to watch the 1976 award winning film “Network”starring Peter Finch as the crazed, mad-prophet newscaster Howard Beale. Both Finch and Faye Dunaway won Academy Awards in 1976, as did the screenplay. The movie begins with Howard Beale being...
The Power of Poetry #2: Headlong
About 18 months ago, a friend introduced me to the poetry of Mary Oliver. As often happens when one is introduced to something new, all of a sudden you seem to see it at every turn. For instance when we bought a red Prius, all of a sudden we seemed to see a...
The Power of Poetry #1 – Rilke’s “Neighbors”
Over the last year and a half I have begun to appreciate the power of poetry, the ability of words to create images, capture feelings, speak deep truths that go beyond the rational to the emotional and spiritual. Mostly I have been reading Ranier Marie Rilke, Mary...
Confession of a Recovering Racist
[On January 29, 2016, I spoke before a gathering of students, staff and faculty at Eastern University, speaking on the topic “White Allies for Racial Justice”. The following is an excerpt from that presentation in which I discuss why I call myself a...
Beyond the Burning Bus – A Review and Reflection
In the process of researching and writing my book, White Allies in the Struggle for Racial Justice, I came across several stories that I was not able to include but where worth honorable mention. One such story is contained in the book Beyond the Burning Bus: The...
Donald Trump and the Evangelicals
In 1978 I entered an Evangelical seminary in the New England area. I chose to go there over other options because its New Testament department was reputed to be one of the best in the area, and in addition the school had a vibrant urban ministry program. Though I...
A Reflection for Would-be White Allies on the King Holiday
This Martin Luther King Jr Day remembrance, at the urging of anti-racist activist Ewuare Osayande I have re-read portions of Dr. King’s 1967 book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community. Written two years after Selma and the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights...
Tamir Rice and Institutional Racism
Yesterday, it was reported that the grand jury examining the shooting of 12 year old Tamir Rice chose not to indict the officer who shot the boy. There is a clear pattern: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Brandon Tate-Brown, Sandra Bland and...
Christmas Greeting – A Year of Transitions
Christmas 2015 Dear Friends, This past year has been a year of transition for the Boyd clan. Perhaps the most significant transition occurred in July when Cynthia retired after 21 years at Family and Community Service of Delaware County where she had been a social...
After San Bernadino, Take a Look in the Mirror
What do the following incidents have in common? Dec 14, 2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT, lone shooter, 20 year white male kills 26 people (20 children & six adults) with a gun purchased legally by the shooter’s mother June 17, 2015 – Emmanuel AME...
Advent Meditation: Choosing the Darkness
“Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again” (‘Sounds of Silence,’ Simon and Garfunkel) Advent began this past Sunday, November 29. Traditionally Advent is a time of waiting and longing for the coming of Christ both in his birth, and in the...
Not Quite Harper Lee
Go Set a Watchmanis Harper Lee’s recently released hidden and forgotten novel. While it is the sequel to her 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird, it was actually written before Mockingbird, but was not accepted for publication. Instead Lee was urged to...
Excerpt – White Allies for Racial Justice
Yesterday, I received a shipment of my forthcoming book, White Allies in the Struggle for Racial Justice. This book is the product of nearly four years of love and labor, as I researched and then wrote the stories of 18 White Americans who joined people of color in...
What Susan G. Komen Can Teach the Gun Violence Prevention Movement
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.” (Source Unknown) When I heard of the tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg last week, my first response was sadness, followed quickly be a sense of resignation That...