Drick Boyd's Blog
Do Not Obey In Advance
Insights from Historian Timothy Snyder In 2017, during the first term of President Donald Trump, historian Timothy Snyder published a little book entitled On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Snyder’s specialty area is the history of Nazi Germany,...
What Now? Looking Into the Fog
Right now, all we see is a dense fog, but behind that fog is a future. We can’t give up.
Gay Pride and My Process of Transformation
The love of God includes acceptance of all people, as they are, with no boundaries to love. Given the ongoing struggle so many queer folks experience, I choose not to look away, but to join in their struggle
White Supremacy and White Fragility
These are difficult times that cause us sadness and fear. But we can’t stay there. Working with others, we need to find a way to channel our anger and our hopes for a just society and not allow the current administration to continue in their evil ways.
Paulo Freire in the Trumpian Chaos
On Friday, April 25, my friend and colleague James Kirylo and I made a presentation at the American Education Research Association (AERA) annual conference in Denver, Colorado. Our goal was to draw a parallel between the circumstances that led to Paulo Freire being...
What is God Doing?
Saved by God for a Purpose? On March 4 President Trump delivered his annual “State of Union” speech to Congress in which he highlighted all the things he had already done since taking office on January 20: the DOGE cuts, instituting tariffs, his interest in gaining...
Dispersing the Fog
Rufus Jones, a Quaker mystic and philosopher, tells the story of being on a boat trip in the midst a thick fog. He writes: The range of visibility was extremely short. The ship crept along cautiously, feeling its way and sounding the foghorn at frequent intervals. The...
What Would Tony Do?
Last Saturday, January 25, I had the honor of attending the Celebration of Life for Dr. Tony Campolo. Tony died two months earlier on November 19, 2024, and the family had its own private funeral. This event, officiated by Tony’s son Bart Campolo, was for the...
Meeting Physical Force with Soul Force
During the last year, I have been working on a book entitled Mystic Activists in which I explore and discuss how our spiritual practices such as prayer, contemplation, worship, and the like are absolutely essential to our work for social justice, specifically racial...
Which Season Are We Entering?
Happy 2025! What does this new year promise for us? In an essay entitled “The Seasons of God,” African American mystic and pastor Howard Thurman quotes 17th-century French Catholic leader and theologian Francois Fenelon who wrote: “Time bears a very different aspect...
Thank You, Kamala
Dear Kamala, I want to thank you for the campaign you ran with fierceness, grace, and joy. I have been one of your supporters going back to the Democratic primary in 2020. I was so glad when you were nominated as the vice-presidential candidate and then ascended to...
What I Have Learned While Campaigning for Kamala Harris
A New Year’s Resolution Like many people, at the beginning of 2024 I made New Years resolutions. One of those resolutions was to do all that I could to make sure Donald Trump is not re-elected to the presidency. Since then, I have donated money to the campaign first...
What We Learn From the Venezuelan Election
“The Last Time You’ll Have to Vote” On July 27 of this year, Donald Trump was the key speaker at a gathering of evangelical Christians. At one point in his speech, he urged his audience to vote in the upcoming election: "Get out and vote! Just this time. You won't...
A White Dude for Harris: Let’s Talk Immigration
In late July there was series of mega-Zoom calls following the announcement that Kamala Harris was taking Joe Biden’s place as the Democratic presidential candidate. First, 40,000 joined on a call of Black Women for Kamala Harris. A couple days later there were...
My Birthday Reflection
On Wednesday, July 24, I turned 71. A few years ago, when Cynthia and I were in our late 60s, we noted that being 60-something did not seem so old, but being 70-something – now that sounded old! Until now I haven’t used senior parking spaces at the supermarket, but I...