Drick Boyd's Blog
Shame on You Governor DeSantis!
On Monday, January 23, just one week after commemorating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that his administration would not allow public schools in his state to offer the Advanced Placement course in African...
Against the Grain: Talking with White People about Racism in a Time of Polarization
On January 9, I spoke at the First Monday program of Pendle Hill Quaker Study Center on the topic of "Against the Grain: Talking with White People About Racism in a time of Polarization." A YouTube recording of that presentation and the discussion that followed can be...
Did We Save Democracy?
According to many of the political ads put forth by Democrats in the recent midterm elections “democracy was on the ballot.” There were legitimate concerns on the part of many Americans, Democrat and otherwise, that if extreme conservative Republicans came to power,...
Doug Mastriano and Me
Who is Doug Mastriano? Doug Mastriano is the Republican candidate for governor in my state of Pennsylvania. The local and national media, plus the two major political parties, see the elections in Pennsylvania for governor and the U.S Senate as keys to the MAGA...
The Law-and-Order Hypocrisy
Across the country, Republicans have decided to make “Law-and-Order” an issue they are pushing in the upcoming mid-term elections. In Pennsylvania and states across the country, Republican candidates are making the claim that their Democratic opponents are “soft and...
Three Types of Justice
There are different types of justice that are practiced in the United States: one justice for the super-wealthy and power, another justice for the average American citizen, and finally, a justice for the poor and racially marginalized.
Victor Orban, Christian Racism, and Jesus
Victor Orban at the CPAC Meeting Earlier this month, Hungarian President Victor Orban was the featured speaker at a meeting of CPAC – The Conservative Political Action Coalition – whose website claims to be “the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives...
Joni and the Piano Man
As I sat in the Chicago O’Hare Airport awaiting my flight back to Philadelphia, I heard a faint lyrical sound over the din and chaos of the crowded terminal. I picked up my bags and I walked toward the sound. As I got closer, I could tell it was the sound of a piano,...
Is The United States Moving Toward Civil War?
Ever since January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters spurred on by the former president, invaded the U. S. Capitol building to prevent the Senate confirmation of the 2020 presidential election, many Americans have wondered if the United States could be on the verge of a...
Why Every American Should Read The 1619 Project
How could a book about history create such an uproar? Most Americans are oblivious to history, and rarely celebrate it except on Memorial Day, July 4 and Veterans Day. Actually, only a small fraction focus on the history while the rest of us enjoy a day off from work...
Buffalo, Los Angeles, Uvalde and the Pro-Life Movement
In the course of the last ten days, we have witnessed mass shootings in a Buffalo grocery store, a Taiwanese church in Los Angles, and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. At last count 32 people have been killed, several wounded, and hundreds traumatized by the...
American Oligarchs
What is an Oligarch? Like many others, I have been gripped night after night by the evening news reporting the latest attacks and devastation being inflicted on the people of Ukraine by the Russian military. I am supportive of the efforts by the nations of NATO to...
A Pacifist Response to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
A Sermon Before Desert Storm In January 1991, I was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Winona, MN. Early in that month President George H.W. Bush announced that the U.S. military would be deployed to the country of Kuwait, which had been invaded by Iraq, its...
An Open Letter to Rep. Liz Cheney
NOTE: Below is a letter I am sending to Rep. Liz Cheney (R- WY) who was recently censured by the Republican party for serving on the House of Representative Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building with a particular focus on the...
Selma Now and Then
In June 2013 I visited Selma, Alabama as part of a Civil Right Rights bus tour organized by Dr. Todd Allen of Messiah University. Our tour guide on that portion of the trip was Joanne Bland. Joanne was 14 years old when the famous confrontation on the Edmund Pettus...