The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2023   Harry Belafonte died on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at the full age of 96 years in his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, reportedly (from his longtime spokesperson, Ken Sunshine) due to congestive heart failure. As befitting someone of his celebrity as a performing artist (thespian, Caribbean folk singer, motion picture actor, and highly paid artist), and activist for human rights, Belafonte’s death was a leading news story the day he died, made the front page of most major US newspapers the following day, and prompted memories of his long and influential life. I prefer to remember Harry Belafonte as a prophet for our time. That does not mean I disagree with the fame he achieved as a performing artist. I enjoyed hearing him sing and seeing him act. But Harry Belafonte was always for me an unflinching prophet for social justice. Not only did he befriend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Belafonte supported King’s ministry, co...

  ©Wendell Griffen           On March 31, 2023, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Lucretia Clemons issued a 39-page ruling that denied Mumia Abu Jamal’s latest attempt to obtain a fair evidentiary hearing related to his 1982 conviction for murder in the 1981 death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Judge Clemons ruled that Abu Jamal’s accusation that the District Attorney used peremptory challenges to strike Black persons from the jury in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal constitution and contrary to the 1986 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in Batson v. Kentucky is time-barred, meaning that it was raised too late for consideration and relief. Judge Clemons also ruled that even if she were to grant Abu-Jamal’s contention that the District Attorney’s office violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process by failing – for thirty-six years – to disclose exculpatory...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2023 This week followers of Jesus will observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday rituals. This week adherents of Judaism are preparing for Passover. Hence, we speak of this week as “Holy Week.” Meanwhile, followers of Islam are observing daily fasts during the month of Ramadan. Those monotheistic religious movements have been dominant across Europe, much of Asia, and the Western Hemisphere for thousands of years. Across that long span of time, countless people have found meaning for their lives and been inspired, encouraged, and challenged by these religions to live with compassion, justice, peace, and valor. However, that is not the whole history. Sadly, many wars have been waged by societies where these religious systems are practiced. Crusades, pogroms, inquisitions, and genocidal wars against so-called “infidels” in the name of one religion or another account for much of the misery that people and the creation have suffered across the world. In the nam...