princeton
GRITtv: Jacqueline Lewis: Remembering Peter Gomes
Any preacher will tell you that you learn something about their heart and soul in the sermons they preach. I am a preacher, so I can tell you this is the truth. On a warm and wonderful May Saturday in 1992, Dr. Peter Gomes preached my Princeton Theological seminary commencement, and we learned something about his heart and soul. Although Dr. Gomes had come out to his Harvard colleagues in 1991, he came out publicly just before accepting the invitation to be our commencement speaker. Our president opposed gay ordination, but did not rescind the invitation. So as the press, our community and the Church listened in, Gomes playfully broke the tension: "I know that my being here today is the cause of no small consternation for some of you," Gomes began. "After all, I am... (dramatic pause) black... and I am... (dramatic pause)... Baptist... and I am (dramatic pause)... from Harvard!" We howled with laughter. What I remember even more is the way my eyes filled with tears when I heard something this great preacher said near the end of his sermon, called "Lions and Doors." Reflecting on the story of a man named Daniel, who was thrown into a lions' den for being faithful, whose life was spared. “The moral is not ‘be good and God will save you from Lions. NO, the moral is God is good and if you believe that and remember that you can face the lions, even the church lion, even for lunch and even if they eat you up (which they did not in this case). God is still Good and because of that, so are you. God is still good, and so are you. Dr. Gomes’ heart and soul knew that the goodness of God means all of God’s people, no matter race or ethnicity, no matter gender or sexual orientation, no matter their station in life are GOOD. How dare we treat them as otherwise. Preach it Dr. Gomes. We will miss you! Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: Melissa Harris-Lacewell: Countering Election Spin
"We need to be covering the left as much as we cover, with anxiety, the right," notes Nation contributor and Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell. The lack of coverage of progressive movements, protests, and actions in the face of a loud, angry and well-funded right wing can be disheartening, but we know they are out there, and in some cases fighting hard to keep a Tea Party backed Republican party from taking back seats in Congress during the midterms. Melissa joins us in studio to discuss the upcoming elections, the media message, and what progressives can do to fight back.
GRITtv: Katrina vanden Heuvel & Melissa Harris-Lacewell: The Year of the Woman?
The victories of Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman in California, Sharron Angle in Nevada, and Nikki Haley in South Carolina in last week's primaries are being hailed as a victory for women. Yet do conservative, anti-government women's candidacies spell gains for women nationwide? Or will the cuts they threaten to make to government programs hurt more women than their candidacies help? To kick off our new Monday collaboration with The Nation magazine, we are joined in studio by editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel and columnist Melissa Harris-Lacewell, who break down the election results, the real history of these faux populists, and also report back on a Nation investigation in New Orleans that has led to indictments.
GRITtv: Melissa Harris-Lacewell: Identity Politics Problems
Melissa Harris-Lacewell of The Nation explains that when people buck the narrative of identity politics, they are immediately credited with being "independent thinkers."
GRITtv: Melissa Harris-Lacewell: Citizenship is a Long-Term Game
In the wake of what some called the worst week for democracy since Bush v. Gore, with the Democrats seeming to give up after losing one Senate seat and the Supreme Court allowing unlimited corporate influence on elections, we turn to Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Princeton professor, Nation contributor, and author of "Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought," for some clarification -- and consolation. Harris-Lacewell offers some thoughts on why it's lazy and dangerous to refer to political opponents as crazy, on the way the health care reform process has provided a valuable civics lesson, and how political campaigns are beholden to money.
GRITtv: Is it Fair to Compare Haiti to New Orleans?
The comparisons between the earthquake in Haiti and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans have come fast and furious, but often from people who've watched both disasters through the clean-cut white lens of Anderson Cooper broadcasts. Meanwhile, people in Haiti -- and those in the Gulf Coast still struggling four years later -- need more than blame and comparisons. They need real solutions. To offer some, we ask Monika Kalra Varma, director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Princeton professor, Nation contributor, and author of "Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought," and James Perry, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center and candidate for mayor of New Orleans.
