hard truths

i know he meant well.

he is a good neighbor.

he cares and keeps a watchful eye.

we live in a racially diverse neighborhood.

we exist in vastly different worlds.

he came over with a question about

missionaries,

with a magazine story about a Pastor in Kintampo,

in Ghana

that needs a new truck.

he wants to help.

in that moment i did not have the heart

to teach him of the troubles

missionaries have wrought throughout

Africa—

sent there

to disguise the real terror of the strange white men

that came and plundered and raped

and colonized all in the name of the white Jesus.

they came with a new magic,

with Bibles and machines and guns that mesmerized

black minds and terrorized

black bodies as things slowly fell apart—

visitors became

Masters

while Africans became subjugated,

became impoverished

and left looking to the people they think

look like that picture of Jesus

to save them.

hard truths

invite hard conversations.

©2021