The Reverend Irene Monroe

Obama has “barack the vote” by getting disinterested and disenfranchised Americans involved in his campaign for the presidential bid. His promise to cease partisan politics and the old beltway boys’ bickering has not only raised the hope of the American public, it has also brought out untold numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer…

Obama knows the political power the black bible-thumping church plays in every major election, which is why he has gotten into this triangulation with LGBTQ voters and black Christian conservatives. H. Alexander Robinson, CEO of National Black Justice Coalition, said that Obama is “too inexperienced at playing at his level. He’s stubborn and he refuses…

The current issue is always free to everyone Many people working for justice today stand on the shoulders of Martin Luther King Jr., but I believe King’s vision of justice is often gravely limited and misunderstood. Too many people thought then, and continue to think, that King’s statements regarding justice were only about race and…

According to the American Cancer Society, every three minutes, a woman in the U.S is diagnosed with breast cancer. It is the most common cancer among women, and about 178,480 women will have been found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007. Because of the disparity in health care, African American women are more likely…

The current issue is always free to everyone Are these statistics overwhelming?! But so, too, is the failure of leadership African Americans have faced since the epidemic began. And no group of women is as affected by the failure of leadership in this country than women of African descent. American women and their struggle against…

As I prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of the autumnal harvest time’s spiritual significance. As a time of connectedness, I pause to acknowledge what I have to be thankful for. But I also reflect on the holiday as a time of remembrance – historical and familial. Historically, I am reminded that for…

The current issue is always free to everyone Is the Episcopal Church’s impeding schism really about the theological rift that sprung up after the consecration of its first openly gay bishop, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire? Or, is the brouhaha really about a church in battle with itself about how to be…

The current issue is always free to everyone It was intended to be an unprecedented example of how Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s grassroots political campaign could win over just as many religious conservatives as Republicans can. Instead, it has run afoul with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer supporters, as well as others, who…

The current issue is always free to everyone Since President Bush took office, religion has been the litmus test to discern a presidential candidate’s electability. And in the current pool of 2008 presidential hopefuls, this litmus test has produced a star-studded cast of Democratic prophets, extolling their religiosity as well as Republican religious bigots, promulgating…