Chanequa Walker-Barnes
Psychologist, theologian, wellness activist, recovering StrongBlackWoman. I write about spirituality, wellness, & justice.
- At least 3 US citizens have been killed by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement over the past month: Keith Porter, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti. ICE didn’t even exist until 2003. It was created supposedly to make Americans feel safe from terrorists in the wake of 9/11. It is now executing Americans.
- Call your senators this week and tell them to defund ICE. You can use the 5 Calls app to identify your senators and get their contact information. There’s even a script for you to follow. Call them whether they are Republican or Democrat. 5calls.org/issue/dhs-bu...
- Last month I did a talk about White racial identity and moral injury. Several White people in the audience responded by talking about love. It was puzzling, but it wasn’t the first time. It made me wonder: what magical power do White people think their love has? open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- I had great dreams of writing a new Advent reflection on joy this week. But it’s the end of the semester and my creative energy is waning. So I’ve decided to be gracious toward myself and repost last year’s reflection, with some added practice suggestions. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- It’s been a few months since I’ve released a guided meditation. Today’s is inspired by the theme of peace in the 2nd week of Advent. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- These days I often struggle with hope. It’s a good thing that Advent begins with hope in the midst of darkness. In today’s post, I’m taking up hope as a spiritual practice, training my eyes to see it. Because it’s all around us if we pay attention. substack.com/@drchanequa/...
- When I started this series, I had not planned on focusing on the church. But it turns out that a lot of my favorite writing is about my own spiritual journey. Earlier this year, I wrote this creed in the midst of a debate about the term “woke.” open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- “In the end, the Democrats blinked. Or, at least, just enough centrists, soon-to-be retirees and at-risk politicians in the Senate to give Republicans the support needed to reopen the government.” www.bbc.com/news/article...
- During and after my years in seminary, I agonized over where God was calling me to be. I kept trying to find the promised land, the place where I fit, where life was full of calm. I thought that was the goal of the spiritual journey. I found peace when I accepted my place in the wilderness.
- In celebration of my birth month, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite essays all month long. I wrote this one 8 years ago, trying to make sense of why I hadn’t returned to church after what was supposed to be a six-week break during Lent. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- Last week I wrote about how we are made for community. This week I’m thinking about how the church fails to embody community more often than not. Read the post at drchanequa.substack.com/p/when-the-c...
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- Who knows the secret to getting off these DNC fundraising lists? And what does the way they sell (and resell) donor info tell us about how they govern?
- Call me a heretic but I’m going to say it: Jesus is not enough. We were made for relationship with other human beings. We cannot live without one another because we were not meant to, no matter what Western individualism tells us. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at New Brunswick Theological Seminary on the topic of community, something I’ve been thinking a lot about these days. Today’s post is part of what I shared. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- Reposted by Chanequa Walker-BarnesHead to a protest today. I can almost promise you will feel less hopeless. That's exactly what they don't want. There are more of us than there are of them.
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- It’s a hard week for Black Gen Xers. We loved us some Diane Keaton. And D’Angelo? No words for how much he shaped the sound of our generation.
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- Reposted by Chanequa Walker-BarnesThat’s crazy. I wonder what happened in January
- Every few months I end up writing about rest as a form of resistance. It keeps coming up in daily life. This time I’m drawing on the wisdom of the late Walter Brueggemann. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- What strikes me is how our perceptions of right and wrong are divided by political ideology.
- The failure to do this reckoning has dire consequences.
- NEW POST! I had an encounter at the pool this week that triggered memories of when I first realized my power of invisibility (it was in seminary). I’ve come a long way since then. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- Reposted by Chanequa Walker-BarnesThis current American presidential administration is run by people who are quite obviously mentally ill, and we need to start talking about that.
- We are definitely not meant for this. And our nervous systems aren’t meant to be constantly exposed to global trauma, violence, and grief, either.
- “Stop killing us.” “We hear you. We’re going to tear down the Confederate statues.” “I mean, that’s long overdue but…” “And we’re also going to elect a bunch of White supremacists and Nazi sympathizers to fight antisemitism.”
- Reposted by Chanequa Walker-BarnesNEW: Air Force jets are doing ICE flights to Africa with transponders turned off, making them nearly un-trackable. This includes the third-country removal to Ghana and another secret flight. We figured out where it landed. From me for @rollingstone.com: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
- I’ve been grappling with this idea of captivity for a few years now. Strangely, it’s helped me to prioritize my wellbeing. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
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- I wrote this about the intensity of a new academic year and then the political chaos of this week magnified it. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
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- I don’t want violence to be the way that we defeat our political enemies. Violence is a self-replicating virus that will eventually destroy its host. This cannot be the way. I will not pretend to mourn him, though. He fed the violence that destroyed him.
- In this week’s post, I’m reflecting on two recent reads that inspire creativity, joy, and hope: Alice Walker’s “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire” and @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social “Hope in the Dark.” open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
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- Did Big Pharma bankroll Dems in this last campaign? Because the way this admin is going after vaccines and now Tylenol feels vindictive.
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- The start of a new school year is always fraught, but this one even more. I’m praying for all of us as we navigate the mundane, the extraordinary, and the horrific. open.substack.com/pub/drchaneq...
- My heart breaks over the deaths and trauma of these children. It especially breaks because it doesn’t have to be this way.
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- I thought y’all said it was just a distraction.
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- I deleted the Facebook app from all my devices earlier this year because it seemed to be tracking my location and web searches despite my privacy settings. Turns out that I was right.
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- Is it me or are only non-melanated people referring to what’s happening in DC as a “distraction?” Because some of us know that this is practice. And we know that Black, Brown, and poor people will be harmed, killed, and incarcerated because of it. Don’t belittle that by calling it a distraction.
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- THEE Jenifer Lewis has a word this morning. Our children are depending on us!
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- Extroverts really be out here saying whatever pops into their heads, huh?
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- This is why we need to stop bashing shame, because some folks suffer from an absolute lack of it.
