We Are At War

race and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I write to you with the weight of the watchman on the wall. The prophet Ezekiel was given a charge: “If the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned… his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” (Ezekiel 33:6). Beloved, I am sounding the trumpet. I will not be silent, and I will not be still.

On April 29, 2026, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Louisiana v. Callais. By a vote of 6 to 3, the Court struck down a Louisiana congressional map that had been drawn — under court order — to give Black voters a fair opportunity to elect representatives of their choice. In doing so, the Court did not merely rule on a single map in a single state. It gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — the last remaining pillar of the law that the blood of the martyrs purchased.

An Op-Ed for the Faith Community and All Who Love Democracy

They Have Stolen Our Vote. Now They Have Stolen Our Voice. The Faith Community Must Rise.

On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States dealt a devastating blow to the heart of American democracy. In Louisiana v. Callais, the Court's six conservative justices effectively dismantled what remained of the Voting Rights Act of 1965—the law for which our ancestors bled, marched, and died on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Tears flowed and applause resounded as the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference marked its first-ever leadership transition at the annual gathering in Chicago Feb. 23.

There are moments in a nation’s life when the question is no longer where are we headed? But who decided this was the direction?

Today, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC), a leading faith-based justice organization serving Black churches and communities nationwide, announced that Rev. Damien Durr will assume leadership as General Secretary, effective December 1, 2025. Rev. Dr. Iva E. Carruthers, who has served with distinction as founding General Secretary and trustee, will become general secretary emerita. As trustee, she will focus on strengthening strategic partnerships and increasing philanthropy.

Lift Every Voice and Sing – 2025 SDPC Conference Closing Worship

At the closing of the Monday morning worship service—the final day of the 2025 Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference—attendees were led in a powerful and spirit-filled rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing.

This year’s conference theme is both a summons and a safeguard. Sacred Fire is the divine imperative to sustain the flame of faith, justice and people power in the face of escalating threats to Black life and liberation.

SDPC General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Iva Carruthers speaks on the sacredness of African humanity in the face of artificial intelligence, especially the collection and de-aggregation of data. She asks that we (in the diaspora) embody an Afrofuturist Imagination. One where humanity is defined through a lens of African spirituality and notions of “the Divine.” at the Fourth Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) at the UN on April 16, 2025.

The Dr. David D. Daniels III Scholarship and Fellowship Fund establishes a sustainable legacy fund (endowment) to support students’ matriculation in their commitments to ministry as they engage in religious and theological study and research in the tradition of Dr. David Daniels. As a global Christian Historian, his interdisciplinary scholarship, as well as his humility and servant leadership as minister and mentor, has left a legendary path for others to build upon and emulate.