81 Quotes by Austin Channing Brown

The death of hope begins in fury, ferocious as a wildfire. It feels uncontrollable, disastrous at first, as if it will destroy everything in the vicinity - but in the midst of the fury, I am forced to find my center. What is left when hope is gone? What is left when the source of my hope has failed? Each death of hope has been painful and costly. But in the mourning there always rises a new clarity about the world, about the Church, about myself, about God.

I am not a priest for the white soul.

I determine to offer a challenge toward transformation. For most confessions, this is as simple as asking, "So what are you going to do differently?" The question lifts the weight off my shoulders and forces the person to move forward, resisting the easy comfort of having spoken the confession. The person could, of course, dissolve into excuses, but at that point the weight of that decision belongs to them, not to me.

We don't talk about white drug dealers this way. We don't even talk about white murderers this way. Somehow, we manage to think of them as people first, who just happened to do something bad. but the same respect is rarely afforded to Black folks. We must always earn the right to live. Perfection is demanded of Blackness before mercy or grace or justice can even be considered. I refuse to live this way.

They will first think you are beautiful, innocent - and you will be. But as your baby fat disappears and your height comes to match ours, they will start to see you as dangerous - but we will be here to refute the lies. We will be here to remind you that you are worthy of joy and love and adventure.

Black women were bearing the brunt of these stories as white attenders sought relief from guilt over the ways they had participated in racism. None of them seemed to consider how their confessions affected the people hearing them.

I don't know what to do with what I've learned," she said. "I can't fix your pain, and I can't take it away, but I can see it. And I can work for the rest of my life to make sure your children don't have to experience the pain of racism."And then she said nine words that I've never forgotten: "Doing nothing is no longer an option for me.

I fell in love with a Jesus who saw the poor and sick and hurting, a Jesus who had bigger plans for me than keeping me a virgin, a Jesus who loved and reveled in our Blackness.

I am trying to clarify what it's like to exist in a Black body in an organization that doesn't understand it is not only Christian but also white. But instead of offering empathy and action, whiteness finds new names for me and offers ominous advice. I am too sensitive, and should be careful with what I report. I am too angry, and should watch my tone when I talk about my experiences. I am too inflexible, and should learn to offer more grace to people who are really trying. It's exhausting.