This Black, Beloved Child

Why Dr. Terence Lester's Book is so Important

I just finished reading Dr. Terence Lester’s All God’s Children: How Confronting Buried History Can Build Racial Solidarity, and for all the great things that it is, one facet of the book I want to commend is the unqualified belief in and modeling of human dignity that Lester holds.

The subtitle implicates the goal of his book, but you’d be remiss to chalk it up as another hot history take whose main aim is to exaggerate the victimization of Black people in America. And, while I can already see the parking lot of folks who will arrive at such wild conclusions, I hope (and envision!) the rest of us will walk away with the inspiration we need to “make a life.” That is, to live from and for love in order to inhibit the real, evil social pressures presently inflicted upon Black and unhoused communities.

Lester intertwines his history of activism and pastoral ministry to exhort the readers to internalize the truth that we can all be about the Christ-life, we can all pursue “proximate” relationships with those we are “inattenionally blind” to and to those whom this country has categorized as people whose suffering was self-inflicted.

Lester recounts when he was unintentionally homeless and the countless times over the last decade he chose to live unhoused. Why? Because, (and it’s unfortunate it’s not way easier than this, though I believe there are conditions we can create to make the burden of love lighter to carry), it takes us a while to experience the suffering of another as meaningful to us. In order for us to trust and understand one’s pain, we must walk in it, and once we make the choice to… Lord Almighty… Lester has shown us we can never shrink back into our ignorance and ways of belittling the beloved children of God.

Neglect of the poor is almost inherent within the DNA of every American-born person spoon-fed the “bright side” of capitalism and intentionally unreflective of its historical and present power to shape our false narratives about the houseless and Black people.

I don’t want to give the nuggets of this book away because you should preorder it here and digest it for yourself. But, if you pay attention and cling to what Dr. Lester is writing, you’ll be rejuvenated with clarity as to how the apprehension of the gospel of Jesus can transform us into those with the joyful power to create the Beloved Community, though this is not easily brought about.

Once we learn to admire the image of God in every person and to embrace all the confrontation that entails, the fruit of our lives will be that of genuine, racial solidarity. Heck, you might even start to reclaim the Beloved inheritance of “Child” that is spoken over your life when you read it like This Beloved, Black Child did.

Thank you for this work and your life, Dr. Lester.