I know I am Mexican-American because of my hands. My hands are brown like café con leche. My hands are soft like a fleece cobija. My hands are smooth like a Cumbia rhythm. I explain my hands with a blend of English and Español, Mexican and American culture, because I am a living blend. This is [...]Read More
Mexican-American Hands: Why I am doing El Camino
In a few short weeks, CCDA practitioners will begin a 150 mile walking pilgrimage at the border of Mexico and California––El Camino del Inmigrante––to share in solidarity with immigrants who are migrating across the world. Pilgrimages are an opportunity for the re-orienting of oneself––not only [...]Read More
Managing Disappointment through Friendship and Self-Care
You know what’s hard? Loving people. And since love is really the heart of justice, that’s even more exhausting, because it means reciprocal connection, unearthing all our baggage in relationship (accidentally or intentionally), and walking in the ways of Jesus. I’m getting tired just writing that [...]Read More
A Chinese-American Immigrant’s Story
In 2012, I sat down with my grandmother for a rare conversation. Growing up biracial, I was always eager to learn about the Chinese side of my family, and I usually turned to my mother for the stories of her parents’ immigration from China to the United States. On this particular occasion, my [...]Read More
InnerChange LA Seeking the Peace of the City
InnerChange has been in central Los Angeles for many years, before it became trendy to move here. Our work is centered in the Westlake/Pico Union neighborhood of LA, a very dense neighborhood home to many recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America. InnerChange practitioners begin their [...]Read More
The Beautiful Struggle of CCD Ministry in NW Pasadena
“CCDA raised me,” Florence Annang responded quickly when asked how she got involved in CCD ministry. Florence was first introduced to CCDA through Dr. John Perkins, when she began working with him at Harambee Ministries in Pasadena, CA. Through her work at Harambee, Florence recognized the [...]Read More
Payday Lending for What It Is: A Matter of Morality and Economic Justice
Rent is due a day from now. Your bank account is low, and you worry about bouncing another check. Figuring out how to get the rent paid is all you can think about. Meanwhile, an ad flashes on TV: Hundred dollar bills waving and the announcer promising cash right away with a payday loan. A solution! [...]Read More
Civic Engagement CCDA Style
Voting … it seems we are talking about it all the time right now. We understand it as a treasured right of freedom, hard won over the generations. In the book of Isaiah we are taught to “learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” [...]Read More