Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chanequa Walker-Barnes

@drchanequa.bsky.social

6.9K followers 590 following 510 posts

Psychologist, theologian, wellness activist, recovering StrongBlackWoman. I write about spirituality, wellness, & justice.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · Nov 20

Allow me to introduce myself.

I AM...
...a clinical psychologist, theologian, seminary professor, and multi book author;
...an intersectional justice advocate and wellness activist;
...an unapologetic womanist, feminist, and stan for Black women;
...a two-time breast cancer survivor;

4 120

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 3d

The failure to do this reckoning has dire consequences.

Arif "Felonious Munk" Shahid @feloniousmunk.blacksky.app · 3d

I never get blocked as much as on the days i point out the every single thing that is happening now is something that multiple people from multiple spheres of life/influence said would happen. People's refusal to ask themselves "why didn't i believe them?" is preventing progress.

Blac Eve @eveshabazz.bsky.social · 3d

The police funding discussion was laughed at… “what do you mean DEFUND the police?”.

Funding levels have skyrocketed to support the activities we see right now.

Now it’s “…but nobody knew it would be this bad…”

Yeah, WE knew!

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 3d

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...

I Am Not Invisible

Invisibility can be a superpower, but only if we get to choose it.

open.substack.com

1 5

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 7d

This current American presidential administration is run by people who are quite obviously mentally ill, and we need to start talking about that.

1.6K 7.8K 31K

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 6d

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.

Nathan Daniel Hernandez @natedhernandez.bsky.social · 6d

I don't think people were meant to hear the opinions of hundreds of strangers within a few scrolls and swipes

4 10

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 12d

My 17yo son and his friends went to see it at the theatre AFTER it was already out on Netflix. And they never go to the movies!

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 15d

“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.”

a woman wearing hoop earrings is sitting in the back seat of a car .

ALT: a woman wearing hoop earrings is sitting in the back seat of a car .

media.tenor.com

1 4

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Gillian Brockell @gbrockell.bsky.social · 17d

NEW: 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...

ICE Is Deporting People to Africa on Nearly Un-Trackable Military Flights

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is deporting people to African countries like Ghana on military flights that are nearly un-trackable.

www.rollingstone.com

420 6.6K 11K

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 17d

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...

Contending with Captivity

My people were never meant to be free, but since when has that stopped our joy?

open.substack.com

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 22d

I was also a McNair Scholar. I doubt that I would have gotten into grad school without it. It demystified the process, gave me the research experience that I needed (at the CDC, in fact), and was my first conference presentation.

1 1 4

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 24d

I guess if you're a white person it feels this way to think racism is odious. Poor guy he's getting pointed at by the mean people of color who ridicule him for not being racist.

Alexander Williams @floatinginwaves.bsky.social · 24d

How it feels to still believe racism is both morally odious and politically disqualifying.

4 4 18

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 24d

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...

Be Like Water

Starting the school year with a new intention to keep me from being carried away by chaos

open.substack.com

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 25d

Yes indeed

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 27d

It's simple. They see themselves in him. They do not see themselves in his targets.

33 1.3K 5.5K

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · 27d

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.

16 35 240

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · Sep 8

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...

Listening for God, Reading for Hope

Two books from my summer reading have affirmed my prayer life and nurtured my hope

open.substack.com

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · Sep 5

I know there's a lot going on, but it should be getting more attention that the governor of Illinois just credibly accused Texas of planning to literally invade his state.

I unpack how profoundly alarming this is @theunpopulist.net:

Trump’s Leaked Plan to Deploy the Texas National Guard Against Illinois Will Tear Apart the Union

If it goes forward, it will plunge the country into an unprecedented constitutional crisis

www.theunpopulist.net

34 420 1.1K

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · Sep 5

Did Big Pharma bankroll Dems in this last campaign? Because the way this admin is going after vaccines and now Tylenol feels vindictive.

1 3

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Diana Butler Bass @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social · Sep 3

To care is the most human of all human gestures. It is a gesture that comes forth from our common need for one another and the grace of compassion that binds us together.

- Henri J. M. Nouwen

1 21 110

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · Sep 4

Americans were having long lifespans & stuff & RFK took issue with that.

6 51 250

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

🇬🇾🗽Sydette The Dreaded Gorgon🗽🇬🇾 @blackamazon.bsky.social · Aug 31

White people not rejecting racism is having world destroying consequences and until they do I don’t know what to say or do

Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · Aug 31

Bleak:

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Populist Right-Wing Parties Lead Polls in Europe’s Biggest Economies

For the first time, far-right parties are leading in the U.K., France and Germany, the latest sign of growing voter discontent across the continent.

www.wsj.com

2 46 120

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · Aug 28

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...

A Prayer for a New Academic Year

As this school year begins under political upheaval and violence, I offer this prayer for faculty, staff, students, and academic institutions.

open.substack.com

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · Aug 27

My heart breaks over the deaths and trauma of these children. It especially breaks because it doesn’t have to be this way.

NBC News @nbcnews.com · Aug 27

BREAKING: Two children are dead and multiple people are injured after a shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school and church, Minneapolis Police Chief says.

The shooter died of a self-inflicted wound.

Live updates: Active shooter at Minneapolis church and Catholic school

Follow Minneapolis Police Department confirmed an active shooter allegedly opened fire at Annunciation Church on Wednesday morning.

nbcnews.to

2 8

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Anne 🩵🩷🤍 [נעמי יעל] @tranniehathaway.bsky.social · Aug 27

Black Women will save us!

Perhaps, but who will save black women?

Mikki Kendall @karnythia.bsky.social · Aug 26

The part no one is saying is that a lot of people are very comfortable with the idea of sacrificing Black women to protect themselves. People got so mad when we did #NotYourMammy after #solidarityisforwhitewomen, but society does not see Black women as people, so much as shields and tools.

Cate Young @ninjacate.blacksky.app · Aug 26

completely unrelated and not an accusation, but I really wish people would stop making black women the "face" of the revolution. we are not your saviors, and the increased visibility just puts us at risk when we're already so vulnerable. stop waiting on us to lead. figure it out.

2 16 60

Chanequa Walker-Barnes @drchanequa.bsky.social · Aug 23

I thought y’all said it was just a distraction.

ANTIFASCIST 615 @615antifascist.bsky.social · Aug 23

DC police are now harrasssing people on metro bus stops. This is Fascism.

3 20 53

Reposted by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · Aug 23

You know what's crazy? There have been no op-eds or editorial statements in major newspapers this year calling on Trump to resign. None calling for his impeachment. None asking if he's medically fit to be in office. Not one in any major newspaper all year.

150 1.8K 5.7K