Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenberg

May 13, 2024 | blackcatholicmessenger.org | Nathaniel Tinner |Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenberg

Rawn Harbor, the internationally known Black Catholic liturgist and composer, will lead a music clinic in Texas this summer sponsored by the Roderick J. Bell Institute for African American Sacred Music. The two-day event, scheduled for June 7-8 in Houston, comes just ahead of the Archbishop Lyke Conference in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which will take place June 18-22 and also features Harbor as a presenter.

Feb 18, 2024 | blackcatholicmessenger.org | Samantha Smith |Nathaniel Tinner |Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenberg

If you love Bob Marley’s music and his messages of unity, love, and freedom, “Bob Marley: One Love” is a must-see out now in theaters. The new feature film is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, whose previous work includes “Monsters and Men” and “King Richard.”The movie follows Marley’s life from 1976 to 1978, a time that includes the height of his fame. Already a popular artist, Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) plans a unity concert to help stop violence in Jamaica between opposing political leaders.

Jan 19, 2024 | blackcatholicmessenger.org | Nathaniel Tinner |Samantha Smith |Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenberg

Reviews — Movies — History — Slavery — Racism — Poverty — Black women — Acting — Afro-Latinx — International Ava DuVernay’s latest swings for the fences to bring a new angle to Black American history, but comes up short with a middling plot and unclear direction. Ava DuVernay’s new film “Origin,” based on the bestselling 2020 book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” from Isabel Wilkerson, has a lot of things going for it.

Jan 12, 2024 | blackcatholicmessenger.org | Samantha M. Smith |Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenberg |Nathaniel Tinner

Looking for a smart movie that balances laughs with empathy? Make a plan to see “American Fiction” in theaters. The film follows Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), a struggling author fed up with profitable books depicting offensive African-American stereotypes. These frustrations are inflamed by a successful novel, “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto,” by Sintara Golden (Issa Rae).

Dec 12, 2023 | blackcatholicmessenger.com | Nathaniel Tinner |Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenberg

I behold the intentionality and omniscience of God. Although I had been glancing at a particular book’s beautiful purple and gold cover sitting on my desk for a few weeks, I was consumed by responsibilities of academic work and family life and therefore unable to fully immerse myself in its reading.