Davenport’s Rich Hendricks appointed to worldwide MCC board: Rev. Rich Hendricks, pastor of Davenport’s MCC of the Quad Cities, is among eight people appointed to be elders with the worldwide MCC denomination. Hendricks is among 14 people in seven countries who applied for the elder positions, wrote Cynthia Eggleston, moderator of MCC. Eggleston chose the elders based on their experience, spiritual perspective, and “current efforts to make MCC more racially equitable, diverse and inclusive.” He and the other seven elders will “offer spiritual and pastoral supoprt and leadership” to MCC churches, pastors and people. The MCC denomination was founded 56 years ago, originally to provide a welcoming place for LGBTQ+ Christians to worship. Now with more than 220 churches in 37 countries, it focuses overall on “inclusion, community, justice and spiritual transformation,” its website says. Hendricks, a former lawyer, helped found One Human Family QCA and QC Unity Pride in the Quad Cities. He recently received the LGBTQ Legacy award from dsm magazine.
Tyson presses for cannabis prisoners’ release: Former boxing star Mike Tyson is pressing President Joe Biden to pardon more than 2,000 people imprisoned for cannabis-related offenses, the vast majority of which are People of Color, reports The Guardian. In a letter he is delivering to Biden today, Tyson questioned why people were doing “murderers’ time” for trafficking a “mild medicine” The Guardian reports that 24 states now have legalized recreational cannabis, yet 2,000 federal prisoners and 30,000 state-level prisoners remain incarcerated for non-violent cannabis-related offenses. The vast majority are People of Color, according to States Reform Act.
Chicago is sinking: A new study that identifies “subsurface heat islands” beneath the city of Chicago suggest the inland city will soon be facing the same challenge as metropolises along shorelines, of gradually sinking into the water. Financial Times reports that “garages, basements, tunnels and underground transportation systems emit heat into the ground and in a dense area such as the Loop,” causing the ground to expand and contract. The city has already sunk four inches over the last century, FT reports.
Divisible redlining documentary to premier March 1 in Omaha: A groundbreaking documentary that explains “redlining” — lending practices that segregate People of Color — will premiere at the Omaha Film Festival March 1. “Divisible” helps explain redlining by looking at Omaha itself, a popular relocation spot for Blacks leaving the South in the late 1800s, and a city documented to have been shaped through redlining for the first half of the 20th century. The film will debut at 5:45 p.m. Fri., March 1.
“Mental health exceptions” receiving greater focus in abortion policy debates: More states are being asked to look at whether threats posed to the potential mother’s mental health are grounds for exceptions to abortion bans, reports PBS. Iowa is among at least 10 states that do not allow mental health conditions to be considered regarding exceptions to bans on abortions of fetuses older than 20 weeks. States where lawsuits are pressing bans to consider mental health exceptions include Missouri and Alabama. learn more here.
(cover photo features Rich Hendricks courtesy of MCC, “Divisible” documentary cover, and Chicago’s Marina City Towers courtesy of Ken Lund through Wikimedia Commons)
