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“For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human.” – 1 Corinthians 15:21

In Jesus’ death something new is being born.  It’s not unlike at the beginning of creation, when out of chaos and deep void came light and new life. At the precipice of ruin, defeat, and fear, Christians claim to come face to face with the possibility of a transformed reality, one in which death is not avoided or escaped. Instead, death is transformed into a life and an existence that confronts the forces of empire and defeats the agents of despair and fear. As Jesus stared into the face of his persecutors and eventual executioners, he entered liminal space where the prospect of transformed new life became not only a possibility, but a reality. 

On Easter, we usually sit with Jesus’ words, his voice that calls to Mary Magdalene, “Woman, why are you weeping?” And yet, this year, my heart is drawn to the disciples, who dare to preach the risen One even though they are surrounded by Rome’s imperial force and brutality. On such intimate terms with death, they also perceive being on the precipice of new life and have the courage to declare, “All will be made alive in Christ.” They experienced what the psalmist described, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” They speak their world not as it is but as it still might be and challenge us to do the same.

“Resurrection of the dead has also come through a human,” Paul writes, but the empty tomb is not the only testament to this new life. God’s intention to transform death into new life flows from every person moved by the Holy Spirit, who lives that we might know the Kingdom not in some distant hereafter but presently and powerfully among us. It is true that humans bring death—too often and too willingly. And still God promises this gathering cloud will not have the final word.

I know this is true, because I see it in this community. I am a witness to resurrection in every student who seeks a life in ministry, committing themselves to the holy work of shepherding God’s people. Our faculty’s scholarship nurtures life, seeding different ways to understand God, our faith, the world, and ourselves. I watch our alums carry this vibrant hope into the world, laboring for the koinonia that is already being born, cultivating communities of justice, compassion, and hope. Yes, I hear the ominous strife, I feel the weight of despair, fear, and loss, but our commitment to the God of life and love and to one another is what will write the future.

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death,” writes Paul, and that work is calling to us and among us. It’s not always flashy. It usually doesn’t make headlines. Like the one who came to his own tomb dressed as a gardener, our goal is not recognition. But determined love shapes our world in its image and reveals the impotence of vengeful power. The stone is rolled away. Death’s hold is broken. God’s will be done. Resurrection endures.

Happy Easter,

President Javier A. Viera

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At 5:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, nearly every household in Puerto Rico lost power, darkening the island as people prepared to celebrate. Routine blackouts have become a regular and much-lamented part of Puerto Rican life since the island’s electrical grid was privatized in 2014 and handed over to the LUMA—a company who has done little to repair the grid after it was decimated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. The rolling blackouts have come to symbolize the local government’s inability to adequately address the needs of residents, as well as the United States’ colonial attitude toward the territory, which—despite Puerto Ricans being made U.S. citizens since 1917 without their consent or consultation—has habitually alternated between neglect and exploitation. At the November gathering of Let’s Talk Globally, President Javier Viera, Hispanic/Latinx Center Director Professor Emma Escobar, and Ph.D. student Adriana Rivera analyzed how that ongoing history still afflicts the island—to help the Garrett community understand what brought us here, and the way to chart a better future.

It’s not just the blackouts. “Puerto Rico pays the highest prices for food anywhere in the world because of laws like the Jones Act,” President Viera explained. While the indigenous Taíno people used to grow enough food to feed the island’s population, Spanish colonists forcibly transitioned all agricultural production toward coffee and sugar production—a monoculture that continued when the U.S. assumed control after the Spanish-American War. Already forced to import more than 80% of its food, the Jones Act required U.S. ships to carry all imports to the island, further increasing food costs.

It may seem odd for a seminary presentation to focus so heavily on economic and legislative policy, but the presenters wanted everyone to draw explicit connections between legislative choices and residents’ ongoing suffering. Further, President Viera pointed out the complicated history of how Protestant Christianity was introduced to the largely Catholic population, and served to advance U.S. economic and political interests and ideologies.  If theology is grounded in concern for the flourishing of God’s people, theologians must identify what inhibits abundant life. “It’s important to use language that describes Puerto Rico as a colony so we can question and push back against its colonial status,” noted Rivera. “We want freedom for all colonized people. If we can bring awareness to what’s happening in Puerto Rico, then we can start talking about Hawaii, Palestine, the Congo—such similar situations across the globe.”

President Viera emphasized that the U.S. has often afforded legal protections to the Puerto Rican people when it benefited U.S. interests, and that federal exploitation has been a tragically bipartisan affair. Even extending citizenship served an imperial function. “Citizenship was imposed on Puerto Ricans in 1917 so they could immediately be drafted to fight in a world war for a country not their own, in a language they didn’t understand, on shores that had nothing to do with their reality—all so that we could fight the U.S.’s war for them,” he explained. “To this day, Puerto Rico has one of the highest rates per capita of participation in the U.S. armed forces.” While the U.S. has been glad to profit from Puerto Rican lives and labor, any act of self-determination has met fierce oppression. “The U.S. effort to quell and eliminate the nationalist independence movement in Puerto Rico was violent from day one,” he noted. “In 1950, the U.S. enacted a brutal military crackdown on nationalists, even bombing the city of Jayuya to destroy where people were organizing for independence—if you travel there today, the town you will see is not the same town that existed in 1950.  Much of it was destroyed by U.S. bombs. Even owning or displaying a Puerto Rican flag was considered an act of defiance against the colonial regime, punishable by 10 years of imprisonment.”

When outright force was insufficient, the United States employed surveillance of the population, organized by the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover, keeping detailed files called “carpetas” on the movements and activities of over 100,000 Puerto Ricans suspected of having independence sympathies.  The U.S. also used economic means to control Puerto Rican self-sufficiency. In the 1940’s the government implemented Operation Bootstrap, which seized farms to convert the island’s economy from agriculture to industrial manufacturing—eliminating nearly 50% of jobs. As a result, millions of Puerto Ricans, like Rivera’s grandparents, were forced to migrate to the mainland to seek work. Depopulation of the island was official government policy.  “Like so many, my grandparents had to come to the States. For them it was the Indiana steel mills,” she shared. “When that mass exodus happened, it left the island more vulnerable for people outside to come and take over.” Indeed, in 1947 the federal government passed the Industrial Incentives Act, eliminating all corporate taxes for businesses on the island, creating a rush for foreign investors to buy land that once belonged to Puerto Ricans.

When outright force was insufficient, the United States employed surveillance of the population, organized by the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover, keeping detailed files called “carpetas” on the movements and activities of over 100,000 Puerto Ricans suspected of having independence sympathies.  The U.S. also used economic means to control Puerto Rican self-sufficiency. In the 1940’s the government implemented Operation Bootstrap, which seized farms to convert the island’s economy from agriculture to industrial manufacturing—eliminating nearly 50% of jobs. As a result, millions of Puerto Ricans, like Rivera’s grandparents, were forced to migrate to the mainland to seek work. Depopulation of the island was official government policy.  “Like so many, my grandparents had to come to the States. For them it was the Indiana steel mills,” she shared. “When that mass exodus happened, it left the island more vulnerable for people outside to come and take over.” Indeed, in 1947 the federal government passed the Industrial Incentives Act, eliminating all corporate taxes for businesses on the island, creating a rush for foreign investors to buy land that once belonged to Puerto Ricans.

All of these actions—from conscription into the army to suppressing nationalism, forced migration, and transfer of governance to private corporations—are mutually reinforcing. “U.S. policy for Puerto Rico has been to build a Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans,” Escobar summarized, echoing independence activist Pedro Albizu Campos’ famous words. “There has been systemic corruption that has prioritized profit over the welfare of the people.” Nor is one political party responsible for this campaign, consistent throughout both Democratic and Republican presidencies. The privatization of the island’s governance, for example, occurred mostly under the Clinton and Obama governments, and it was President Obama who appointed a non-elected Fiscal Control Board that to this day has veto power on all government spending and policies. “Yes, Trump came and insulted us after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, threw paper towels at us,” President Viera observed. “But his history is not any different or worse from the history that came before.”

There is hope, however, in a new generation of social entrepreneurs and activists—informed by the long tradition of Puerto Rican independence struggles and grounded in international solidarity against all forms of colonization. “In the , Teresa Delgado has a chapter called ‘Prophecy Freedom’ that discusses the importance of Puerto Rican women’s literature, how their cuentos and novels proclaim the coming of a new era for the Puerto Rican people—to create a vision for collective freedom, dignity, and justice,” Rivera said. “I also want to return to using Borinquen, the name that the Taíno people used for the island. There’s an indigenous history we cannot lose.” Rivera also noted how artists like Bad Bunny have further strengthened the call for freedom, using the power of their celebrity to call attention to the island’s colonial status, and the possibility for a just and liberatory future.

Indeed, acts of storytelling like Let’s Talk Globally form part of an ongoing effort to re-story a history that has been suppressed. “One of the first things the U.S. did when they invaded Puerto Rico in 1898 was to change the language of education from Spanish to English, and to teach American history instead of Puerto Rican history,” President Viera recounted. “For more than 60 years, Puerto Rican history wasn’t taught in public schools. My parent’s generation, for example, knows almost nothing of this history. That’s beginning change and the stories are being recovered. An awakening is happening that has been a long time in coming.  Resistance to it will be fierce for sure, but a new generation is reclaiming land and identity and as a result the future is full of possibility and promise.”

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The long-standing impact of U.S. imperialism continues to negatively affect the lives of citizens both within and beyond its borders. However, a recent rally for the 45th President serves as a stark reminder of how dangerous unchecked racism can be when it goes unchallenged.

At Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made deeply offensive remarks, referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” He also made harmful comments about Haitian immigrants and used racist language to degrade the Black community. Although the Trump campaign has since distanced itself from these remarks, this incident is far from isolated. We have all witnessed the blatant racism from the former president and his administration, particularly targeting the Latiné community and immigrants.

In response to these remarks, Latiné faculty at Garrett Seminary have shared their reflections, reminding us of our responsibility to act:

Dr. Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology:

“Seen from a Christian faith perspective, three clear themes emerge from the rally:

First, religious language taken from the Christian tradition is used to depict Trump as a salvific, Christ-like figure and Harris as the opposite, as a diabolical anti-Christ.

Second, migrants—particularly migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean—are dehumanized and scapegoated by tactics ranging from jokes to dark warnings about the danger they supposedly pose.

Third, the “salvation” promised by Trump and his spokespersons entails debasing, deporting, and persecuting migrants, whether documented (as implied in the mention of the Alien Enemies Act) or undocumented.

As a follower of Jesus and a theologian, I reject and refuse the misuse of religious imagery to debase people and to justify their mistreatment. I reject and refuse the depiction of any human leader in salvific terms. I reject and refuse the use of God’s name in vain to bless any cruel and dehumanizing project.”

Dr. Débora B. A. Junker, Associate Professor of Critical Pedagogies & Director of the Cátedra Paulo Freire:

“The recent comments at Trump’s political rally mentioning Puerto Rico are a profound affront to human dignity. Dehumanizing words are followed by dehumanizing actions and policies, which shape a society of exclusion, hatred, and oppression that threaten the safety of all. Such narratives attempt to erase the resilience, resistance, history, and flourishing of our Puerto Rican and all Latiné siblings while encouraging division and exclusion. The language we choose matters. It shapes how society treats communities and either reinforces or undermines justice. In the spirit of Freire’s teachings, we must actively counter such rhetoric by building a society that has a commitment to dignity, respect, and care for all people as its foundation. It is only by recognizing every person’s inherent worth and humanity that we can genuinely see freedom, justice, and solidarity thrive. To let dehumanization go unchallenged is to risk the erosion of these very foundations of democracy. This is precisely why such rhetoric must be met with unconditional resistance and rebuke.”

Dr. Rudolph P. Reyes II, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Latinx Studies:

“As Christians, we condemn the vile words spoken at Madison Square Garden. We call on people to become aware of the many forms of oppression and anti-Latiné racism which Latiné people face. This awareness requires us to identify the logic and actions used to dehumanize Puerto Ricans on the island and the mainland. This knowledge helps us better partner with God to bring about the abundant life promised by Christ. We stand in solidarity with our Puerto Rican and Latiné siblings in thought, word, and deed.”

Dr. Emma Arely Escobar, Director of the Hispanic-Latinx Center and Assistant Professor of Faith-Based Organizing:

“While this kind of rhetoric is sadly not new, it is deeply troubling that this country continues to create space for it—and even worse, that a candidate who consistently insults and dehumanizes immigrants could once again rise to power. These statements embolden right-wing, MAGA-aligned individuals to target our communities, underscoring the urgent need to speak out and stand in solidarity with el pueblo. We must organize for change at local, state, and national levels. This is a critical moment: We can either stand with our communities in a Christlike manner or live out an empty gospel.”

Rev. Dr. Javier Viera, President of 91PORN:

 “They said it out loud. Again. What we heard in Madison Square Garden is nothing new. It only confirms what we already know to be true of the standard playbook that characterizes this political ideology and movement.

As Christians, our obligation and calling is to demonstrate how at odds those words are with the message and spirit of the gospel. We have a responsibility to expose the lack of Christian integrity and witness in a movement that uses Christian rhetoric as a weapon and strategy. More importantly, we must ensure that our own communities of faith or conscience reflect the values we espouse, the work to which we believe the gospel calls us. It’s easy to denounce or condemn something. But if our communities and practices are still confined to those who think, look, and believe just like us our condemnation is simply more bluster in an already cacophonous world. If we believe Puerto Ricans are more than what was said of them in New York, if we believe that Latiné peoples are crucial to the thriving of our communities, we have to ask ourselves where their concerns, their priorities, their ongoing colonization are present in our own lives. As Christians, we must demonstrate our beliefs with actions—in the voting booths, on school boards, in hiring practices, in friendships and relationships, and in our economic choices. Our rhetoric must be seen and not just heard.”

We invite the Garrett community and society to learn about the complex history and relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. Below are resources to help you begin this journey. Additionally, we encourage you to participate in Think Globally: Puerto Rico on November 19 at 12 p.m. More information to follow.

To gain a better understanding of the relationship between the USA and Latin American countries:

Latiné Faculty at
91PORN

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“Rather than attempting to ‘convert’ the Ethiopian to his way of being, his culture, his assumptions, Philip recognizes God already at work and present in the life of the Ethiopian.” President Javier Viera spoke these words in a two-day Bible Study he delivered at the Dong Bu Annual Conference of the Korean Methodist Church in South Korea. While there, he also led a Garrett delegation to explore partnership with churches and theological institutions in the country.  “Both the Ethiopian and Philip experienced conversion that day,” he continued, as he outlined mutuality and reciprocity as essential qualities for ethical mission work. It was a fitting theme for a trip seeking to build upon a historic relationship while simultaneously opening fresh horizons.

Joined by colleagues including the Reverend Dr. AHyun Lee, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Psychotherapy, and The Reverend Scott Ostlund, Garrett’s Vice President for Enrollment Management, the group traveled with Bishop Hee-Soo Jung and members of the Wisconsin Conference—who have been cultivating relationship with the Dong Bu Annual Conference for more than twenty years. Ties with Garrett run deep, too—the earliest students from Korea graduated in the 1930s, and the conference concluded with the hymn “Call’d of God, We Honor the Call,” written by Dr. Ho-un Lee in 1950 while he studied as a master’s student at Garrett. Despite this longstanding history, however, there was a palpable sense that they arrived at the beginning of a new chapter for the Korean Methodist Church.

“The Korean church, much like its U.S. counterpart, is going through a crisis of legitimacy, particularly with younger generations who have tended to see it as spiritually disengaged from the reality of the Korean people,” Viera explains. “Younger generations are wanting much more engagement, particularly on issues of justice.” This broader context swirled around his comments about missiology. Reflecting on how we can faithfully bring the gospel into new communities, an underlying truth emerges for both countries: If the Church is going to flourish in this still-fresh century, it will need to change. Fortunately, there are myriad lessons our countries can offer one another.

Dr. Lee provided translation for President Viera’s address, but their collaboration in this important moment went deeper. “She helped me understand the needs and context of the Korean Methodist Church,” Viera shares. “and a whole generation of Korean clergy who are pushing the church to embody a different spirit and way of operating.” One of the issues Dr. Lee discussed concerns how patriarchy shapes both church and country. “I got ordained as a very young woman in Korea,” she says. “It was always a fight, to be able to offer communion, give sermons or lead worship like my colleagues did.” She left to study in the United States, in part, because it offered her a different opportunity to live into her call. Returning twenty years later, she says it’s still a struggle. “Changing gender roles won’t be easy without changing the full structure,” she names. “And there’s still too few women in leadership.”

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By Javier Viera

What does it mean to proclaim life in death-dealing times? That’s the question that plagues my mind in the middle of what has felt like a relentless Good Friday year. One does not need to look deep within the headlines for evidence of the cross, but talking resurrection can feel escapist at best—at worst a dismissal of such widespread suffering. How can we speak of empty tombs in the presence of so many fresh ones? And yet, I remain convicted that it is precisely in the moment when crucifixion seeks to consume our vision that celebrating Easter is most important.

I’m still thinking about Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas’ lecture this February, “,” where she said, “Contrary to the emphasis of the Nicene Creed, the cross signifies not to Jesus’ death, but to his life.” In a similar fashion, the empty tomb does not direct our gaze toward some far-off utopian future, but to Jesus’ living. It is the messy particularities of his work that create the circumstances for life to triumph over death—not an otherworldly intervention.

Jesus’ ministry took place squarely in the midst of death-dealing forces. From the brutal occupation of Roman rule to the fundamental precarity and hardship of the poverty that defined his and his followers’ lives, even basic survival was not guaranteed. Consider one of most famous gospel stories: Jesus calling Peter and Andrew, James and John from their jobs as fishermen. Too often, this is portrayed as the disciples leaving behind steady and lucrative work to follow Christ. The truth, however, is that because of oppressive Roman taxation, fishermen often barely made enough to feed their families. Jesus’ call to leave their nets behind is an invitation to life beyond systems that strangle it.

When we say, “Christ is risen!” we are affirming God’s power to transform crucifying realities into chances for collective flourishing. It’s power that’s alive in events like Garrett’s collaboration this month with the Evanston NAACP, to educate our community about the evil of environmental racism so we can build a world beyond that violence. Faith gives us the confidence to confront the forces that fracture God’s people and use our collective shards to assemble a stained-glass future that reflects the glory of God’s love.

So Happy Easter, Garrett family. I hope in your celebrations today that you experience of a moment of beauty that helps you feel the abundant life we were created to share. Speak and live resurrection into the world, not as a refutation of the pain that surrounds us but in promise that it is squarely within that suffering that God promises to find and call us out. The tomb is empty, the stone has been rolled away, and God beckons for us to follow.

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91PORN President Javier A. Viera was awarded the 2023 Trailblazer of Education award from the Evanston/North Shore National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at its 59th annual Freedom Fund Banquet on November 18.

“We are deeply proud of Javier’s commitment to the Garrett community, the city of Evanston, and all things social justice,” said the Reverend Dr. Michael C. R. Nabors, president of the Evanston/North Shore NAACP.

“I’m deeply honored to be recognized in this way by an organization with such a long and distinguished history in the Evanston area,” said President Viera. “This recognition is truly a way of recognizing the transformative work that Garrett’s faculty and staff make possible each and every day, and I’m fortunate and proud to be able to accept it on their behalf.”

The Evanston/North Shore NAACP selects one individual annually to receive this award, and goes to an educator who “exemplifies the major attributes of an outstanding educator, including—but not limited to—the leadership, empathy, collaboration, innovation, open communication, and problem solving.” Awardees are typically educators from one of the area’s local school systems, colleges, or universities who have made significant contributions in their fields.

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