A Sacred Storm

Christopher Michael Jones shares the parallel wisdom learned from the worlds of hip hop and church: the good news of “Can’t stop, won’t stop” preached by hip hop in the ashes of Reagan-era turbulence, and the good news of God’s faithfulness to teach resilience in the wake of radical disruption.

"I was pulled back to a time when black youth and young adults like Biggie and I expressed our creative genius through a cultural movement that arose out of the ashes of poverty: hip hop. To us, hip hop was the church. The MC was the preacher. The DJ was the worship host. The B-Boys, breakdancers, and pop-lockers were the liturgical dancers. The journalists and graffiti artists were the scribes. The concert arena was a sanctuary. The bodies who danced to rhythmic anthems of classics like “La Di Da Di,” “Oh, My God!,” “I Know You Got Soul,” and “Fight the Power” were its members."