Bishop Talbert Swan

Pastor l Prelate l Activist l Author l Radio Host l Chaplain ΙΦΘ l NAACP President l FB/IG/TikTok @talbertswan l #TruthIsNotHate

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

He darn sure wasn’t white

[MAGA LIFE @pifivemaga]

@TalbertSwan Jesus wasn't black.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

https://t.co/lkWKHKwCbS

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

The Spoken Word with Bishop Talbert Swan https://t.co/AwsrFf4Kd6

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

The kewnery of Brandon Tatum and his ilk is exhausting! https://t.co/lkWKHKwCbS

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

Another day. Another racist death threat via voicemail.

A triggered white man called my church and declared, “Time to toe tag a n*gger preacher who doesn’t know a f*cking thing about Jesus.”

Let’s be clear about what that means. A toe tag is placed on a corpse in the morgue. This wasn’t political disagreement. This wasn’t theological debate. It was a death threat.

Why was he offended?

I posted a depiction of Jesus as a Black man.

The same people who lecture everyone about “Christian love,” “religious liberty,” and “ending hate” are often the first to resort to racist slurs and violent threats when their mythology is challenged. If your faith is so fragile that a picture of a dark-skinned Jesus drives you to threaten murder, the problem isn’t the picture, it’s the wickedness in your heart.

I’ve reported this threat to the FBI. The current administration has repeatedly said it will vigorously investigate threats against churches and violations of religious liberty. We’ll see whether those promises apply when the target is a Black pastor and the person making the threat is one of their own.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear:

I will not be intimidated. I will not be silenced. I will not stop preaching the Gospel. And I certainly will not stop exposing the sickness of racism that continues to masquerade as Christianity.

Jesus wasn’t threatened because He preached comfort. He was threatened because He challenged the system.

Some things never change.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

Nothing triggers white supremacists like posting a picture of Black Jesus! https://t.co/ZGJtDBydi4

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

The same people who insist America was founded on “Christian values” will call a Black church, scream the N-word into a voicemail, blaspheme the name of Jesus with profanity, and then go to church on Sunday acting like they’re carrying the cross. They’re not carrying a cross. They’re carrying white supremacy wrapped in a Bible.

Back in April, I publicly exposed William Nicholas Palmer after he called my church and left a racist, hate-filled voicemail because I posted an image depicting Jesus as Black. I tagged the FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation because we were told this administration would aggressively investigate threats and harassment against churches.

Nothing.

Now he’s back again.

More profanity. More racial slurs. More obsession with defending a mythical white Jesus while sounding nothing like the Christ he claims to follow.

Imagine being so committed to whiteness that the mere suggestion Jesus wasn’t a white European sends you into a racist meltdown.

That’s not Christianity.

That’s idolatry.

When your version of Jesus requires the N-word to defend Him, your god isn’t Jesus Christ��it’s white supremacy.

And here’s what is just as revealing as the voicemail itself:

The silence.

Where are the white pastors who flood social media demanding “unity”? Where are the evangelical leaders who never miss an opportunity to condemn drag queens, DEI, Black Lives Matter, or anyone they disagree with? Where are the self-appointed guardians of “biblical values” when one of their own is calling a Black church spewing racial hatred?

Silent.

Because too many are more offended by a Black depiction of Jesus than they are by a racist using Christ’s name while terrorizing a church.

Silence isn’t neutrality.

Silence is permission.

And law enforcement’s indifference sends another message: if the target is a Black church and the suspect wears a MAGA hat, apparently outrage becomes optional.

If this had been someone leaving repeated vulgar, threatening messages for a white evangelical church, many of the same voices demanding “religious liberty” would be screaming persecution around the clock.

The standard shouldn’t change because the church is Black.

Jesus was born in first-century Judea—not America, not Europe, not MAGA country. He doesn’t need white nationalists defending His skin color with racial slurs.

If your Christianity depends on protecting the myth of a white Jesus while excusing racist hatred, then you’ve traded the Gospel for an idol.

The voicemail speaks for itself.

So does the silence surrounding it.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

White Chistians are waiting for the return of Christ.

What are y’all gonna do when He comes back...

and...

He’s...

B L A C K??!!?!

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

https://t.co/r0rf1OrhWl

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

Suddenly, Congress has discovered its moral outrage over the killing of Christians in Nigeria.

Every innocent life deserves protection, so where was this energy when American weapons were used to murder Palestinian children that were buried beneath the rubble of Gaza? Where was this moral urgency when apartheid South Africa brutalized and killed Black children while enjoying American support? Where is this same resolve when police departments with documented patterns of unconstitutional violence against Black Americans continue receiving federal funding?

Apparently, human rights become a congressional emergency only when politically convenient.

If America is going to make foreign aid contingent on protecting innocent lives, then apply that standard consistently. Justice that depends on the identity of the victims isn’t justice at all, it’s selective morality dressed up as principle.

It’s hypocrisy.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

One of the greatest blessings of this week at the NAACP National Convention in Chicago wasn’t just the meetings or events, it was making memories with family.

I had the joy of spending time with my oldest daughter, Whitney, and three of my beautiful granddaughters, Kai’yah, Keturah, and Karmen. Together, we visited the Obama Presidential Center, reflecting on a legacy of hope, service, and the power of believing that change is possible.

Moments like these remind me that the work we do today is ultimately about the generations coming behind us. To walk alongside my granddaughters, helping them connect with history while dreaming about their own future, was a gift I will always cherish.

Family. History. Legacy. Hope. Those are the memories I will bring home from the Chi.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

COMING SOON TO NETFLIX… 🎬

The Difference Between a Costume and a Credential.

Preparing for my Netflix documentary about what it actually takes to earn a real doctorate: years of coursework, comprehensive exams, original research, a successfully defended dissertation, committee reviews, and a degree conferred by an accredited institution of higher learning.

Apparently, in 2026, the radical idea that academic titles should be earned, not performed, is controversial.

Some people rehearse talking points. Others defend dissertations.

Some people build a brand around “Doctor.” Others put in the work to become one.

There is no shortcut to scholarship. There is no influencer path to academic integrity. And there is no substitute for the discipline required to earn the title.

The receipts aren’t in a skit. They’re in the transcript, the dissertation, and the diploma. 🎓

Will the real doctors please sound off!

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

He can’t let go of 2020 because he needs you to doubt 2026. Yesterday’s lie is tomorrow’s strategy.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

https://t.co/CCStedyD2B

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

History has a way of repeating itself with America choosing white mediocrity over Black excellence.

In 1969, the NBA adopted the now-iconic silhouette based on Jerry West. By then, Bill Russell had already won 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons, revolutionized the game, and had just led the Celtics past West’s Lakers once again in the NBA Finals. West, despite being one of basketball’s all-time greats, had not yet won an NBA championship. His lone title would come in 1972.

Many have asked ever since: if the logo was going to represent basketball excellence, why wasn’t it Bill Russell, the most dominant winner the league had ever seen?

Now fast forward more than five decades.

The WNBA has one of the most accomplished players in basketball history in A’ja Wilson. She led the University of South Carolina to an NCAA championship, has won three WNBA championships, four league MVP awards, Olympic gold medals, Finals MVP honors, and has established herself as one of the greatest players the women’s game has ever seen.

Yet much of the conversation about the “face of the league” has centered on Caitlin Clark, a young white player who is still at the beginning of her professional career and, with no championships at either the NCAA or WNBA levels, has come remotely close to matching Wilson’s résumé of championships and accolades.

That raises an uncomfortable question:

Why does American sports culture elevate white stars as the defining image of a league while Black athletes who have built dynasties and accumulated historic accomplishments are treated as secondary?

Why does sustained Black excellence have to compete for the recognition that comes so naturally for white mediocrity?

Bill Russell deserved to be recognized as the defining symbol of his era.

A’ja Wilson deserves to be recognized as the defining player of hers.

The conversation isn’t about who’s the most talented. That’s obvious.

It’s about why America thinks only whiteness can represent greatness.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

https://t.co/OSAg30Myx4

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

I wish I could tell you those words shocked me. They disturbed my spirit, but they did not surprise me. Why? Because I have spent much of my ministry confronting this very theology. More than twenty years ago, I wrote a book entitled No More Cursing: Destroying the Roots of Religious Racism, specifically to expose and dismantle the racist misuse of Scripture that has been employed for centuries to justify the enslavement, subjugation, exploitation, and dehumanization of Black people. I had hoped that by now this heresy would have been buried alongside the slave ships and the auction blocks that gave it life. Yet here we are in 2026, still hearing preachers stand behind sacred desks and recycle the same poisonous theology that was once used to bless chains, sanctify plantations, and comfort the consciences of enslavers.

What makes this especially tragic is that these ideas are not isolated to one preacher or one church. They continue to circulate throughout segments of White evangelicalism, Christian nationalism, and Reformed circles that have never fully confronted the racial sins embedded within portions of their theological tradition. The language may be updated, but the message remains the same: that Black people somehow require White oversight, White leadership, White supervision, or White civilization in order to flourish. It is simply White supremacy wearing a clerical collar.

The most disturbing part is that Pastor Dale Partridge is only forty years old. He was just seventeen when I wrote No More Cursing: Destroying the Roots of Religious Racism, yet more than twenty years later he is preaching the very same racist theology, proving that White supremacy is not merely remembered, it is intentionally passed from one generation to the next.

Get the book: https://t.co/i6EzOaMRht

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

WAS NOLAN WELLS MURDERED?

Three white boys, one the son of a judge, another the son of a lawyer, and another the son of a law enforcement officer, go to an island in Mississippi on July 4 with a Black teenager. They come back. He doesn’t. His cellphone does.

Days later, Nolan Wells is found dead.

Authorities are reviewing video reportedly showing an altercation before he allegedly disappeared. The explanation offered is that Nolan simply decided to stay alone on a remote island and somehow find another way home. Reports have also fueled questions about the deletion of social media accounts by those who were with him.

Given America’s long history of unequal justice, it should surprise no one that many Black Americans view this case with deep skepticism. When influential families are connected to a case surrounded by unanswered questions, transparency isn’t optional, it’s essential.

In my view, this sounds like murder, possibly a klan initiation, being covered up because the guilty parties have well connected parents.

The official narrative doesn’t add up. Too many questions remain unanswered, and Nolan Wells’ family deserves a complete, independent, and transparent investigation. Until every fact is accounted for, I will continue to question whether the whole truth has been told.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

Let’s stop pretending we don’t know how this would be playing out if the races were reversed. If an 18-year-old white football player went to a remote island with three Black teenagers, those three teenagers came back without him, returned with his cellphone but not him, investigators were reviewing video of an apparent argument before he disappeared, and their social media accounts suddenly vanished, America wouldn’t be telling everyone to “wait for all the facts.” They would already be branded as suspects in the court of public opinion. Their faces would dominate cable news. Their mugshots would be splashed across television screens. Reporters would be interviewing classmates, neighbors, teachers, and ex-girlfriends, digging for anything that could paint them as guilty before an autopsy was even completed.

Nolan Wells deserves that same level of urgency. His family deserves that same level of scrutiny from investigators. And the public deserves the same insistence on transparency that routinely accompanies cases involving white victims.

The fact that one of the young men with Nolan is the son of a Jackson County judge makes transparency even more important. When influential connections exist in a case already surrounded by unanswered questions, public confidence isn’t restored by asking people to stop asking questions, it is restored by conducting a thorough, independent investigation and following the evidence wherever it leads. Until every question has been answered, skepticism isn’t an attack on justice; it’s a demand that justice be done.

#JusticeForNolanWells

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

Racism doesn’t survive because Black people TALK about it, but because white people, practice, protect, excuse, and benefit from it.

This is why white Americans are just as racist in 2026 as their predecessors were in 1960.

[Bishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan]

Racism doesn’t survive because Black people TALK about it, but because white people, practice, protect, excuse, and benefit from it.

This is why white people are just as racist in 2026 as their predecessors were in 1960.