Queen Connect

When Religion Trains Us to Be Silent: The Disruption of Jamal Bryant’s Church When the Pulpit Is Invaded: The Disruption of Pastor Jamal Bryant and the Crisis of Black Religious Consciousness A few weeks ago, Pastor Jamal Bryant’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia became the site of a disturbing and highly suspicious disruption — one that has now gone viral and sparked national conversation. During a live church service, a white evangelical preacher from Alabama entered the building, pulled out a camera, and began loudly condemning Bryant and the congregation. He called Pastor Bryant a “wicked dog,” shouted that church members would “burn,” and launched into religious threats and accusations that carried more rage than reverence. Security eventually intervened. DeKalb County authorities were contacted, and a no-trespass order was issued, barring the man from returning to the church property. But the real story isn’t just the interruption. The real story is everyt...

What I No Longer Carry by Candace L. Smith I once believed hell waited for me somewhere beyond this life— a distant fire, a final judgment. But I have walked through it here, quietly, lovingly, while smiling. I have burned in rooms where my giving was expected, where my prayers were required, where my silence was mistaken for strength. I mistook survival for holiness. I mistook exhaustion for devotion. I mistook sacrifice for love. But I am learning. Hell is not a place I fear anymore. It is a lesson I recognize. It is staying too long. It is giving without return. It is loving without protection. Now, I carry my heart differently. I hold my faith with open hands, not clenched fists. I no longer bleed to prove I care. I no longer disappear to keep the peace. I no longer offer my cup to those who refuse to pour back. What I carry now is lighter— discernment, truth, rest. And if this is what survival looks like, then let it be said: I walked through hell and came back with my spirit inta...

 No Earthly Good Available on Amazon What happens when faith no longer fits the shape you were given? When love requires boundaries? When legacy feels more dangerous than divine? No Earthly Good is a fearless, reflective exploration of belief, sacrifice, love, judgment, family, legacy, and acceptance, told through lived experience rather than doctrine. With honesty and spiritual maturity, Candace L. Smith interrogates the ideas we are taught to revere and asks what they cost us when left unexamined. This book is not a rejection of God, love, or community, it is a reckoning with how they are practiced. Through personal reflection and cultural observation, Smith challenges performative faith, unbalanced sacrifice, conditional love, and the pressure to build legacies at the expense of integrity. Written for readers navigating disillusionment, spiritual fatigue, relational grief, and personal growth, No Earthly Good offers clarity without certainty and peace without perfection. It inv...