A St. George Christmas: The Courage to Love – Mission Chicagoan and Capetonian Reunited

Why am I standing next to this statue of Nelson Mandela, sculpted by Marco Olivier? I am currently in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Western Cape Province. My life journey has given me the opportunity to explore a vibrant new urban environment. If anyone knows me, they know I love everything about urban culture and justice, which is why I started Urban Reformers. While this is not my first time on the African continent, it is my first time in the beautiful country of South Africa, a nation that has been the epicenter of a global struggle for liberation from colonial rule and a place where I can posture myself to listen, learn, and grow.

In 1652, the Dutch East India Company established a settlement at the Cape. Indigenous Africans were dispossessed of their land and forced into labor. In the 1800s, the British took over and implemented a racial hierarchy where whites owned land, law, and resources, while black Africans were denied rights. In 1910, the Union of South Africa was formed to exclude black people from citizenship and voting. In 1913, the Natives Land Act restricted black South Africans to only seven percent of the land, which became the foundation of the economic inequality that exists here in South Africa today.

The world infamous apartheid system existed as a state enforced system of racial segregation and exploitation for white supremacy from 1948 to 1994. During this time, a series of laws classified people into further separated racial hierarchy groups of white, black, colored, and Indian, banned interracial marriage, and forced people into different land zones based on race.

It is important to note that anti-colonial movements, both politically and on the ground, have existed since the first colonial invasion. Groups like the African National Congress and others sacrificed greatly to resist white colonial exploitation, paving the way for leaders like Nelson Mandela. Born in the Eastern Cape and educated as a lawyer, Mandela was sentenced in 1964 to life imprisonment on Robben Island for his activism in the struggle for the liberation of black South Africans against apartheid. His famous words, "It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die," reflected his unwavering commitment. While in prison, he became an international symbol of resistance and hope and refused release unless apartheid ended.

In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison by President F.W. de Klerk, and a movement began to grow for the collapse of the apartheid system across South Africa. Youth movements, strikes, and protests became international news as South Africa was poised on the edge of transformation. The struggle was not only about ending legal apartheid, but about reclaiming dignity, equity, and voice for communities that had been systematically silenced. Mandela's leadership showed the power of visionary resistance grounded in reconciliation, and the global solidarity it inspired became a blueprint for social justice movements everywhere.

Lion's Head (Cape Town, South Africa): I took this with my fancy iPhone 17 Max Pro - thanks, Cicely.

Upon my arrival, as my plane descended into Cape Town, the sun was just beginning to rise, casting its first light over the mountains, the majestic coastline, and the urban landscape tucked into rolling hills. I was astonished. My overactive imagination ran wild, and I could not help but picture an ancient time when dragons and dinosaurs might have nested among villages scattered across this land. Surely, these must have been a courageous people, like the myth of St. George, bold enough to slay dragons and stand unflinching against the most powerful beasts of their day.

This moment in South Africa's history resonates deeply with the mission of Urban Reformers. Just as South Africans organized, resisted, and reimagined a society that could honor all its citizens, Urban Reformers seeks to equip communities locally and internationally to confront systemic inequality, elevate marginalized voices, and cultivate leaders who can transform their urban environments. Being here in Kenilworth, Cape Town, reminds me that the work of liberation is both local and global. The strategies, creativity, and courage that emerge from urban spaces can inspire change far beyond their streets.

I remember images from TV documentaries in the 1990s of Nelson Mandela and tens of thousands of people marching in the streets to dismantle apartheid. I remember how that national movement became a global symbol of reform and renewal. It reminds me of the energy of the marches in 2020 for Black Lives, when people around the world came together demanding justice. The central thread of Mandela's inspiration was his unwavering commitment to Christian principles of love and liberation. Spending 27 years in prison to defeat apartheid was not merely a political act; it was a spiritual embodiment of Christ's love. His example reminds us that true justice is inseparable from love.

Talking this week over the phone with my cousin-confidant, and close brother Aaron Mosley about the state of the Black community today, I feel reborn in my commitment to love as the foundation of justice. If we do not envision a generation of beloved community, then what are we truly fighting for? We are a people traumatized across the globe by colonization, enslavement, and systemic oppression. Our communities have been dispossessed of the right to love each other unconditionally. A historical psychological terror has been unleashed against the soul of Black people throughout history, designed to make us give up on love itself.

Now, across the diaspora, we see the effects. Low birth rates, delayed or absent marriages, and generations of Black adults navigating singleness and isolation. In my own Chicago community of professional Black millennials, we are, in many ways, setting records for singleness and disconnection. The history of white supremacist violence has tied cities like Chicago and Cape Town together in a dystopian reality of Black love depressed, skeptical, and withheld.

Which is why I am here in South Africa. After being laid off in May, where I had been leading diversity and spiritual work at a university, I set out on a journey of rediscovery to intentionally love myself in the face of rejection and to open my heart to romantic, life transforming love.

What if you could find a love so powerful that it could reimagine your isolation, unbind your disbelief, and ignite liberation—a love that could change the world? What if it - love, appeared in a grocery aisle or at a local community meeting, transforming your philosophy from nihilism to hope, from exile to joy, from despair to homecoming?

This is the new justice fight I am committing to: love as revolution. The only thing that makes justice in life worth fighting for is love. Love that reproduces itself. Love wrapped in courage like a Christmas gift against a cold world. Love that builds communities. Love that shapes a society of radical reformers who have the audacity to believe they can change the world and slay dragons.

"Love's in Need of Love Today" - Steve Wonder

Support the Love Mission in South Africa

I am in Cape Town, South Africa, continuing the work of Urban Reformers—building community, promoting justice, and spreading radical love in urban spaces. I will be partnering with local organizations and missions to strengthen our impact and bring hope to communities here.

If you would like to support this mission of love, justice, and transformation, please reach out and connect with me: Jon@urbanreformers.com. Your support—prayers, partnership, or resources—will help us expand the work of Urban Reformers internationally.

Join me in turning love into action and creating lasting change.

Prayer for the Senior Christmas Luncheon

St George’s Cathedral – Hosted by Pearl Ngobeni, Senior Librarian of Kuils River Library

Gracious and Ever-Living God,

We gather in this sacred place, St George’s Cathedral, a house built with human hands but sustained by Your Spirit, a place where the stones remember prayers whispered by the poor, and where generations sought refuge, dignity, and hope.

On this Christmas occasion, we honor the story of St George, not the story of empire, nor the myths that glorify conquest, but the truth of a martyr who stood with courage against the dragons of injustice in his time. May that same courage rise in us today.

We thank You for our elders gathered here: mothers, grandparents, aunties, leaders —those who carried faith through struggle, who held families together with worn hands and brave hearts, who kept hope alive when systems tried to crush it. Their presence is a living testimony of Your grace.

Lord, we remember this cathedral’s calling: a place that opened seats for the poor, that offered sanctuary when the world outside was divided by walls and unjust laws. We pray that this spirit of radical hospitality may continue to shape our hearts and our communities.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, a child born not in a palace but among the marginalized. We are reminded that true power is found not in domination but in compassion, not in empire but in Emmanuel: God-with-us.

May Your Spirit stir in us: Courage to confront injustice wherever it rises. Justice that lifts the lowly and protects the vulnerable. Faith that refuses to surrender hope, even when the world grows weary.

Bless this food, this fellowship, and the conversations that warm our souls. Bless Kuils River Library for gathering community and honoring the elders who have shaped the path we walk.

Let this Christmas luncheon be a table of joy, a table of healing, and a table where all—especially the poor—know they belong.

In the liberating name of Jesus, the Christ of the oppressed, the Light who shines in the darkness, and the Hope who never fails.

Amen,

Jonathan Reynolds

Founder of Urban Reformers

Jon@urbanreformers.com