Activist Theology Podcast

Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis serves as the Executive Director at Freedom University, an underground school for undocumented students in Atlanta. Born in rural Minnesota, Emiko was raised in a biracial Japanese/Slovak household and developed passions for working-class politics and music performance in equal measure. Emiko's early work experiences in low-wage industries alongside diverse immigrants in restaurant work, janitorial services, and farm labor inspired her to study interracial labor movements and human rights. Emiko graduated from the University of Georgia in 2006 and received her Ph.D. in 2012 from Emory University, where she wrote her dissertation on an interracial migrant farmworker movement led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in South Florida. After the closing of Freedom University in Athens by its founding faculty, Emiko re-opened Freedom University in Atlanta in September 2014. As the organization's first Executive Director, Emiko introduced the human rights framework to the center of its mission, expanded the curriculum to include the arts and social justice leadership training, and began connecting undocumented youth to veterans of the Black Freedom Movement. Emiko works to advance the undocumented student movement by educating and mentoring a new generation of undocumented freedom fighters and advocating for fair admissions policies in higher education across the United States. At Freedom University, Emiko continues to serve as the Professor of Human Rights, teaching classes in international human rights, social movement theory, and immigration history. As an organizer, Emiko has engaged in numerous direct actions for workers’ rights and immigrant justice, and has been arrested four times in the Kingian tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience. Emiko is also an accomplished violinist, photographer, and sings with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus. Follow Emiko on Twitter. Follow the work of Freedom University. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Bouse is a skilled anti-racism facilitator, strategist, trainer. She has developed organizational equity policies/practices, facilitated anti-racism initiatives, and led authentic community engagement strategies to best serve those most harmed by systemic racism and oppression. Having worked alongside large and small organizations, nonprofits and businesses throughout Middle Tennessee, she have taught systemic racism and racial equity workshops, facilitated strategic and action planning processes rooted in racial equity, and provided coaching support in anti-racism efforts for these organizations. Her work primarily focuses on internal efforts to institutionalize and operationalize racial equity and anti-racism efforts within institutions. She volunteers as the co-lead for the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum’s Nashville chapter and as a member on Metro Nashville Arts Commission’s Committee for Anti-Racism and Equity. You can find more about Sarah at www.sarahbounse.com. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jackie Shao is a life coach for creative entrepreneurs and impact-driven creatives. Through coaching, she helps people fully express themselves so that they can be the creative, innovative, brilliant people they are in all aspects of their lives. In 2020, she founded a community for creatives to reimagine their work and lives through the lens of coaching called The Reimaginary. Jackie supports visionaries in moving through their challenges and having clarity to create thoughtful work and build confident, innovative brands. She also supports people in creating healthier, more meaningful lifestyles so that they can do the work they do with ease and passion. Most of her experience in the last decade has been working as a graphic designer, where she strategized, art directed, and designed for more than 50 brands, including The Advertising Council, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Poppin and Moët Hennessy. After experiencing burnout and navigating her way through difficult personal transitions, she built and ran Social Tea House, a program for social entrepreneurs centered around tea and conversations on pain points in life and work, in various co-working spaces. This became the blueprint for The Reimaginary. Since June 2020, Jackie has created and hosted monthly "Being Asian American" events, a gathering for Asian Americans to talk about race and bring a richer dimension to the national and global conversation on race. Jackie is a native New Yorker and is always dreaming up ways to positively impact this vibrant city. jackieshao.com linkedin.com/in/jshao IG: @_jackieshao_ Being Asian American To be placed on the newsletter: [email protected] IG: @beingaapi –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sahar Alsahlani is an interfaith peace activist with a background in television and radio broadcast media and entertainment. Amplifying the voices, and sharing the stories of, individuals and communities who champion for justice inspired by their moral or religious convictions is her passion. This Iraqi-American Muslim has always been active in pursuing the studies and correlations of communications as it relates to engagement in faith-based advocacy, inter-religious dialogue, peace-building, and the theory and practice of nonviolence. Determined to pursue a path for social good, Sahar made a life-changing decision to move to New York City and leave behind a successful career in Los Angeles. Having worked for many years as a television writer, producer and editor, her various projects included productions for USA Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Entertainment, FOX, Paramount, the American Forces Network, and Discovery ID. Sahar’s constant quest for social justice has led her to become active with Islamic and interfaith advocacy organizations. Intersectional, faith and moral based, movement and coalition building for peace, conflict resolution, reconciliation, and justice, is where Sahar feels most at home. Relaying this work, through the media, to the masses and inspiring others to join in her goal. Sahar’s field work has taken to her various parts of the country with regards to various rapid response initiatives in solidarity with other US faith leaders. Along with serving on the board of the North American Interfaith Network, Sahar is a member of the Executive Council of Religions for Peace, USA; the Board of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-NY; and has contributed to the faith-based outreach of the revived Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Sahar is a Fellow at GreenFaith, and serves on the Steering Committee for the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate Change, both interfaith organizations dedicated to climate justice. Sahar has also served as a former Co-Chair of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, USA. Sahar is currently part of an international multifaith community, the Community of Living Traditions, which is geared towards the study of, practice and principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence. A sought-after speaker and media commenter, Sahar has appeared on MSNBC, “The Today Show”, National Public Radio among other platforms, To have Sahar come speak, lead a workshop, or consult for your project or media event, please contact us at [email protected] –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Only a day after the horrific shootings in greater Atlanta, we begin our series on anti-Asian racism. When a gunman violently assaulted and killed eight humans, six of whom were Asian women, in a matter of an hour, wounding countless others, we must look critically at the interlocking realities of sexism, misogyny, harmful sexual stereotypes, and supremacy cultures. These realities continue to accelerate manifold harm against communities of color resulting in not only material consequences but also the devastating loss of jobs, housing, livelihoods, the literal lives of our loved ones, and the spaces and places that should be safe for each of us. Alex Wong is a Latin GRAMMY-nominated artist/producer who makes music to help people remember who they are and show themselves to the world. He has produced records with Delta Rae (Big Machine), Ari Hest (Columbia), Vienna Teng (Universal), and Morgxn (Hollywood), among others. His music has been featured in movies The Last Song and The Lincoln Lawyer, TV shows True Blood, Ray Donovan, and One Tree Hill, and commercials for Google and Aquafina. Alex has performed at festivals like Coachella and Outside Lands, and NPR’s Mountain Stage. He was a songwriting finalist in the NewSong competition and Kerrville Newfolk competition. In 2020 he released an EP Kivalina inspired by stories of climate change, and his second solo album The Elephant and the Seahorse on Tone Tree records. In 2021 Alex created The Quiet Voice Fund around the belief that our voice does not need to be loud to be strong. The fund supports organizations working to redefine power in our culture toward authenticity, empathy and actualization and away from aggression, selfishness and domination. You can find Alex at AlexWongSounds.com Support the tour at Show Yourself: A Virtual Tour. 100% of ticket sales go to: Sunrise Movement, Black Emotional & Mental Health Collective, and Hate Is A Virus. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna as they dive into the recent release, Judas & the Black Messiah. To support the Save the Hampton House GoFundMe, click here: To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a bit of a continuation from last week's conversation on Texas. We are thrilled to have Texas State Legislator James Talarico join us to chat about Texas, his theology, and how he's called to govern during these times. Representative James Talarico is a former education non-profit leader and public school teacher elected to serve House District 52 in the Texas House of Representatives. He was born in Williamson County, where he attended Round Rock ISD schools and graduated from McNeil High School. Rep. Talarico earned his bachelor’s degree in Government from The University of Texas at Austin and his master’s degree in Education Policy from Harvard University. Upon graduation, Rep. Talarico taught 6th grade at Rhodes Middle School on the Westside of San Antonio. He later became the Central Texas Executive Director of a nonprofit dedicated to equipping classrooms with innovative technology. He currently serves as the youngest member of the Texas Legislature, sitting on the Calendars Committee, the Public Education Committee, and the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee. In his first term, Rep. Talarico helped write historic school finance reform legislation that infused Texas schools with $11.6 billion in new education funding. Outside of his role as a legislator, Rep. Talarico is an education consultant, crafting and implementing education solutions across Texas. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What we watched transpire in Texas last week was not just a fluke. The systems that were designed to so-call protect the state's residents failed in ways that proved catastrophic. Between power and grid issues, climate change, greed and racism, humans showed once again that we are not set up to care for one another in meaningful ways. This week Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna take a hard look at how Texas (Dr. Robyn's home state) got into this situation and they construct a vision for how Texas might find its way to a more community- and conjunto-centric ethic of care. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acknowledged by Andrew Yang in his book The War on Normal People as one of those who helped shape his thinking, and described by historian Rutger Bregman as "by far, the most effective basic income activist out there," Scott Santens has lived with a crowdfunded basic income since 2016 and has been researching and advocating for UBI around the world since 2013. He is currently serving on the board of directors of the Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity and is the editor of Basic Income Today, a daily UBI news hub. In 2020, he served as Senior Policy Advisor to Mike Broihier in his campaign for US Senate against Mitch McConnell and is now advising mayors around the US on their cities' guaranteed income pilots, including in his home city of New Orleans. https://www.scottsantens.com Lego Video referenced in episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL5sMK1OhnU&feature=emb_logo To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On February 7, 2021, the biggest yearly sporting event in America took place. While the Superbowl is known as the championship for the NFL, it is also an advertising frenzy, as new commercials are anticipated. One of the most talked-about offerings was from Chrysler. After decades of him refusing, they were able to get Bruce Springsteen to say "yes." The result was a Jeep ad that was centered on a little country church in the heart of Kansas. Its theme? The Middle. Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna dig into the reason this commercial was resonant with some and problematic for others. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dean Spade has been working to build queer and trans liberation based in racial and economic justice for the past two decades. He works as an Associate Professor at Seattle University School of Law. Dean’s book, Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law was published by South End Press in 2011. A second edition with new writing was published in 2015 by Duke University Press. Bella Terra Press published a Spanish edition in 2016. In 2015, Dean released a one-hour video documentary, Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back!, which can be watched free online with English captions or subtitles in several languages. Dean’s new book, Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the next) is forthcoming from Verso Press in October, 2020. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lindsey Krinks is Co-founder and Interim Co-Director of Open Table Nashville. For over a decade, she has worked on the underside of Nashville—the streets, encampments, jails, slums, and underpasses—while also working with faith leaders, community organizers, and public officials to make the city more hospitable and just. Lindsey is passionate about education and evidence-based practices that affirm the dignity, agency, and humanity of all people. She was ordained in 2013 and serves as an interfaith street chaplain. She graduated from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2013 with a Masters of Theological Studies degree and is on the Alumni Council and is on the board of the Nashville Coalition for the Homeless. Her first book, Praying With Our Feet, is forthcoming though Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing, and is set for release in February of 2021. On any given day, Lindsey can be found in tent cities, washing feet on the streets, marching for change, or foraging for native herbs and plants. To learn more about Lindsey’s work, visit her blog. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rev. Jeannie Alexander is the Executive Director of No Exceptions Prison Collective, an abolitionist collaboration with and on behalf of prisoners and their families, individuals committed to ending mass incarceration, and other like-minded organizations. No Exceptions works through a combination of litigation, legislation, education, media and grassroots movement building. Primary focus areas include the repeal of Tennessee's 51-year life sentences, internal prison conditions, and the abolition of private prisons. She served as the chaplain at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution for five years. As chaplain, she facilitated the creation of an unprecedented number of programs for prisoners based upon models of liberation theology and transformative justice. She is interviewed, lectures, and preaches frequently on the topics of carceral enslavement, alternatives to prison, the morality of abolition, transformative justice, and the connections between land justice and abolition. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the Activist Theology Podcast was recorded live on Friday, January 8, 2021, at the digital Q Christian Fellowship Conference. The Q Christian Fellowship Conference is an annual gathering where hundreds of LGBTQ+ Christians and Allies: gather for worship, fellowship, workshops, and keynote speakers; make lifelong friendships or reunite with those friends; experience healing, transformation, and hope; witness the thrill of God's love and affirmation through each other. Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna recorded two days after a violent insurrection occurred at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. They critically reflect on the events of the week, the role that supremacy culture played in the action and how their faith and ethics convicted them to respond. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Season One draws to a close, Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna think back on some of their favorite moments from this year. Join them for the serious and the silly, as we wrap up the year. See y'all in 2021! To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tristan Taormino is an award-winning sex educator, media maker, and speaker. She is the author of eight books and editor or co-editor of 25 anthologies. She keynotes, lectures, and teaches workshops around the world on sexual pleasure and health, relationships, and social justice. She is the host of the podcast Sex Out Loud. She is the creator of Sex Educator Boot Camp, a professional training program, and she runs a coaching and consulting business for sexuality professionals. Tristan Taormino / Twitter / Facebook To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rev. Dr. Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary, is an associate professor of systematic theology in the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he has contributed chapters to two recent collections on Latino/a theology in the United States, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latino/a Theology (2015) and Immigrant Neighbors among Us: Immigration across Theological Traditions (2015). His first book, Racism and God-Talk: A Latino/a Perspective (NYU Press, 2008) won the 2011 Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award for Theology. Cambridge University Press published his most recent book, Christian Martyrdom and Political Violence: A Conversation with Judaism and Islam (2017), and his next book is forthcoming from Westminster John Knox Press, entitled Dogmatics After Babel: Beyond the Theologies of Word and Culture (2018). He is director of the Mev Puleo Scholarship in Latin American Theology, Politics, and Culture, a ten-week immersion experience with an emphasis on liberation theology and social justice. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robyn and Anna welcome therapist, researcher, speaker and writer, Hillary McBride to continue their conversation on mental health. McBride earned her PhD in counseling psychology from the University of British Columbia. As a therapist, she specializes in trauma, eating disorders, body image, and relationship therapy. She is a co-host of the popular podcast “The Liturgists” and "Other People's Problems." She is the the author of the book Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image: Learning to Love Ourselves as We Are, in which she challenges the notion that it is normal and expected for women to hate their bodies. She has been widely recognized for her research on women’s sexual and postpartum health, healthy body image, and eating disorder prevention. You can follow Hillary at @hillarylmcbride or her website https://hillarylmcbride.com/. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a 2-week hiatus, Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna share the reason for their absence and how they've been affected. COVID-19 is ravaging the country in ways that continue to be largely ignored by a majority of Americans and it is evident that the people of this country is not getting it. When will people begin to care for one another? When will we put away our narcissistic attitudes and listen to medical professionals? This disease struck right after the presidential election, so Robyn and Anna take some time to chat about president-elect Biden and his administration. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States election is a short few days away. We have a new Supreme Court appointee who is poised to decide on critical cases that will hinder the rights of many of us. Jared Kushner spent the week spewing racist tropes that further solidify this administration's hate toward BIPOC persons. Will we survive these days? Can we engage in the work of community so that we thwart these efforts to separate and segregate us? To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mental health. Both Dr. Robyn and Anna deal with mental illness, using medication to help balance their brains. In this important conversation, the first of several, they will explore their own stories around depression and anxiety, hoping to bridge the gap between stigma and empathy. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Join our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Robyn and Anna explore the hearings of SCOTUS nominee, Amy Coney Barrett and help us all understand why even your down-ballot vote is as critical now as it ever was. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com.To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheologyTo be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobynTo be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhaireticJoin our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special Sunday edition of the Activist Theology Podcast, Anna and Robyn highlight National Coming Out Day and share some important life updates. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com.To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheologyTo be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobynTo be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhaireticJoin our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Angela Henderson is an abolitionist-minded, saxophone-playing socialist, and lifelong student of Black radical traditions hoping to live the life she plays about. Growing up in the suburbs of Nashville, TN, classism, miseducation, and isolation characterized her experience as a young Black person. In the spring of 2018, SONG welcomed her into a new political home, where she has worked as a member, Lorde’s Werq participant, and Base-Building Fellow for the Nashville chapter. Now, she strongly believes that the only way to restore our humanity, our intellectual and imaginative rigor, and a dignified future is to commit to struggle. For this reason, Angela is compelled to seek truth through honest, anti-imperialist political education and to apply this knowledge towards the ongoing liberation and healing efforts of her communities. When it comes to her people–Black people, Queer and Trans folks, caregivers, nerds, children brought up in movement, organizers by name and organizers by practice, artists, formerly and currently incarcerated loved ones, and elementary school teachers — Angela is a commitment to recognition of the brilliance, of the joy, of the sacred, and of the collective capacity to transform.Learn more about SONG. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com.To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheologyTo be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobynTo be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhaireticJoin our community by texting (615) 436-5948 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Australian born singer-songwriter Ben Grace’s debut album “As If Words Could Heal the Wounds” is a hopeful cross-country Americana road trip for the end of a quarantined summer. Recorded in five different states, with production by Sheryl Crow guitarist Joshua Grange and cameos from drum legend Fred Eltringham and folk singer Molly Parden, it’s a profoundly intimate look at the wounds and systemic injustices that plague Americans, artfully woven through the perspective and personal religious deconstruction of a single immigrant.With over 100k streams, the first full length album of Ben Grace’s two decade musical career is landing in an unprecedented time. 2020’s pandemic has been the catalyst for global self-reflection and reinvention, and Grace’s deftly written telling of his own trajectory through divorce, failure, and new love provides an essential soundtrack for our collective transformation.In an era where anxiety, police brutality, and division populate our news feeds, “As If Words Could Heal the Wounds” comes with eyes wide open to our failings as part lament, part opus, and part hope for our rebuilding. It’s a preposterous idea, that the right words might heal the deep wounds around us. How lucky we are to have artists who continue to try.Listen to "If Words Could Heal the Wounds" here. Follow Ben Grace at @bengracemusic on all social media channels. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com.To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheologyTo be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobynTo be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robyn and Anna take some time this week to honor the life of the incomparable Ruther Bader Ginsburg.To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com.To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheologyTo be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobynTo be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is a fellow with the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at American Progress. His work focuses on a wide range of issues related to the role of religion in American public life, including promoting a progressive vision of religious liberty that champions LGBTQ rights and amplifying how faith communities empower social and economic justice.Prior to joining American Progress, Graves-Fitzsimmons worked with national faith leaders on two high-profile issue advocacy campaigns: opposing the Muslim ban and passing comprehensive immigration reform. He served as the associate director of the Rights and Inclusion Collaborative at ReThink Media, where he worked to promote Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian rights. He was previously the faith coordinator at the National Immigration Forum, where he helped start the Evangelical Immigration Table.He is the author of the forthcoming book Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity. His writing on religion and politics regularly appears in national media outlets, including CNN and The Washington Post. He’s also the founder of The Resistance Prays, a daily devotional aimed at spiritually and politically defeating Trumpism.Graves-Fitzsimmons received his undergraduate degree from American University and his Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, where he was the William Sloane Coffin Scholar. He and his husband, both native Texans, now live in Louisville, Kentucky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jack is an award-winning journalist and national reporter for the Religion News Service. He covers religion. Also politics. Usually both.He's also the author of the book American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country, published by HarperOne (and you can order it here!)In addition to ThinkProgress — where he served as Senior Religion Reporter for more than 3 years before starting at RNS — his stories and analysis from all over the globe have been published in the Washington Post, Atlantic, Associated Press, National Catholic Reporter, and others. His work has also been cited or featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, CNN, MSNBC, and a Netflix docu-series, among others.He earned his B.A. from Presbyterian College and his Master of Divinity from Harvard University. He plays harmonica and ukulele.Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or sign up for his monthly(ish) newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Robyn and Anna invite candidate for the 1st District House Seat in Virginia, Qasim Rashid, to join their conversation this week around policy, voting suppression, and supremacy culture in today's context. A devout Muslim, Qasim brings a perspective on faith and action to this important episode.About QasimQasim believes in service, leadership, and compassion. He is an immigrant, a proud American Muslim, and above all a devoted father and husband. His wife, Ayesha, is a small business owner and volunteers with interfaith outreach in the community. Together, they have three beautiful children and live in Stafford. Qasim is running as a Democrat to transform his advocacy into policy for the working families of Virginia’s 1st District.Qasim earned his law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law and has a long track record of serving diverse communities in Virginia. This includes his work to combat domestic and sexual violence against women, uplift the incarcerated through prison chaplaincy, serve his neighbors through blood drives and highway cleanups, and advocate for children’s education.Qasim channels his passion to serve the marginalized by working with national and international non-profit organizations that advance women’s rights, improve water, food, shelter, healthcare, and education access for children living in poverty, and fight to protect the religious freedom for all people. To that end, Qasim has written numerous books, given hundreds of interviews, and testified before the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to protect the rights of persecuted religious minorities around the world. Likewise, Qasim has worked with the US Government to improve national security here at home, while upholding the United States Constitution as the supreme law of the land.Qasim aspires for a campaign built on transparency and trust and invites you to reach out to him directly. To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com.To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheologyTo be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobynTo be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Robyn and Anna dive into the violence that occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin and how their understanding of the police state must be reimagined. Is it possible to work through defunding in stages? Or is full abolition necessary? To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com.To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheologyTo follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheologyTo be in touch with Dr. Robyn: [email protected] or @irobynTo be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Robyn and Anna dig deep into the politics of today with Dan Hodge, noted theologian and author. With 20 years of academic work experience, Daniel White Hodge, PhD, is a recognized Hip Hop culture expert & cultural literacy communications scholar. Dr. Hodge is Professor of Intercultural Communications, department chair of the Communication Arts Department, and research lead on the Catalyst_ _606 program at North Park University in Chicago. His research interests are at the intersections of faith, Hip Hop culture, race/ethnicity, & young adult ethnic-minority emerging generations. Dr. Hodge has worked in the young adult and Hip Hop context for over 25 years and continues to focus on justice & disparity issues as it concerns ethnic-minority populations.His five books are Heaven Has A Ghetto: The Missiological Gospel & Theology of Tupac Amaru Shakur (VDM 2009), The Soul Of Hip Hop: Rimbs, Timbs, & A Cultural Theology (IVP 2010), Hip Hop’s Hostile Gospel: A Post Soul Theological Exploration (Brill Academic 2017) Homeland Insecurity: A Hip Hop Missiology for the Post-Civil Rights Context (IVP Academic 2018) and Baptized In Dirty Water: Reimagining the Gospel According to Tupac Amaru Shakur (Cascade Books Popology Series 2019). Dr. Hodge is currently working on a textbook on Intercultural Communication (Kendall Hunt Publishing 2020) & two edited volumes scheduled for publication, Marveling Religion (Lexington Academic Press) & Hip-Hop and Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline (Peter Lang Publishing).Dr. Hodge and his wife, Emily, reside in Chicago with their daughter, Mahalia. You can follow his podcast here.Learn more and connect with him on his website: https://whitehodge.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna share this conversation with the remarkable Brittany Packnett. Brittany joins us from the intersection of activism and faith – and this episode takes us to the streets and the church all in the same hour.Brittany Packnett Cunningham is a leader at the intersection of culture and justice. Cited by President Barack Obama as a leader whose "voice is going to be making a difference for years to come," Brittany is an award-winning educator, organizer, writer, and leader. Brittany has become a sought-after voice in the work of social change and empowerment. Brittany plays many roles, all focused on freedom.Brittany is an NBC News and MSNBC Contributor and former two-time Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics exploring social change and intersectional activism. A lifelong activist and proud member of the Ferguson Uprising, Brittany was co-host of the 2019 iHeart Radio Best Political Podcast, Pod Save The People, for three years.Her 2019 TED Talk on the revolution of confidence has garnered nearly 4 million views worldwide, making it one of the top ten most popular TED Talks of 2019. Brittany is the author of the forthcoming book, We Are Like Those Who Dream, with One World, due to hit shelves in 2021.Brittany is the Founder and Principal Love & Power Works a full-service social impact firm focused on creating justice and equity in every sector. This agency is a sister to Love & Power: The Brand, a hub created to inspire, empower, and outfit everyday people to seismically shift society.Follow Brittany at @https://twitter.com/mspackyettiHer website is: https://brittanypacknett.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robyn and Anna invite Tim Wise to today's episode and break down racism in today's context. If race is the background noise to everything, we have to understand our role in the work. Are we educator or student? Tim Wise suggests we must be both.Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1000 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the country. He is also the host of the new podcast, Speak Out with Tim Wise.Wise is the author of eight books, including his forthcoming, Dispatches from the Race War (December 2020 from City Lights Books). Other books include Under the Affluence, Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority and Colorblind (all from City Lights Books); his highly acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, (recently updated and re-released by Soft Skull Press); Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White; Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male; and Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama.You can follow Tim Wise on Twitter at @timjacobwise and on Medium at https://medium.com/@timjwise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robyn and Anna chat about the pandemic, the church, and social justice with Latinx visionary Lisbeth Melendez-Rivera. Her perspective is formed by her Puerto Rican roots, her background in the medical field, and the unashamed presence in queer liberation. Lisbeth is the Director of Latino and Catholic Initiatives for the Religion and Faith Program. . She envisioned and directed Before God: We Are All Family, a powerful short documentary that she has shared with Latino/a communities across the country. In addition to being a powerful training tool, Before God has been recognized at the Reel it OUT Queer Film Festival in Norfolk, Virginia and at the Ethnografilm Festival in Paris, France.As the Director of Latino and Catholic Initiatives, Lisbeth works to deepen the already impressive reach of her work with Latino/a communities and will to develop and implement Catholic engagement work across the organization. As a testament to Lisbeth’s longtime work at the intersection of Latino/a and LGBT communities, Lisbeth was recognized with The Legacy Award, presented by the Women of the Latino GLBT History Project in partnership with the DC Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.Lisbeth has crisscrossed the country, training workers and community leaders in organizing, leadership development and community building strategies from a grassroots perspective. Lisbeth has served on the Boards of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health, the National Youth Advocacy Coalition, Pride @ Work & the National Organizer Alliance. She has also been a volunteer with Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD), Haymarket People’s Fund, ASTRAEA Lesbian Foundation for Justice as well as many other organizations.A biologist and sociologist by education, is it her calling to social justice that makes her passions flare and her days move forward. Today Lisbeth lives in Washington, DC alongside her life-partner, Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz, her godson, and their animal farm! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robyn and Anna are joined this week by Kat Armas, Cuban theologian and practitioner on the concept of "Abuela theology." Her understanding of the role our ancestors play in our understanding of past, present and Divine has led to her upcoming first book, appropriately titled, Abuela Theology.She is currently living in Los Angeles, California, and pursuing a Master of Divinity at Fuller Seminary with a focus on New Testament studies. You can listen to her podcast, The Protagonistas and follow her work at www.katarmas.com. Find her on Twitter @kat_armas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Robyn and Anna welcome author, theology professor, church anti-racism leader, and social change practitioner, Drew G.I. Hart. Drew has a Christian Century hosted blog entitled ‘Taking Jesus Seriously’ while also writing occasionally for The Mennonite as well. His own personal site is http://www.drewgihart.com. He regularly sneaks in tweets with the handle @DruHart and can be found on Facebook. He is the author of Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism. His newest book, Who Will Be a Witness? Igniting Activism For God's Justice, Love and Deliverance will be out later this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Nightingale is a teacher, pastor, musician and spiritual director who left the evangelical church in 2016 when he moved into authenticity and chose to live as an out, gay man. Join us this week as he shares his story of faith, his journey with God throughout his life, and his experience of the patriarchial/misogynistic undergirding in the Christian church. You can learn more about Matt on his website: https://mattnightingale.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Garcia is a digital pastor, creative mystic, public theologian and intuitive soul coach based in Atlanta, GA. After coming out in the fall of 2015 as a queer Christian, Kevin has reached thousands of individuals across the globe with messages of God’s unending love for all people. regardless of who they are, what they profess, or what they actually believe. Kevin’s the author of Bad Theology Kills: undoing toxic beliefs and reclaiming your spiritual authority, published Janurary 2020. Kevin’s work also appears in several anthologies by queer people of faith. You can learn more about Kevin at @thekevingarcia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are thrilled to engage in a conversation this week with Myles Markham (him/their). Myles is a community organizer and advocate who understands how to navigate and interpret the conservative American religious landscape, especially as it pertains to LGBTQ, racial, and reproductive justice. During PRIDE month, we welcome Myles' voice. You can connect with Myles on Instagram at a_million_myles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As more white people show up in the streets in a search for justice for black and brown bodies, their presence is oftentimes both welcomed and problematic.Stacey Patton reminds us that "while there is a long history of white participation in black freedom struggles, efforts to achieve substantive interracial solidarity are still plagued today by white activists centering themselves and levering movements for their own purposes." How do we move away from performative action and enter true allyship in the work?It's not an easy conversation, but Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna dive into the deep end during this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Dr. Robyn and Anna dig deep into the work of the movement with activist Andre Henry. Andre is the program manager for the Racial Justice Institute at Evangelicals for Social Action and holds a B.A. in Practical Theology and an M.A. in Theology with an emphasis in Biblical Languages. He's passionate about music, faith, racial justice, and social change. Follow him on Twitter @andrehenry or learn more about his work at www.andrehenry.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we begin PRIDE month, we will be having conversations with queer folx who are doing liberation work in the world. We open this month with a conversation with activist, diversity trainer, and inclusion officer, Jessica Halem. Jessica is the LGBTQ Outreach and Engagement Director at Harvard Medical School and is responsible for the integration of sexual and gender minority health equity into medical school curricula.https://www.jessicahalem.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Minneapolis is burning. Our black siblings are being murdered at rates that should mandate a systemic shift in collective thinking. And yet, racism remains the greatest sin of our generation and generations that have come before us. Dr. Robyn and Rev. Anna share their anger, sadness and lament in this important episode of the Activist Theology Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I’m a Christian mom with a gay kid living in Oklahoma saying enough is enough. If I don’t fight for my son (and his rights) like my hair is on fire, then who will? It’s time we celebrate our LGBTQ+ children. And I won’t stop until I no longer hear horror stories from the LGBTQ+ community and their mothers." These are the words of Free Mom Hugs founder and executive director, Sara Cunningham. Dr. Robyn and Anna chat with Sara about her walk from evangelical salvation-harming theology to her current mindset as a radical freedom fighter for her son and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Pavlovitz is a pastor, author, blogger, and truth-teller from Wake Forest, North Carolina.His blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse worldwide audience. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities. He has three books – A Bigger Table, Hope and Other Superpowers, and Low: An Honest Advent Devotional. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much like the issue of slavery in the early 19th century, the issue of LGBTQ inclusion is splitting denominations across the United States. On opposite sides of the fault-line are those calling for inclusion and those engaging processes and crafting policies that exclude LGBTQ+ people from various levels of membership and leadership. Churches usually avoid this conversation, because the stakes are so high and the outcomes so painful.The Activist Theology Podcast, Freedom Road Podcast and Red Letter Christians leverage the power of story to engage this fraught conversation together. Join Lisa Sharon Harper, Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza and Shane Claiborne as they wade through the troubled waters of this sensitive, necessary and timely conversation; charting a way to the other side with raw honesty and grace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Robyn and Anna dig into the rights of workers and how those rights are undermined, minimized, and capitulated in the elite's search for supremacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week the world celebrates Earth Day (4/22) and we collectively acknowledge our relationship to this planet we call home. Robyn and Anna look at climate justice issues and their correlation to supremacy culture in this week's episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are you missing right now as you sit quarantined? We all have things that are missing – some serious, some quite ridiculous. Robyn and Anna chat about the things they are missing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices