On March 10, a demolition crew tore up the pavement of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington DC, and Reverend Starlette Thomas was there to bear witness. With this moment of government-ordered erasure as our starting point, we talk with Thomas about the protest and community that happened on that very ground after the killing of George Floyd in 2020—and why recent history has made many African-American protestors avoid the recent “Hands Off” rallies across the country. In this fiery and revelatory conversation, Thomas explains how our “color-coded” society is a facade for a destructive caste system, how those who are “racialized” with the identity of “white body supremacy” need to squelch the voices of others to stay in power, and makes the case for finding our holy “somebodyness” in something other than race.

Starlette Thomas is an author, activist, visual artist, and race abolitionist. She is also editor and director of the Raceless Gospel Initiative. She regularly preaches and teaches throughout the country and her sermons have been featured by Sojourners and other publications. Starlette is also a contributing author for the book Faith Forward: A Dialogue on Children, Youth & a New Kind of Christianity and author of the the book, “Take Me to the Water”: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church (Nurturing Faith). She is also the host of the Raceless Gospel podcast, now in its fifth season.

Find more of her work at racelessgospel.com or on social media at @racelessgospel.

Find your guides at Quoir Academy! If you’ve ever deconstructed your faith you know it’s not easy. But just imagine if you could have people to guide you through your process? People like, Jim Palmer, Kristin Du Mez, Jennifer Knapp, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Paul Young, and more? Well, if you head over to Quoir Academy and register for SQUARE 2 using the Promo Code [RAD] you’ll get 10% off the regular registration cost of this awesome course and community just for being a fan of our show. Follow this registration link: https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-2-next-steps-into-reconstruction?coupon=RAD

What’s so crazy about diversity, equity, and inclusion? We are so glad to welcome back Melanie Hood-Wilson, DEI consultant and educator, to talk about her work and mission in the midst of the current administration’s attacks on programs it calls “Radical and Wasteful.” Melanie is incisive, bold, and clearly lays out the issues we’re facing as America “says the quiet part out loud”, the core issues of identity and belonging that are driving the backlash against DEI programs, and opens up the possibilities for things that all of us can do to help ensure that our companies and organizations include every qualified candidate, without preferencing or shutting out anyone because of their identity. Melanie is the leader of Melanie Hood-Wilson and Associates, a “consulting company providing services designed to teach, enlighten, and change lives through teaching, learning, diversity, equity, and inclusion.” She and her team are dedicated to helping organizations improve their cultural competency and increase the representation of communities of color, women, individuals with differing abilities, the LGBTQIA community, and those of diverse religious and national backgrounds. Her company also sponsors an innovative range of “caucuses,” where groups of open-minded people with similar backgrounds can learn more about disrupting biased systems and advocating for themselves. Prior to being a consultant, Melanie gained tremendous experience as a teacher both in middle school and at the Community college of Baltimore County.

Find your guides at Quoir Academy! If you’ve ever deconstructed your faith you know it’s not easy. But just imagine if you could have people to guide you through your process? People like, Jim Palmer, Kristin Du Mez, Jennifer Knapp, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Paul Young, and more? Well, if you head over to Quoir Academy and register for SQUARE 2 using the Promo Code [RAD] you’ll get 10% off the regular registration cost of this awesome course and community just for being a fan of our show. Follow this registration link: https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-2-next-steps-into-reconstruction?coupon=RAD

Tamice Spencer-Helms (they/she) riffs on wisdom. They take us on a vast, universe-spanning theological journey that is rooted in our bodies, our ancestry, and our feet right here on the ground. In the church and in our culture in America, there is something hidden and pervasive, Tamice says, and it will continue to eat at us until we find it, name it, and respond to it. Efforts to address it through the lens of race or through the lens of economics only scratch the surface. The “leaven” that contaminates our systems is deeper than that, based we relate to ourselves, to God, and to one another. It’s a wild ride! Tamice unleashes some wisdom that will have you thinking long after you’ve finished listening.

Tamice Spencer-Helms (they/she) is a theologian, public speaker, curriculum developer, and consultant based in Richmond, Virginia, with over two decades of experience in young adult leadership, spiritual innovation, and social change. She is the founder of the Soulful Leadership Project, Sub:Culture Inc., and the R.E.S.T. Mixtape. Tamice is also known for their contributions to theoactivism and the philosophy of religion. In February 2021, they published their powerhouse debut, Faith Unleavened: The Wilderness Between Trayvon Martin & George Floyd, and host the Life After Leaven podcast. Find more of their work at www.tamicenamaespeaks.com.

Links:

www.tamicenamaespeaks.com

IG: @tamicenamaespeaks

Find your guides at Quoir Academy! If you’ve ever deconstructed your faith you know it’s not easy. But just imagine if you could have people to guide you through your process? People like, Jim Palmer, Kristin Du Mez, Jennifer Knapp, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Paul Young, and more? Well, if you head over to Quoir Academy and register for SQUARE 2 using the Promo Code [RAD] you’ll get 10% off the regular registration cost of this awesome course and community just for being a fan of our show. Follow this registration link: https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-2-next-steps-into-reconstruction?coupon=RAD

For Kevin Sweeney (author, speaker, spiritual director), Christian faith is all about experiencing God, not in having abstract beliefs about God. And the experiences that have kept him a Christian, even after his first dogmatic teachings about the Bible fell by the wayside, have been at the intersection of the great, transcendent, mystical Cosmic Christ, and the real, authentic, liberating, earthly Concrete Jesus.

Kevin talks with us about fading back from a front-and-center role as a pastor to being a servant and part of the whole body of Christ, as a writer and hospice chaplain helping people transition into their next phase. And he also talks with us about how tangible, boots-on-the ground liberation theology—particularly Black theology taught by James Cone, Kelly Brown Douglas, and others—has kept him grounded in the understanding that love is real, love is now, and love is active in this world. Jesus isn’t here just to save our individual souls, he tells us. Without liberation, there is no Jesus. Listen for this great perspective on how the cosmic vision and real world works of faith can be reconciled into a single cohesive Christian faith.

Kevin is the author of the new book, “Cosmic Christ and Cosmic Jesus,” which is available for pre-order and will be released in May 2025. He is also the author of the previous books “The Making of a Mystic: My Journey With Mushrooms, My Life as a Pastor, and Why It's Okay for Everyone to Relax” and “The Joy of Letting Go: How One Thing Has the Power to Change Everything.” He is also the host of “The Church Needs Therapy” podcast, and co-founder of Imagine Church in Honolulu. To learn more about Kevin’s work, visit www.kevinsweeneynow.com or follow him on IG: @kevinsweeneynow

Find your guides at Quoir Academy! If you’ve ever deconstructed your faith you know it’s not easy. But just imagine if you could have people to guide you through your process? People like, Jim Palmer, Kristin Du Mez, Jennifer Knapp, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Paul Young, and more? Well, if you head over to Quoir Academy and register for SQUARE 2 using the Promo Code [RAD] you’ll get 10% off the regular registration cost of this awesome course and community just for being a fan of our show. Follow this registration link: https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-2-next-steps-into-reconstruction?coupon=RAD

“The Tattooed Theologian” has something to say about all of it: racism, LGBTQIA bigotry, ecology, capitalism, fundamentalism, Christian nationalism, “F*CKWITTERY” & the questions — and revelations — that drive his work. This week’s conversation with public theologian Dillon Naber Cruz covers the gamut of his musings about theology through the lens of permaculture—(which, defined too simply here, is a kind of eco-theology of partnering with nature achieve sustainable goals). It’s a sweeping conversation with immediate impact. Cruz is a public theologian, blogger, podcaster, and author, whose most recent book is “Theological Musings Volume 2.” He is also the author of “Go Golden: Applying a Universal Religious Teaching and the Ethics of Permaculture to Create a Sustainable, Just, Happier World” He is also a co-host on The God Squad Pod, a regular guest on theological podcasts and a panelist on John Fugelsang’s show Tell Me Everything on SiriusXM Progress.

Dillon Naber Cruz Website: https://tattooed-theologian.com Podcast: https://tattooed-theologian.com/the-god-squad-podcast Instagram: @tattooed_theologian

Find your guides at Quoir Academy! If you’ve ever deconstructed your faith you know it’s not easy. But just imagine if you could have people to guide you through your process? People like, Jim Palmer, Kristin Du Mez, Jennifer Knapp, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Paul Young, and more? Well, if you head over to Quoir Academy and register for SQUARE 2 using the Promo Code [RAD] you’ll get 10% off the regular registration cost of this awesome course and community just for being a fan of our show. Follow this registration link: https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-2-next-steps-into-reconstruction?coupon=RAD

In the USA right now, every day brings another attack on transgender identities, lives, and existence. We were eager to check in with Dina Nina Martinez--public servant, activist, comedian, queer minster, and so much more--to understand the current crisis from her point of view. Moreso, we wanted to know where she is turning for hope, community, and spiritual nourishment. The lives and safety of people we love are on the line, just to be kicked around as a political football by those who exploit them to spread fear and gain votes. The time to stand up for our trans family is now.

Dina Nina serves as the 15th District Alder in Madison, WI (and is the first trans woman ever elected to office there.) She is also a performer, minister, speaker, and so much more. You can find out more about Dina Nina's creative, ministerial, and political work at her website dinanina.com. She also encourages you to check out the services and offerings at Light of Love Fellowship, an inclusive and affirming faith ​community, an organization which aims "to encourage connection with the divine, ​provide a safe space for those who have faced adversity within ​faith communities, and promote love as our guiding principle."

Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford Website: https://dinanina.com/

Light of Love Fellowship Website: https://lightoflovefellowship.com/

Dina Nina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dinaninaxo/

Find your guides at Quoir Academy! If you’ve ever deconstructed your faith you know it’s not easy. But just imagine if you could have people to guide you through your process? People like, Jim Palmer, Kristin Du Mez, Jennifer Knapp, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Paul Young, and more? Well, if you head over to Quoir Academy and register for SQUARE 2 using the Promo Code [RAD] you’ll get 10% off the regular registration cost of this awesome course and community just for being a fan of our show. Follow this registration link: https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-2-next-steps-into-reconstruction?coupon=RAD