This episode explores how Christian clergy (in the U.S.) can connect racial justice work with challenging US empire more globally. Rev. Mike Kinman and I discuss his work in the uprisings in Ferguson; learning eyewash recipes for teargas from Palestinians; challenging the antisemitism of Christian supercessionism; and standing in interfaith movements for justice for Palestine.

In this hour and 15 minute discussion, Dr. George speaks with Rabbi Zach Fredman about ceasefire, grief, Jewish historical trauma, and the urgency of Palestinian freedom. Questions raised include: To what extent can traditions be changed? Healed of patriarchy and ethnocentricism? And bent toward inclusive justice for everyone? How do we find the streams within our traditions that can challenge dominant models of storytelling, in which our own liberation rests on another's silence and suffering? Rabbi Zach Fredman was previously at the New Shul in NYC for 10 years, and is now the Creative Director of Temenos, a non profit which bridges spiritualty and the arts. As a musician and composer, he is the bandleader of Epichorus. 

In this rich hour of discussion with Dr. George, Lyvonne Briggs will teach spiritual practices that center womanist theology and African cosmology. She teaches with power and wisdom on topics like showing up for both your grief and your pleasure; reparations for Black folks; and men needing healing from patriarchy, too. If you are new to what the rich tradition of womanism is,  Lyvonne will walk you through its legacies and its possibilites in its "4th wave."

Lyvonne Briggs, MDiv, ThM, an Emmy Award winner, is a body- and sex-positive womanist preacher and speaker. She is the host of Sensual Faith Podcast and the author of Sensual Faith: The Art of Coming Home to Your Body (Convergent/Penguin Random House out March '23). She is the co-host of Sanctified, a faith-based, Spotify-exclusive podcast on Jemele Hill’s Unbothered Network. A spiritual life coach and TEDx speaker, she has been featured in Essence, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post, and Sojourners named her one of "11 Women Shaping the Church.” Briggs is a graduate of The Lawrenceville School, Seton Hall University, Yale Divinity School, and Columbia Theological Seminary. A New York City native, she is currently based in New Orleans, LA and you can follow her across platforms: @LyvonneBriggs

What would the world look like if more men were involved in feminist learning and real transformation?

In this episode, Dr. George talks with a a married couple—Rev. Meghan Mullarkey and Luke Abernathy (a therapist)—about their journey bringing feminist learning and practice to their marriage.

We talk about women being afraid to feel their own anger around patriarchy and men who want to rationalize inequality instead of face it and change it. We discuss how couples can address invisible labor in the home and what these issues have to do with larger systemic realities across gender, race, and class systems.

Luke—as a therapist— reflects on his process of coming to realize the language of therapy often lacks the language of systemic analysis of gender, race, and class. And Meghan names the realities of how much work it is to pretend to be happy instead of dealing with how patriarchy actually effects intimacy, parenting, and partnership.

Books Referenced in the Episode:
Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly AND
Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici 

Courses Referenced in the Episode:
Caliban and the Witch in an Time of COVID-19 AND
Men Learning Feminism at www.FeminismSchool.com

The show is hosted by Dr. Kimberly B. George, who brings a PhD in Ethnic Studies, an MA in Religious History, and further graduate training in psychodynamic psychotherapy. She is a writer, a scholar, and a consultant to organizations seeking bespoke feminist professional education programs. Contact her at www.KimberlyBGeorge.com.

The show's Patreon can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/DrKimberlyGeorge/membership

COVER ART by Nancy Guerrera
CREATIVE CONSULTING by Andrew Medlin
MUSIC by Siobhán Shiels
*With special thanks to April Freeman, Susan Crampton Davis, and Nancy Guerrera, whose initial founding sponsorships made this show possible.