The Justice Briefing with Dr. Jemar Tisby

Finally, finally, finally you can pre-order my latest book The Spirit of Justice: Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance! This is a book for all those who are weary and heavy-laden. It encourages you by telling the true stories of people who found reservoirs of strength—what I call the spirit of justice—to resist oppression and keep on keeping on. If you pre-order the book you get several bonuses....

I went to Northern Ireland as part of an endeavor hosted by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Telos Group. We were looking at justice and peacemaking in the context of worship. To that end we visited places such as Corrymeela, Derry, Giant’s Causeway, Clonard Monastery, and Stormont just to name a few. In this very special episode of Footnotes, I offer some of my reflections about...

In this episode I talk with first-time author Ronald Olivier whose life is a movie...or at least a book. He wrote "27 Summers: My Journey to Freedom, Forgiveness, and Redemption During My Time in Angola Prison." As a historian and racial justice advocate, I've made incarceration one of my primary areas of focus in terms of action and raising awareness. That's why I was honored and...

Racism, white supremacy, and the attempt to control Black bodies didn't go away after the Civil War. As I often say, "Racism never goes away, it adapts." One of the ways racism persists is through our criminal legal system, especially the death penalty.  Joia Erin Thornton is the founder and executive director of the faith leaders of color coalition (flocc). Through her organization sh...

How do you keep the flame of justice burning in the midst of so much misery and disappointment? A new book, Heart on Fire: 100 Meditations on Loving Your Neighbor Well, is just what you need.  In this episode I get to interview first-time author and long-time artist, Dani Coke Balfour. We talk about how art relates to activism and how all of us have a role to play in doing "good work."  Be...

On this episode of Footnotes, join me as I delve into an enlightening conversation with the esteemed author Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley, discussing his highly anticipated new book "How Far to the Promised Land."  Episode Highlights:  We talk about how Black Christians in white evangelical spaces get "pushed out, burned out, or sell out" and how McCaulley has endured in his place of wor...

According to a Psychology Today article, racial and ethnic minorities represent 30 percent of the population, yet 83.6 percent of mental health professionals identify as non-Hispanic White. And only about 5 percent of students enrolled in graduate level psychology programs are Black.  Adebisi Gbadamosi is a Black woman therapist who specializes in addressing racial and religious trauma. She specia...

The United States has five percent of the world's population but 25 percent of its incarcerated individuals. But the statistics only tell part of the story. Behind the numbers are real people.  Stanley Frankart is someone who made it out of the prison system and is now helping others to do the same.  Through the nonprofit he co-founded, Young Christian Professionals, Frankart and his team offe...

Racism is not an ideology invented by people of African descent—people of European descent who are considered white hold that dubious distinction. So what is the role of white people in fighting racism?  In part four of the Fighting Racism series, I talk with Shelley and David Park. They are the transracial adoptive parents of a son who is Black. They also composed a curriculum called “Let's T...

In this episode we are going to talk with someone who knows all too well the challenges of environmental racism externally and the challenges of fighting for racial and ethnic diversity internally at a company.  We are joined by Abigail Oduaol. She works for an organization called Earthjustice which employs more than 500 people. She serves as a senior development office but has also taken it upon...

In this episode we hear what one homeschooling parent, Brytni McNeil is doing to create a more racially inclusive and honest culture in homeschooling. Brytni is so graciously vulnerable in sharing her story of coming from a colorblind approach to race to becoming color-conscious. She talks about the challenges of being a Black homeschooling parent and how she is working to make homeschooling famil...

“Welcome to the FIGHTING RACISM series, a project that explores how real people just like you are fighting racism in their everyday lives. My name is Dr. Jemar Tisby. I'm a historian, an author, a speaker, and a professor of history at Simmons College of Kentucky, and I will be your host and guide throughout this series. In this episode I unpack the ARC of Racial Justice and tell you how this...

"Critical Race Theory has become a lightning rod in contemporary American politics and evangelical Christianity. This irenic book offers a critical but constructive and sympathetic introduction written from a perspective rooted in Scripture and Christian Theology." I sit down with the co-authors Dr. Robert Chao Romero and Dr. Jeff Liou to talk about the need for this book and the intersect...

In his new book, "More Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew", CNN journalist John Blake shares an intimate story of his journey with race, faith, and forgiveness.  In this interview we talk about racial identity, the usefulness of the term "racial reconciliation," and a bit about The Wire.  John's book is now AVAILABLE!  Learn more a...

Jordan Neely used to dress up and do Michael Jackson impersonations. But on May 1, 2023, a Marine veteran on a subway train put him in a chokehold that led to his death. Neely had allegedly been shouting on the train about how he was thirsty, hungry, and tired of his situation. Neely should not have been killed. He suffered from homelessness and mental illness and the system failed him, we failed...

In what is becoming a disturbing pattern in Christian higher education, I was contacted by another professor who was fired for her teachings about racial justice.  Professor Julie Moore, formerly of Taylor University, taught a composition class with a racial justice theme. She's been doing this for years. But in January of 2023, her provost refused to renew her contract. As part of the paltry...

Jon Ward is senior political correspondent for Yahoo News, author of Camelot's End: Kennedy v Carter and the Fight that Broke the Democratic Party (Twelve Books, 2019), and host of “The Long Game” podcast. Jon has covered American politics and culture for two decades, as a city desk reporter in Washington D.C., as a White House correspondent, and as a national affairs correspondent who has tra...

The 2023 women's NCAA championship game broke records for viewership, and racist reactions also broke the internet.  Two phenomenal players--Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese--used the same "can't see me" gesture during basketball games in the series. One player garnered almost no attention, or simply positive attention, for the gesture, while the other was lambasted.  Can you guess th...

Professor Samuel Joeckel has been teaching a unit on racial justice at Palm Beach Atlantic University for twelve years. He has been a faculty member at the school for 20 years. All of that came to an abrupt end when administrators at the school fired him for teaching about racial justice.  This is the first interview Professor Sam gave after his dismissal. We talk about his initial reactions to th...

The twenty-one years that kept Rob separated from his wife, Fox, and their six sons was long enough. As Rob survived two decades at America's bloodiest penitentiary and Fox raised their sons solo, they never stopped fighting for Rob's freedom and for their futures against the statistical odds. All the while, it was love that carried them through. The Academy Award-nominated documentary Tim...

Not only have we reduced Martin Luther King's vision to a single line from his "I Have a Dream" speech, we have also forgotten or ignored his vision for economic equity.  In this episode I talk about King's economic agenda--one that he had from the beginning of his work as a pastor and moral philosopher all the way back in the 1950s and not just in the last few years of his life. ...

Some thoughts about the Jan 6th Committee’s final hearing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charlie Cobb is a living legend of the Civil Rights movement. He has been an editor, a journalist and founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists. He is a professor. He is the author of several books. And he was the field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi from 1962-1967. In this episode Jemar talks to him about his book “That Non...

White Nation Under God Episode 5: White Christian Nationalism is not merely a set of beliefs, it is a net that ensnares real people. At one time, Chuck Armstrong, a dedicated Christian, worked closely with far-right radio host and Congressional Medal of Honor winner (under Trump), Rush Limbaugh. As Armstrong matured in his faith and had more contact with marginalized and oppressed people, he reali...

White Nation Under God Episode 4: White Christian Nationalists use Christianity as cover for their anti-democratic and repressive ideology. So other Christians have the responsibility and opportunity to resist this misuse of their religion and present a better way. Thankfully, some leaders are doing just that. Amanda Tyler is the Executive Director of BJC, and her organization was instrumental in...