Activist Theology Podcast

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.

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To be in touch with Rev. Anna: [email protected] or @unholyhairetic

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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