Her Story Speaks

Emily Joy Allison is a queer author, artist, public speaker and yoga teacher from Nashville, TN. Her passion and work focuses on fighting sexualized violence and purity culture in Christian communities. In November of 2017, Emily took to Twitter to share her story of being groomed for an abusive relationship by a church youth leader when she was in her teens, and the #ChurchToo movement was born to expose the culture of sexual abuse and assault utterly rampant in Christian churches in America. In her debut book, #ChurchToo: How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing, Emily turns over the rocks of the church's sexual dysfunction. She reveals just what makes sexualized violence in religious contexts both ubiquitous and uniquely traumatizing. Her book also lays the groundwork for healing from a religious culture of sexual shame, secrecy, and control. Emily holds a B.A. in Philosophical Theology and Apologetics from Moody Bible Institute and is currently pursuing a Masters of Theological Studies with a concentration in religion, gender and sexuality from Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young is an author, speaker, podcaster, former news reporter, and coach. She is passionate about helping women discover God’s glory on life’s unexpected paths and flourish in their God-given callings. In this episode, Dorina shares the most painful part of her story she would never have written for herself and three young daughters. In 2003 Dorina and her husband, Ericlee, started a life together with hopes of having children and serving in ministry.  Everything seemed to be going according to plan, until at and the height of their  ministry in Haiti, Ericlee was given a devastating diagnosis. Just three months later, Dorina found herself living as a widow raising three young daughters without their dad. Dorina shares openly about her grief journey, holding on to her faith, and finding hope and joy in the midst of the hardest life chapters. In an unexpected turn of events, she also shares about how God wrote a new chapter, redeeming her story by bringing beauty to the brokenness.

Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes is a clinical psychologist, public theologian, and minister whose work focuses upon healing the legacies of racial and gender oppression. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Miami and her Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School and  is currently an associate professor at Mercer University.  Dr. Chanequa is the author of Too Heavy a Yoke: Black Women and the Burden of Strength, and her most recent book: I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation which recognizes the complexity of racism and centers the conversation on those it victimizes most: women of color.

She blends her unique background to advocate for the healing and justice in and beyond the Christian church. Beyond the classroom, Dr. Chanequa spends most of her professional energy writing and ministering to clergy and faith-based activists, and generally caping for women of color engaged in Christian social justice activism.

In my conversation today Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes shares her story of growing up as a Black girl in the south with an early awareness of racism. She shares about her faith journey and her passion to fight for justice when she was still young. Much of our conversion focuses on the crucial need to bring the voices of black women forward. As Chanequa says, “If we truly hope to work towards racial reconciliation, the perspectives of women of color must be moved from margin to center.”

In this special episode Michelle Reyes, PhD, Grace P. Cho, Tasha Jun, and Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young all join me for a vulnerable conversation about the Atlanta Massacre and the Anti-Asian hate/violence in this country. As Asian American Christian women, they share  what that means especially in this time of increased hate and violence aimed at Asian-American bodies.  In this conversation we talk about the impact of being erased and silenced as an Asian American woman and how that has affected their lives as mothers, leaders, and creatives. We also take an honest look at what justice means to them for their community and what they need from the faith communities right now. Finally, we talk about the role of Christian Nationalism, purity culture and the stereotypes of Asian American women in this timely and necessary conversation.

Tiffany Bluhm is an East Indian born, author, speaker, podcaster, and adoptive parent who is passionate about the restoration of marginalized people groups. As a minority, immigrant woman with a interracial family,  she cares deeply  about women's equality, justice, and dignity. Tiffany’s story includes serving as an Outreach Pastor at an urban mega church where she engaged parishioners with marginalized individuals. But there is another party of Tiffany’s story she wishes wasn’t hers to tell. Like many women today, Tiffany’s story has led her to take action against sexual harassment and sexual assault. In our conversation and her new book, “Prey Tell: Why We Silence Women Who Tell the Truth and How Everyone Can Speak Up”, Tiffany shares about the dynamics of power and abuse in systems we all find ourselves in.

Tasha Hunter’s story is nothing short of a miracle. A survivor in the truest sense, Tasha has overcome child abuse, incest, and an attempted suicide attempt that should have destroyed her life. Through her years of struggling with issues of abandonment and post-traumatic stress, her story brings to life her search for meaning, acceptance, and love. As a mental health advocate who now specializes in the treatment of PTSD, she provides a unique perspective on the importance of building relationships with one's self, with others, and with God. Tasha’s mission is to spread awareness about complex trauma and to give survivors a safe space to heal. Her story validates the emotional pillars of faith and forgiveness in one's lifelong recovery.

In this final episode of the four-part series celebrating Black Women, I am joined once again joined by Marcie Alvis-Walker from @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends and special guests: author and therapist; Tasha Hunter, and Historian; Lettie Shumate from @sincerely.lettie.  In this conversation, we continue our discussion about Black women throughout our history focusing on Black women as our first ladies of democracy. From Fannie Lou Hammer to Michelle Obama to Kamala Harris, we discuss the the role of black women in the White House and how America has typecast the roles they can and can not play in our democracy. But as we share in this episode, once again Black women have broken through that type-casting and plotted their own freedom with their history of political rebellion and rising above the status quo.

In episode three of a four-part series during Black History Month, we celebrate BLACK WOMEN. I am joined once again by Marcie Alvis-Walker from @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends and special guests Patricia Taylor from the popular blog and instagram account ‘Some Thoughts from Your Black Friend’; author and therapist Tasha Hunter and Historian Lettie Shumate from @sincerely.lettie. In this conversation, we continue our discussion about distorted ideas and images of Black women throughout history; from the asexual mammy image to the hypersexual jezebel stereotype to black women as the backbone of society. This episode is not for young ears, and for those of you who have sexual trauma as part of your story should approach this episode with caution, as the history we share could be triggering. The tragic story of Sarah Baartman is shared as we discuss how her story weaves throughout the history of the voyeurism and consumption of Black women's bodies. Guests very candidly and openly share their own stories of learning to embrace their Black bodies while being under the white gaze and how they have had to fight to love and accept the skin they are in. Finally, my guests share their own personal Black women ‘SHE-ROS’ who they feel fully encompass mind, body, and spirit.

In episode two of a 4-part series during Black History we celebrate BLACK WOMEN. Once again I am joined by Marcie Alvis-Walker from @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends and special guests Patricia Taylor from the popular blog and instagram account "Some Thoughts from Your Black Friend" and author and therapist, Tasha Hunter. We pick up where we left off in our last conversation and discuss the origins of distorted ideas and images of Black women vs their actual roles in our history. My guests share their thoughts on the movie "The Help" and why it is not an accurate portrayal of the stories of Black women. We dive into the stories of the real life Black women to be celebrated From Rebecca West to Nancy Green to Georgia Gilmore

In this special episode I am joined by Marcie Alvis-Walker. This month Marcie joins me each with as we celebrate Black Women in American History. We talk about the stories of Black women who are often overlooked or hidden from our mainstream History lessons—from the Kitchen to the White House. In this particular episode we talk about “The Jemima Code” and celebrate how from the beginning of our country’s history, Black women have excelled as chefs, cook and running the households they were put in charge of. We also talk about the integration of food in America and the story behind some of our favorite foods and recipes.