Pray With our Feet

Kindness must move beyond pleasantries and root us in action and justice. Mom and I chat with Kaitlin Johnstone, co-founder of Kind Cotton and former educator; she and her husband, Kevin, are on a mission to bring 1 million inclusive books to kids with every purchase of a Kind Cotton tee, tote bag or other product. Kind Cotton uplifts the work of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ children's authors, along with books focused on social emotional learning. "What we are putting out into the world are our values, " Kaitlin says.

Throughout this episode, we discuss what sparked the creation of Kind Cotton, the ways kindness is weaponized, and why moving beyond this is essential for collective liberation, building authentic community, centering inclusive education, and modeling social justice and activism for our kids. We also dive into Kaitlin's journey of discovering she is neurodivergent, and the importance of radical self care for activists.

There are many ways you can support the work of Kind Cotton - join their Tee of the Month Club, and receive a brand new, discounted Kind Cotton release monthly. You can also purchase inclusive children's books on their website and gift them to the kids in your life, or donate monthly to make sure kids all over the country receive access to a diverse array of books. And stay connected with the Kind Cotton community on social media through Instagram and TikTok.

Help Us Spread the Word!

If you enjoy the Pray with our Feet podcast, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, where you can subscribe to the show. You can also listen on Spotify, and on all major streaming platforms.

BE in Community with Us:

Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our online store.

Head over to Instagram and Threads where the conversation continues between episodes.

Enjoy our @PrayWithOurFeet IG Live series, Move it Forward Monday, uplifting conversations that spark change with activists, community leaders, artists and more.

Special thank you to my husband Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.

Based in Oakland, CA, Porsche Veu aka The Poetic Activist is a gifted author, speaker, educator and poet, who tackles the challenging racial and social justice issues of our day head on, without apology.

We discuss her faith journey, the urgency of truth telling and becoming comfortable with discomfort, the roots of White supremacy within the American church, and how she uses her work to move people beyond performative change while centering the urgency of inner work. Porsche uses her art to fight social injustice, empower women, youth, the Black community, and advocate for mental and emotional health. Porsche's first vulnerable stage poem "Caesar: A Poem About Suicide,"an ode to her dog and a story of fighting for mental health, pushed her to be unapologetically vulnerable and encourage others to erase shame, and tell their own stories.

Her book, Two Kinds of Fire, explores how spiritual and emotional fire transformed her life, and gives her a distinct voice for those who are overlooked in our society. From a Ted Talk to Google and The Black Women's March, Porsche has been invited to speak, perform, and teach at a variety of events, workshops, and creative spaces, leaving audiences feeling challenged, motivated and inspired. Because, "Jesus and justice go together, she reminds us.

Stay Connected with Porsche Veu aka The Poetic Activist - - Visit her website

- Follow her on Instagram, @ThePoeticActivist, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

- And don't forget to check out her poem, Jokes ("America is the comedian whose been in the game for decades and still ain't funny. Tells the worst jokes known to mankind, then gets mad when you don't laugh.") which we uplifted in our conversation.

Help Us Spread the Word!

If you enjoy the Pray with our Feet podcast, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, where you can subscribe to the show. You can also listen on Spotify, and on all major streaming platforms.

BE in Community with Us:

Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our online store. Use the discount Code CELEBRATE5 (in honor of our 5th year anniversary) for free shipping until Sunday, September 1!

Head over to Instagram and Threads where the conversation continues between episodes.

Enjoy our @PrayWithOurFeet IG Live series, Move it Forward Monday, uplifting conversations that spark change with activists, community leaders, artists and more.

Special thank you to my husband Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer!

In honor of Baldwin's 100th birthday, we are sharing this episode again - a conversation with Adam Hollowell and Jamie McGhee, founders of Praying with Baldwin, discussing their powerful book: You Mean It or You Don't: James Baldwin's Radical Challenge. One of the most prolific writers and thinkers of the 20th century, Baldwin's words continue to awaken us. Drawing from his extensive body of work - fiction, poetry speeches and interviews, McGhee and Hollowell call us to embody our activism. There are prompts at the end of each chapter to help us take action - whether concerning police brutality, racial justice or LGBTQ+ rights.

Our discussion also lifts up the urgency of dialouging across differences, looking inward, intergating ways we are either unaware of oppression or compilict, what seeking justice and love within our communities and church spaces. Showing up in faith and action takes consistent work. None of us will ever have it "figured out," but commitment keeps us on the path.

Learn more about the Praying with Baldwin project, "a sequence of prayers that originally launched August 2, 2017." Over 30 days Jamie and Adam prayed the last words of "those who have been killed by racism and police violence and prayed for the courage to take "First Steps" to change the world around them. You can download a PDF version here.

Stay Connected with Jamie and Adam:

Website: Praying with James Baldwin

Instagram: @prayingbaldwin

Twitter: @prayingbaldwin

Help Us Spread the Word!

If you enjoy the Pray with our Feet podcast, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, where you can subscribe to the show. You can also listen on Spotify, and on all major streaming platforms.

Shop the Pray with our Feet Store or Donate!

Visit the Pray with our Feet store and find everything from tees to mugs and more. You can also donate on our website. Help us power the movement!

Our podcast is produced by Keston De Coteau, award-winning videographer and photographer.

As Christians, we must say, "not in our name," as we continue witnessing the genocide of our Palestinian siblings. Mom and I sat down with Crystal Silva-McCormick, a member of Christians for a Free Palestine (CFFP), to discuss their mission, the urgency of unlearning Christian Zionism, and educating ourselves about apartheid in Palestine.

Crystal also uplifts CFFP's upcoming Interfaith Action for Palestine, in D.C. (July 28-30, 2024) with a diverse coalition of faith partners (Jewish Voice for Peace, Mennonite Action, Hindus for Human Rights, RabbisForCeasefire, etc.) to counter Christians United for Israel's (CUFI) annual summit. "CUFI is the largest pro-Israel organization in the U.S." centering militarism, alongside white Christian supremacy and genocidal policies. This action focuses on "disrupting CUFI's supremacist agenda, and calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza."

Learn more about in-person public events such as the Interfaith Service (July 29) and Interfaith Rally (July 30) and participating online by visiting their website. Stay connected to the work of Christians for a Free Palestine here.

Additional Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• Israelism, a documentary by Jewish filmmakers

  When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns. They join a movement of young American Jews battling the old guard to redefine Judaism's relationship with Israel, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.

• Romero Chronicles the amazing true transformation of an apolitical, complacent priest to a committed leader, who started a revolution without guns, without an army and without fear...)

HELP Spread the Word about Pray with our Feet Podcast!

>>> If you enjoy our podcast, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! This helps us reach more people, and build beloved community in the spirit of Matthew 25:40 (Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for me.)

BE in Community with Us:

Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our online store. Use the discount Code CELEBRATE5 (in honor of our 5th year anniversary) for free shipping until Sunday, September 1!

Head over to Instagram and Threads where the conversation continues between episodes.

Enjoy our @PrayWithOurFeet IG Live series, Move it Forward Monday, uplifting conversations that spark change with activists, community leaders, artists and more.

Special thank you to my husand Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.

We've missed you all! We're back with our 5th season!

Given the state of our world, Mom and I are centering the urgnecy of rooting in God's radical love; our guiding verse of scripture this season is 1 Cornithians 13:13 - "And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Throughout this episode, we discuss embodying God's call to love radically, building beloved community, connecting more deeply with God in prayer (and some ways to do this), while also centering prayer for the many who are suffering in Palestine (hostages both Israeli and Palestinian), Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and here, within the U.S. as we live through election season.

Mom and I also uplift some upcoming guests this season - Lindsey Krinks, co-founder of Open Table Nashville (outreach and advocacy for persons experiencing homelessness) and author of Praying with our Feet: Pursuing Justice and Healing on the Streets, Kaitlin Johnstone, co-founder of Kind Cotton (tees and merch. that powers the distribution of inclusive books for kids across the country), Porsche Veu (@ThePoeticActivist - poet, speaker, educator and artist) and Christians for a Free Palestine, among others.

And this Disability Pride Month, we hear the voice of disabled Chrisitan civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer who said: "Nobody's free, until everybody's free."

Resources Mentioned during this Epsiode:

• Three Ways to Show Up for Disability Pride Month, a blog post written by our co-host, Emelda "E" for her small business and communinity, When Motherhood Looks Different, LLC, inspired by her daughter Nai who is neurodivergent.
• Check out this article on disabled voices of faith to start learning from today, including My Body is not a Prayer Request by Amy Kenny and Dr. Hardwick, The Autism Pastor.
• Friends of Congo
• Munther Isaac and Christ at the Checkpoint
• Sudanese American Physicians Association
• Rabbis4Ceasefire

Pray with our Feet Shop:

• Check out our online shop - official podcast tee, Pray with our Feet, The Revolution Needs our Joy tee, our water bottles, and more! Use the discount Code CELEBRATE5 for free shipping until Sunday, September 1!

Move It Forward Monday IG Live Series - @PrayWithOurFeet

New season of our Move it Forward Monday IG Live series (now bi-monthly); the latest chat on Trauma-Informed Activism & Healing is with Kimberly Brazwell, founder of KiMISTRY, a story strategy firm that specializes in trauma informed social justice. One of her latest offerings (which is a series of books) -Jotnal Book (The Phoenix Edition), grounds us in this practice.

Special thank you to my husand Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.

What if we broke away from fearing intuition, and began embracing it as another way God speaks to us? I recently sat down with Katrina "Trina" Dilag, founder of Radical Visionary Collective, 2x certified spiritual life coach, and social justice advocate.

We chat about healing as resistance to harmful systems, normalizing out-of-the box spirituality in churches, ditching toxic theology to develop an intimate relationship with God, and her latest offering, Intuition Activation, an 8 week course (launched June 19); it is a culmination of 20 years of experience in spirituality and healing which includes serving as a minister to youth and young adults and working within healing communities.

Trina supports conscious community leaders, ministers and mothers with stepping into their higher callings through alignment, abundance and inner healing. Throughout her work at the intersections of faith + justice (pulling from the wisdom of respected community elders of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement), she centers the power of visioning, ancestral connection, and decolonization to create a world of love & liberation for all.

Stay Connected with Trina -

Instagram: @RadicalVisionaryCollective

Website: Radical Visionary Collective

Stay Connected With Pray with our Feet -

Snag your Pray with our Feet notebook (Prayer without Action is Performance) and find more merch. in our online shop.

Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our NEW online store.

Head over to Instagram, Twitter and TikTok where the conversation continues between episodes.

Special thank you to my husand Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.

The climate is in crisis, but that doesn't mean change is impossible. I caught up with Holly Petersen, the inspiring co-founder of Christian Climate Action (CCA) about planet activism rooted in our faith. Christian Climate Action is a community of Christians supporting each other to take meaningful action for the planet. Inspired by Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, and following the example of social justice movements of the past, CCA carries out acts of public witness, nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to urge those in power to make the changes needed.

We discuss how Holly sees Jesus and justice as inextricably linked (shared so powerfully in this YouTube video), the many ways CCA is standing up for the planet from prayerful protests to pushing church leadership, business, and government to divest from fossil fuels.

Ways to Get Involved -

Holly shares practical steps we can all take in our church spaces to affect change, including calling on Pastors and church leaders to divest from fossil fuel investments, and stand alongside us, in the streets, at direct actions for the climate. Although this movement began in the UK, there are CCA groups around the world, and anyone can start their own by reaching out to CCA direcly.

You may also participate by attending their regular online events such as daily prayer and Saturday reflections (teaching sessions which examine various aspects of the climate emergency and biblical perspectives on how we might respond). There are also numerous ways to involve your church, learn more here. https://christianclimateaction.org/get-involved/involve-your-church/

Stay Connected with CCA -

• CCA on Instagram
• Follow CCA on YouTube and see past events / talks: https://youtube.com/@christianclimateaction3822

• CCA on Twitter: @CClimateAction and @HollyAPetersen (co-founder of Christian Climate Action)

Stay Connected With Pray with our Feet -

Snag your Pray with our Feet notebook (Prayer without Action is Performance) and find more merch. in our online shop.

Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our NEW online store.

Head over to Instagram, Twitter and TikTok where the conversation continues between episodes.

Special thank you to my husand Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.

I caught up Jennifer Magnano aka The Barefoot Preacher - writer, doula, maternal-child health advocate, and mother living with chronic illness. She honors the wild, holy work of local and global motherhood through resonant writing and speaking, companionship, resources & education. With personal experience of the chaos and complexity to exist throughout the caregiving years (in both our bodies and lives), Jennifer speaks with urgency; her goal to elicit a tender lived-response in humanity that echoes for and in our generations to come.

We chatted about -

• Breaking God out of the boxes, which can look like experiencing the Divine in the wonder of everyday moments, being in sacred relationship with God as Mother, Father, or however the Holy One shows up for us.
• Jennifer's journey of healing from religious trauma.
• What it's like to live on the edge of disability and raise two kiddos with their own health challenges.
• Her writing, which challenges us to awaken continually in multiple ways; we delved into two essays from Reclamation (her newsletter on Substack): It's Ok to Upset the Internet and Your Trauma is Welcome Here.
• Creating space in our minds, hearts and spirits for a theology rooted in collective liberation. Jennifer lifted up the work of Rev. Wilda C. Gafney, Hebrew biblical scholar and professor, Episcopal priest who teaches Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and, Womanist and Feminist Biblical Studies.

Stay Connected with Jennifer and Support Her Work:

Instagram instagram.com/thebarefootpreacher

Reclamation Newsletter jennifermagnano.substack.com

Website jennifermagnano.com

Book Bliss & Blue available on Amazon & Etsy

My Story on Love What Matters

Stay Connected With Us!

Snag your Pray with our Feet notebook (Prayer without Action is Performance) and find more merch. in our online shop.

Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our NEW online store.

Head over to Instagram, Twitter and TikTok where the conversation continues between episodes.

Special thank you to my husand Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.

The ASK: Prayer + Action ministry is a space for all of us to come together, communally, at the intersections of our Christian faith and activism; here we commit to praying together (virtually on Zoom) around a specific issue each month - climate justice, anti-racism, mental health, police brutality, violence and harm against people living on the margins ( immigrants, communities of color, our LGBTQ+ siblings, etc.), and taking a concrete action in the work towards the change we wish to see realized in our world.

This ministry is a continuation of Dad's work; he started the ASK prayer ministry when my brother and I were kids. It was rooted, Mom says in Matthew 7:7-8: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." You can read more about the ministry on our website.

During this first prayer meeting on Sunday, April 30, our focus is on climate justice. We're linking to some of the resources we are sharing in that meeting below (for folks who may not be able to attend):

What is Climate Justice (includes panel discussions around the six pillars of climate justice as defined by the University of California's Center for Climate Justice)

What is Climate Justice (includes panel discussions around the six pillars of climate justice as defined by the University of California's Center for Climate Justice) How Climate Colonization Impacts the Global South

In Addressing Climate Change, Business as Usual Is Climate Injustice

Action Steps - Reading & Organizing for Climate Justice The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet Resources from The Intersectional Environmentalist Organizing with Climate Justice Alliance and ways to get involved.

We're living through intense times; each of us wading through persistent grief, whether due to mass shootings, threats to American democracy, escalating attacks on marginalized communities, or our day-to-day struggles. It's clear constant movement without recharging spiritually, takes its toll.

In this episode, I share a short grounding meditation, designed to help center calm in the midst of chaos using an ever-present anchor God gave each of us, the breath. You'll also hear a prayer (specifically for us, the acctivists) following the meditation, inspired by Jesus' challenge in Matthew 25:40 - "Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done it for me."

Join us on April 30, 6pm via Zoom for our first monthly ASK Ministry: Prayer + Action meeting. Read more about the story behind this ministry (in loving memory of my Dad, Rudy) on our website, and sign up here.

Resources -

Scriptures for dealing with anxiety / stress (you can use for meditation, jounraling and prayer):

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:2 "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

Mindfulness Tools

I have trained in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and now also have certification as a TSD Mindfulness Coach. Check out a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction workbook, there are great exercises at the end of each chapter which help you make the mind, body and soul connection.

TSD mindfulness helps reduce stress, move through grief and crisis, while healing from trauma; there are concrete teachings in resilience, acceptance, being present and self-compassion (which I see as deeply connected to community care). You can read more about it here.

And look out for upcoming offerings through Pray with our Feet that center mindfulness for folks like us, spiritual activists.

Stay Connected With Us!

Snag your Pray with our Feet notebook (Prayer without Action is Performance) and find more merch. in our online shop.

Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our NEW online store.

Head over to Instagram, Twitter and TikTok where the conversation continues between episodes.

Special thank you to my husand Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.