The Liturgists Podcast

An American lawyer, social justice activist, founder/executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at New York University School of Law. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, he has challenged bias against the poor and minorities in the criminal justice system, especially children. He has argued multiple cases in front of the Supreme Court and helped achieve decisions that prohibit sentencing children under 18 to death or to life imprisonment without parole. Stevenson has assisted in cases that have saved dozens of prisoners from the death penalty, advocated for the poor, and developed community-based reform litigation aimed at improving the administration of criminal justice.

He initiated the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, which honors the names of each of the more than 4,000 African Americans lynched in the 12 states of the South from 1877 to 1950. He argues that the history of slavery and lynchings has influenced the subsequent high rate of death sentences in the South, where it has been disproportionately applied to minorities. Let's talk about Bryan Stevenson.

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An American political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. Ideologically a Marxist, she was a member of Communist Party USA until 1991 after which she joined the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. She is the author of over 10 books on class, feminism, and the US prison system. She involved herself in a range of leftist causes, including the second-wave feminist movement, the Black Panther Party, and the campaign against the Vietnam War. In 1991, she joined the feminist studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she became department director before retiring in 2008. Since then she has continued to write and remained active in movements such as Occupy and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

Praised by many Marxists and others on the far left, Davis has received various awards, including the Lenin Peace Prize. She has also sustained criticism for her support for political violence and her refusal to advocate for prisoners in Marxist-Leninist countries. Let's talk about Angela Davis.

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An American writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist. As a poet, she is best known for technical mastery and emotional expression, as well as her poems that express anger and outrage at civil and social injustices she observed throughout her life. Her poems, and prose largely deal with civil rights, feminism, lesbianism, illness, disability, and the exploration of black female identity. Let's talk about Audre Lorde.

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An African-American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist. Born as Cassius Marcellus Clay, he changed his name in the early sixties after converting to Islam. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston at a major upset in 1964 at age 22. He later refused to be drafted into the military during the Vietnam War, and was then arrested, found guilty of draft evasion, and stripped of his boxing titles. The ruling was later overruled during an appeal to the Supreme Court. His actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counter culture generation and the civil rights movement. Sports Illustrated has called him the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time and the greatest athlete of the 20th century. He also received two Grammy nominations. Let's talk about Muhammad Ali.

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An American theologian. Best known for his black theology and black liberation theology. His 1969 book Black Theology and Black Power provided a new way to comprehensively define the distinctiveness of theology in the black church. His message was that black power — defined as black people asserting the humanity that white supremacy denied — was the gospel in America. He argued that Jesus came to liberate the oppressed, and that white, American churches preached the gospel according to white supremacy. Let's talk about James Cone.

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An American activist and revolutionary socialist. He rose quickly in the Black Panthers based on his organizing skills, substantial oratorical gifts, and personal charisma. He took chairmanship of the Illinois state Black Panther Party after the party split. Because of his strong leadership, in 1967 the FBI identified him as a radical threat and began to subvert his activities in Chicago. In December of 1969, he was shot and killed in his bed during a pre-dawn raid of his apartment by Cook County State Attorney's office in conjunction with the the Chicago Police Department and the FBI.

At the time, the homicide was considered justified, but in 1982, a settlement of $1.85 million was paid to 9 plaintiffs after a civil lawsuit was brought against the three law enforcement organizations responsible for his death. Scholars now widely consider Hampton's death an assassination initiated under the FBI. Let's talk about Fred Hampton & The Black Panthers.

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Scapegoating is a common human response to difficult situations. We have a tendency to point to another group of people as the source of our world's woes. But is the solution simply saying "they" are the problem? What happens when "they" scapegoat "us" in response?

In this episode, Peter Rollins and Michael Gungor talk about how we can engage in productive conflict in a world where technological advancements have only highlighted how much we disagree, and how we can see ourselves through other people's eyes to overcome social challenges together.

Peter Rollins is a philosopher, storyteller, producer, public speaker, and author of numerous books, including Insurrection, The Idolatry of God, and The Divine Magician.  Peter earned his PhD in Post-Structural Thought from Queens University.

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An American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights advocate. She published seven autobiographies, many books of essays, many books of poetry, and is credited with plays, movies, and television shows. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. In 1969, her first autobiography "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" brought her into national recognition. She worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Let's talk about Maya Angelou.

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An American novelist, playwright, and activist. His essays explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in western societies. He frequently appeared on television and delivered speeches on college campuses. His church experience significantly shaped his worldview and his writing. He accused American Christianity of reinforcing the system of American slavery by lessening the pains of oppression and delaying salvation until a promised afterlife. Let's talk about James Baldwin.

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An American actor, famous for his roles throughout the 50s and 60s. In 1958, he received the nomination for best actor for his role in "The Defiant Ones" which was the first time a black actor had received such a nomination. In 1964, he won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for best actor for his role in "Lillies of the Field." In 1967 he performed in several break out films like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "In the Heat of the Night," and "To Sir, with Love." In 1974, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and in 2009 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Let's talk about Sidney Poitier.

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