Truth's Table

It’s our final BlackGirlMagic interview of the season, y’all! We are excited to have Samantha McCoy at the table with us! Samantha McCoy has provided communications support to corporations, nonprofits and entrepreneurs for over 15 years. As a public relations professional, she connects brilliant leaders with opportunities to reach new audiences and share their expertise with local and national media. She uses her industry knowledge and past experience in radio production to create holistic PR strategies that deliver continuous results.

Samantha is an experienced public speaker who is passionate about equipping leaders to share their knowledge with boldness and confidence. She has a Bachelor's in Corporate Communications from Elon University and a Master's in Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus. She loves God, quality time with friends, and great food. When she's not working, you're most likely to find her on the beach. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us!

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can save 35% off Logos Bible Software when you purchase here: https://www.logos.com/events/truthstable

Purchase I’ll See You Tomorrow: heatherthompsonday.com

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In this episode, Christina is sitting at the table with Dr. Monica Coleman author of Bipolar Faith. They discuss the intersection of faith and mental health as Dr. Coleman shares her own experience with bipolar disorder. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us!

Learn more about Dr. Coleman here:

Monica A. Coleman is Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Delaware. She spent over ten years in graduate theological education at Claremont School of Theology and Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Answering her call to ministry at age 19, Dr. Coleman brings her experiences in evangelical Christianity, black church traditions, global ecumenical work, and indigenous spirituality to her discussions of religion.

Dr. Coleman is the author or editor of six books and several articles that focus on the role of faith in addressing critical social and philosophical issues. Her memoir Bipolar Faith shares her life-long dance with trauma and depression, and how she discovers a new and liberating vision of God. Her book Making a Way Out of No Way is required reading at leading theological schools around the country. Dr. Coleman co-hosted the web series, “Octavia Tried To Tell Us: Parable for Today’s Pandemic.”

Coleman speaks widely on mental wellness, navigating change, religious diversity, and religious responses to intimate partner violence.

Purchase Bipolar Faith by Monica A. Coleman here: https://bookshop.org/books/bipolar-faith-a-black-woman-s-journey-with-depression-and-faith/9781506408590

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: https://csbible.com/

Truth’s Table Listeners can save 35% off Logos Bible Software when you purchase here: https://www.logos.com/events/truthstable

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

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In this episode, Ekemini is sitting at the table with authors/creatives, Morgan Harper Nichols and Andre Henry to talk about what it takes to pursue your passions, callings, and to nurture your gifts. They discuss the highs and the lows of being creatives in the public square. Get ready for this authentic and wise conversation. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us!

Learn more about our guests:

Morgan Harper Nichols: Popular Instagram poet and artist Morgan Harper Nichols has created her life’s work around the stories of others. Morgan’s popular Instagram feed (@morganharpernichols) has garnered a loyal online community of over two million, and she is the author of "All Along You Were Blooming", a book of poems and art she created in response to the personal stories submitted by her friends and followers. She also hosts a podcast, The Morgan Harper Nichols Show, where she shares daily reflections on finding meaning and peace in life and work. Morgan has also performed as a vocalist on several GRAMMY-nominated projects and written for various artists, including a Billboard #1 single performed by her sister, Jamie-Grace. Morgan’s iconic Instagram art has inspired millions and landed her brand partnerships with Anthropologie, Coach, Adobe, Vogue Singapore, Aerie, Target, Starbucks, Kind Bar, GAP, Splendid, John Paul Mitchell, and more. Morgan is often on the road creating, teaching, and performing, in hopes of spreading her unique inspirational message and inviting others into her creative process. Morgan currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband and son. Her latest book, Peace is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life, is available everywhere books are sold!

Andre Henry: Andre Henry is an award-winning musician, writer, and activist. He is a columnist for Religion News Service and the author of the newsletter “Hope and Hard Pills.” He is a student of nonviolent struggle, having organized protests in Los Angeles, where he lives, and studied under international movement leaders through the Harvard Kennedy School. His work in pursuit of racial justice has been featured in The New Yorker and The Nation, and on Liturgists Podcast.

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Wome…on/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: csbible.com/

Truth’s Table Listeners can save 35% off Logos Bible Software when you purchase here: www.logos.com/events/truthstable

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

PayPal: www.paypal.me/TruthsTable

Merchandise: teespring.com/truthstable

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Disclaimer: Due to technical difficulties, Christina’s audio contribution is unavailable during this episode. This might cause a disruption in the listening experience you are accustomed to from Truth’s Table. We apologize for any inconvenience. In this episode, Ekemini is sitting at the table with authors/creatives, Morgan Harper Nichols and Andre Henry to talk about what it takes to pursue your passions, callings, and to nurture your gifts. They discuss the highs and the lows of being creatives in the public square. Get ready for this authentic and wise conversation. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us! Learn more about our guests: Morgan Harper Nichols: Popular Instagram poet and artist Morgan Harper Nichols has created her life’s work around the stories of others. Morgan’s popular Instagram feed (@morganharpernichols) has garnered a loyal online community of over two million, and she is the author of "All Along You Were Blooming", a book of poems and art she created in response to the personal stories submitted by her friends and followers. She also hosts a podcast, The Morgan Harper Nichols Show, where she shares daily reflections on finding meaning and peace in life and work. Morgan has also performed as a vocalist on several GRAMMY-nominated projects and written for various artists, including a Billboard #1 single performed by her sister, Jamie-Grace. Morgan’s iconic Instagram art has inspired millions and landed her brand partnerships with Anthropologie, Coach, Adobe, Vogue Singapore, Aerie, Target, Starbucks, Kind Bar, GAP, Splendid, John Paul Mitchell, and more. Morgan is often on the road creating, teaching, and performing, in hopes of spreading her unique inspirational message and inviting others into her creative process. Morgan currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband and son. Her latest book, Peace is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life, is available everywhere books are sold! Andre Henry: Andre Henry is an award-winning musician, writer, and activist. He is a columnist for Religion News Service and the author of the newsletter “Hope and Hard Pills.” He is a student of nonviolent struggle, having organized protests in Los Angeles, where he lives, and studied under international movement leaders through the Harvard Kennedy School. His work in pursuit of racial justice has been featured in The New Yorker and The Nation, and on Liturgists Podcast. Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/ Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: https://csbible.com/ Truth’s Table Listeners can save 35% off Logos Bible Software when you purchase here: https://www.logos.com/events/truthstable Support Truth’s Table: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/TruthsTable Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In this episode, Ekemini and Christina are sitting at the table with an exceptional panel of Black children and teen authors: Khristi Lauren Adams, Esau McCaulley, Trillia Newbill, and Dorena Williamson are at the table! They discuss the importance of writing books for our children and teens, the joys, challenges, and rewards of writing for this particular audience. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table!

Learn more about our guests:

Khristi Lauren Adams is a speaker, author, youth advocate and ordained Baptist minister. Khristi is the author of Parable of the Brown Girl, Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way and its middle grade version Black Girls Unbossed: Young World Changers Leading the Way. Khristi also works as Dean of Spiritual Life & Equity at the Hill School and is an instructor of Religious Studies. Khristi is a graduate of Temple University with a degree in Advertising and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary where she obtained a Master of Divinity degree.

Rev. Esau McCaulley, PhD is an associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. His first book entitled Sharing in the Son’s Inheritance was published by T & T Clark in 2019. His second book Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope was published by IVP academic in 2020. It has won numerous awards, including Christianity Today’s book of the year. His first children’s book, Josie Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit, will be published by IVP in May 2022. He is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.

Trillia Newbell is the author of several books including A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Sacred Endurance, If God Is For Us, Fear and Faith, and the children’s books, Creative God, Colorful Us and God’s Very Good Idea. When she isn’t writing, she’s encouraging and supporting other writers as an Acquisitions Editor at Moody Publishers. Trillia is married to her best friend, Thern, they reside with their two children near Nashville, TN. You can find her at trillianewbell.com and follow her on instagram at @trillianewbell.

Dorena Williamson is a Preacher's Kid, First Lady, and longtime bridge-builder. In 1995 she and her husband planted multiracial Strong Tower Bible Church in Nashville. Whether it's in the Bible, in books, or on the big screen, Dorena loves the power of a good story, and she writes children's books that adults need too. As a mother of four, she is passionate about planting seeds of truth for the next generation. Visit her at dorenawilliamson.com.

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: https://csbible.com/

Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way by Khristi Lauren Adams : https://bookshop.org/books/unbossed-how-black-girls-are-leading-the-way/9781506474267

Purchase Black Girls Unbossed: Young World Changers Leading the Way by Khristi Lauren Adams: https://bookshop.org/books/black-girls-unbossed-young-world-changers-leading-the-way/9781506479231

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/TruthsTable

Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

It wouldn’t be a Truth’s Table season without a BlackGirlMagic Interview! We are honored to have Christina Faith at the table as our August Black Girl Magic guest. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us!

Learn more about Christina Faith: Christina was born in Atlantic City, NJ and creatively made in Philadelphia, PA, Christina Faith is a director, writer and producer with a passion for bold, original storytelling in all genres. After securing her Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and African American Studies from Rutgers University, Faith furthered her education by pursuing a Masters of Divinity from Eastern University. Prepared to use her degrees to help better the world around us with a career in social work, Faith’s undeniable love for storytelling and cinema led her to change paths to filmmaking. Decision made, Faith committed completely to learning how to tell stories with power and purpose in all forms of visual media.

She likes to say (partially in jest): “As a filmmaker, I’m 100% self-taught. I got my MFA from YouTube and Google University.” Having earned her skillset through relentless curiosity and hard work, Faith entered the professional marketplace by forming Creative Thought Media, a full-service production company and artist collective that focuses on creating original content and educational mentorship. Through this company, Faith

has produced, written, and directed feature films, serialized digital programming, commercials, music videos, and shorts. Faith remains highly dedicated to empowering others, giving back and cultivating the next generation, which has led her to take a role as a Professor of Film at Esperanza College.

Over the past decade, Faith’s creative projects have included directing, writing and producing the original scripted digital series SINGLE AND ANXIOUS (22 episodes), short films (CARLOS, PLAN B, and The REUNION), and documentaries (16 for 16: The Contenders). Faith takes great pride in realizing work that often brings voice to the types of characters that have long been marginalized or overlooked by today’s culture.

2021 proved to be a breakout year for Faith as she released two well received feature-length films, LOVE YOU RIGHT: AN R&B MUSICAL and WHO IS CHRISTMAS EVE?

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can save 35% off Logos Bible Software when you purchase here: https://www.logos.com/events/truthstable

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/TruthsTable

Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In this episode, Ekemini and Christina are back at the table to talk about their new daily podcast, “Get in The Word with Truth’s Table” created in partnership with IVP. For just 15-20 minutes a day, you can listen to Christina and Ekemini narrate the whole Bible in a year Scripture and offer thoughtful prayers.Get ready to hear them divulge how this podcast came about, why it was important, and the hard yet loving labor it takes to create a daily podcast of this caliber. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us!

Make sure you subscribe, listen, and review our new podcast, Get in The Word With Truth’s Table: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xGUOttAsgTJEo2HVwKPVC?si=527b07ee11864953

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: https://csbible.com/

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/TruthsTable

Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In this special episode of Truth’s Table, Ekemini sits down at the table with Nelba Marquez-Greene, the mother of Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, who was killed in the Sandy Hook school massacre. Truth’s Table is honored to have Nelba at the table to talk about her beloved daughter, Ana Grace, ongoing grief, and political action needed to keep our children safe. Pull up a chair, grab some tissue, and have a seat at the table with us.

Learn more about Nelba Marquez-Greene:

Nelba holds a Bachelor of Music from the Hartt School and a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from St. Joseph College. Nelba taught and supervised at the Family Therapy program at the University of Winnipeg’s Aurora Family Therapy Centre and later worked as the Coordinator for Klingberg Family Therapy Center’s outpatient child and adolescent psychiatric clinic. She also served as adjunct faculty at Central Connecticut State University.

Nelba founded the CTAMFT (Connecticut Association for Marriage and Family Therapy) Diversity Committee and served on the CTAMFT Board of Directors. For her advocacy, she received the 2004 Minority Fellowship Award by the AAMFT, the 2004 Distinguished Professional Service Award, and the 2013 Service to Families Award by the CTAMFT.

In 2018, she was profiled as one of “100 Women of Color” and a YWCA (CT) Women’s Leadership Award recipient. She was featured in People Magazine’s October 2019 issue as one of Ten Women Changing the World and also recognized by Chelsea Clinton and Hillary Clinton in their Book of Gutsy Women.

Nelba has testified and advocated at the state and federal levels on many different mental health initiatives, hosted TEDx talks, and is a nationally sought after speaker. In the many years that have followed, stints in advocacy, public policy, community care, etc. have affirmed her core belief that in order to change the world we must take care of people. First- that grief, trauma and loss must be allowed in the room. Second- that tools, language, skills, resources and acceptance should be available to live a full, grieving life.

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table listeners can save 30% off The Gospel of Peace in a Violent World when they order at https://www.ivpress.com/the-gospel-of-peace-in-a-violent-world using promo code TRUTH22. That’s promo code TRUTH22 at ivpress.com for 30% off the book.

Support Truth’s Table:

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Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

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Y’all, we have come to the conclusion of our State of The Black Church series. Did not our hearts burn within us? Ours did! But before we conclude, we thought it necessary to invite Dr. Erika Gault to the table to close out this series by talking to us about the Black church in the digital space. Ekemini is sitting at the table with Dr. Gault to discuss her book, Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop. Her research captures the dynamics of the digital religious lives of Black millennials on social media. Pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us!

Learn more about Dr. Erika Gault:

Dr. Gault – a scholar of Black religion and culture – is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Program at the University of Arizona

Dr. Gault graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a doctorate in American Studies. Dr. Gault’s scholarly work demonstrates a sustained focus on the impact and outcomes of religion and technology in Black life. Her work focuses on the use of online social networks in both the research and curation of religious life among Black young adults. She has delivered keynote addresses and published a number of papers regionally, nationally, and internationally on the topics of hip-hop, religion, and digital ethnography.

Given Dr. Gault’s innovative approach to ethnography, she was awarded the 2018-2019 Louisville Institute First Book Grant for Scholars of Color. She has just completed her first single-author volume on the digital religious lives of young Black Christians with New York University Press titled Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop. It is the first work of its kind on digital Black religion. She is the co-editor of the book Beyond Christian Hip Hop: Towards Christians and Hip Hop. Other recent publications include “My People Are Free: Theorizing the Digital Black Church,” which appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Fire!!! The Multimedia Journal of Black Studies, for which she served as guest editor.

Dr. Gault is an innovator in the use of digital tools for the documentation of Black religion. She is the organizer and co-convener of the Africana Digital Humanities Institute (Africana DHi) and the live digital event "Gathering in the Moment: Mobilizing the Digital Black Church's Prophetic Witness" which drew over 15,000 viewers. In 2019, she received the Arizona Champion Award , which honors University of Arizona faculty members for excellence in research and service. Her work regarding the digital-religious lives of young adults has been shared through various media outlets, including The Conversation, Religion News Services, and The Christian Century, and as part of the Smithsonian African American Museum of African American History Black Millennials and Faith Conversation series.

Dr. Gault is a faculty fellow in the University’s Center for Digital Humanities and the Adobe Faculty Institute. Her engagement activities outside the University include mentoring teens in high school debate through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson and serving as an ordained elder in her denomination. She has won numerous slam competitions, and was the first woman to win the Toronto International Poetry Slam.

Twitter: @erikagault

Facebook: @erikadellisegault

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: https://csbible.com/

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/TruthsTable

Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

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In this episode, Ekemini and Christina are at the table with a panel full of dynamic pastors: Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale, Rev. Dr. Frank A. Thomas, Rev. Dr. Danielle Brown, & Rev. Dr. CJ Rhodes. All four of these skilled pastor-scholars bring great insight, experience, and wisdom to bear on the subject of Black preaching. As they discuss the gospel, the content of preaching, the cost of preaching, the humanity of the preacher and much more.

Learn more about each of our guests below:

Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Hale is the founding and Senior Pastor of the Ray of

Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia. Dr. Hale has been in ministry

for 43 years. Read more about Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Hale here.

Rev. Dr. Frank A. Thomas, PhD, currently serves as the Nettie Sweeney and Hugh Th. Miller Professor of Homiletics and Director of the Academy of Preaching and Celebration at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana. Read more about Rev. Dr. Frank A. Thomas, PhD here.

Rev. Dr. Danielle L. Brown was elected the tenth Senior Pastor of the Shiloh Baptist

Church in Plainfield, New Jersey on August 7, 2021. She is the first woman to hold this position since the church’s founding in 1908. Read more about Rev. Dr. Danielle Brown here.

Rev. Dr. CJ Rhodes Jr. known as the “Scholar with a Holla,” CJ received his call to Gospel ministry. In 2010 Rev. Rhodes became the youngest pastor of Mt Helm Baptist Church, the oldest historically African-American congregation in Jackson, MS. Read more about Rev. Dr. CJ Rhodes Jr. here.

Purchase our new book! Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Table-Womens-Musings-Liberation/dp/0593239733/

Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: https://csbible.com/

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/TruthsTable

Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

Truth’s Table Listeners can purchase the Christian Standard Bible: https://csbible.com/

Support Truth’s Table:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TruthsTable

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/TruthsTable

Merchandise: https://teespring.com/truthstable

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands