Hi everyone,
Welcome to the second edition of our weekly newsletter! If you missed last week’s kick-off, you can find it and all of our archived newsletters and upcoming articles on our blog. Also, for those of you who received a temporary free subscription, remember that a regular subscription is the best way to support the blog; our new podcast, Shake the Dust; and future book projects. So subscribe below!
Okay, let’s get to it. This week’s resources for helping us leave colonized faith for the Kingdom of God:
Sy’s recommendations:
The Guardian puts out many of its long-form essays in a podcast format. Last Friday’s installment was actor Adetomiwa Edun’s excellent reading of the essay “‘Colonialism had never really ended’: my life in the shadow of Cecil Rhodes,” published in January and written by Oxford professor Simukai Chigudu. The author skillfully tells the story of his own life, weaving in elements of the recent history of Zimbabwe and Oxford’s fledgling efforts to grapple with its own complicity in colonialism. The story is complex, thoughtful, and vulnerable, as one of England’s disproportionately small number of Black professors explores his complicated role in fighting the legacy of Great Britain’s past from his place of relative privilege. Professor Chigudu was one of the leaders of the “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign to remove Oxford’s statue of Cecil Rhodes, the infamous colonialist and namesake of an Oxford college, a world-renowned scholarship, the former nation of Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), and, unfortunately, much more.
This one is time sensitive: the Barna Group, a company that conducts polls and studies on religious beliefs, is about to release a study on American Christians’ views on race, comparing them both across different demographics and with the general population. The study is a follow-up to the well-known 2000 book Divided by Faith. You have to pay if you want to read the whole study, but until May 15, there is a free webinar available about the study’s findings and a number of speakers analyzing them, including upcoming Shake the Dust guest Sandra Maria Van Opstal. (Note: the webinar starts at the 30-minute mark of the video).
Jonathan’s recommendations:
It is difficult to love our neighbors well if we don’t understand their context, background, and history. Indeed, it is true that when we interact with anyone, we are interacting with their families, scripts, and cultural narratives. Dr. Erika Lee, professor, historian and award-winning author educates readers with each page of her book, The Making of Asian America: A History, and invites us to follow her on a journey of learned, compassionate engagement. It’s an especially good book to move to the top of your list as Americans celebrate AAPI Heritage Month.
Dan-el Padilla Peralta is a leading expert in Ancient Greece and Rome. He is also actively decolonizing his discipline and might destroy it in the process. In her profile of Dr. Padilla, New York Times journalist Rachel Poser writes, “Classics had been embraced by the far right, whose members held up the ancient Greeks and Romans as the originators of so-called white culture. Marchers in Charlottesville, Va., carried flags bearing a symbol of the Roman state; online reactionaries adopted classical pseudonyms; the white-supremacist website Stormfront displayed an image of the Parthenon alongside the tagline 'Every month is white history month.’” To do the work of decolonization, we must understand how it began, and that includes the creation of Western Civilization.
Suzie’s recommendations:
Even as critical race theory continues to come under attack in conservative political and theological circles, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College Nathan Cartagena remains committed to teaching it to his evangelical students. This thought-provoking interview expands on why he believes a true understanding of CRT is beneficial to the church, and on his approach of “turning philosophical water into theological wine.” Professor Cartagena also offers an extended, multi-post series on the origins and themes of CRT on his blog. Another helpful resource on this topic is Pastor Rasool Berry’s treatment of how Christians can learn from CRT released in our anthology last year.
Last week, Human Rights Watch published an extensive report contending that the treatment of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation amounts to crimes of apartheid and persecution. Women Behind the Wall is a podcast series that provides a first-hand glimpse into the lives of Palestinian Christian women residing in the occupied territories. Produced in 2018, their remarkable accounts of love, forgiveness, struggle, resilience, and hope are just as poignant and relevant today. If you are interested in delving more into a side of the story less frequently told, it’s a great place to start.
Shake the Dust preview:
Tomorrow’s episode of Shake the Dust features Rich Villodas, pastor, speaker, and author of the award-winning book, The Deeply Formed Life. We discuss his book; what it’s like pastoring an extremely diverse community out of white supremacy; the relationship between emotional health, discipleship, and anti-racism; how he maintains joy; and a lot more. Give it a listen, and remember to subscribe to the show, and rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts.
Bonus:
Shout-out to Jesse Wheeler, one of the contributors to our anthology, for alerting us to an article published in Vogue this week featuring another one of the anthology’s contributors, Jeanelle Austin. It’s a powerful testimony to Austin’s intentional labor of love and solidarity building and preserving the George Floyd Global Memorial. The piece’s author is also currently working on a documentary highlighting Austin’s work, so we will certainly keep you posted on that.
This week marked the passing of a giant. Long before widespread talk on decolonizing theology, there was Carlos René Padilla, doing everything he could to alert the Western Church to the ways its culture was distorting theology and missions. Padilla faithfully dedicated his life to serving and speaking on behalf of the poor in Latin America, despite many opportunities to live a much more comfortable life in the global north. Here another contributor to our anthology, Robert Chao Romero, reflects on the foundations of Padilla’s theology and the importance of his legacy in the recently released video series based on Dr. Romero’s award-winning book, Brown Church. Professor Cartagena will also be exploring Padilla’s theology of the Holy Spirit on his blog in the coming weeks. You can find the first post here.
Thanks so much for reading. Next week, we will start putting up some other writing from the three of us in addition to the newsletter. We’ll see you then!
The KTF team - Jonathan, Suzie, and Sy