Shows
Soulful RevolutionariesA Theology of Softness: Black Imagination, Collective Liberation & Living “Enfleshed”Hello Soulful Revolutionaries,Lately, we have been thinking about the kind of faith that begins not in certainty, but in softness. About how, in the midst of ache, disaster, dysfunction, and unrest, tenderness might still be a radical act of resistance, a way of remaking the world in love.In this week’s conversation, we sit down with theologian, writer, PhD student, and co-director of enfleshed, Robert Monson, whose life and work rise from the rich soil of Black liberation theology and womanist wisdom. As a Black disabled man, Robert invites us to consider how ou...
2025-10-2954 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 11: "Dreaming Up Pedagogies that Heal"Send us a textThis is the third episode in a three-part series hosted by podcast host Dr. Mitzi Smith in which she engages in conversation with the members of the "Dreaming Up Pedagogies that Heal" project. They discuss the "classroom" as a space that embodies their dreams, where they risk embodied dreaming, that affirms students' dreams, and where dreams live and not die. The co-leaders of the project are Drs. Kenneth Ngwa and Arthur Pressley (both of Drew Theological School), and the workshop participants are the following,The workshop participant-scholars are: Althea Spencer-Miller, Dre...
2024-12-201h 13
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 10: "Dreaming Up Pedagogies that Heal"Send us a textIn this episode 10, the 2nd of a three-part series, podcast host Dr. Mitzi Smith interviews the co-leaders, Drs. Kenneth Ngwa and Arthur Pressley (both of Drew Theological School) and the participants of the "Dreaming Up Pedagogies that Heal" project. The workshop participant-scholars are: Althea Spencer-Miller, Drew Theological School; Moses Biney, Bethel Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, NY; Israel Kamudzandu, St Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Missouri; Ericka Dunbar, Baylor University; Aliou Niang, Union Theological Seminary; Sharon Williams, Iona University; Alice Yafeh-Deigh, Azusa Pacific University; Andrew Mb...
2024-12-161h 09
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 9 “Dreaming Up Pedagogies that Heal”Send us a textIn this episode, podcast host Dr. Mitzi Smith interviews the co-leaders, Drs. Kenneth Ngwa and Arthur Pressley (both of Drew Theological School) and the participants of the "Dreaming Up Pedagogies that Heal" project. The workshop participant-scholars are: Althea Spencer-Miller, Drew Theological School; Moses Biney, Bethel Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, NY; Israel Kamudzandu, St Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Missouri; Ericka Dunbar, Baylor University; Aliou Niang, Union Theological Seminary; Sharon Williams, Iona University; Alice Yafeh-Deigh, Azusa Pacific University; Andrew Mbuvi, Albright College. The co-lea...
2024-12-121h 05
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 8: After-the-Podcast Womanist Talk, "Shoot'n da Breeze"Send us a textIn Season 2, Episode 8, podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith and her guests from Season 2, Episode 7, Dr. CL Nash, Dr. Carol Marie Webster, Dr. Almeena Al-Rasheed, and Rev. Shandon Klein stay by to reflect on some of the themes and womanist issues and concerns raised (and not raised) in the podcast. Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!
2024-10-2646 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 7: Part II Black Women’s Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled TowersSend us a textIn Episode 7 of Season 2, Dr. Mitzi Smith's guests are two editors, Dr. CL Nash and Dr. Carol Marie Webster of a special issues of The African Journal of Gender and Religion Vol. 30 No 1 (2024) entitled "Black Women’s Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled Towers." We are also joined by two contributors, Rev. Shandon Klein (Ph.D. Candidate) and Dr. Ameena Al-Rasheed. Rev. Klein discusses her essay, "Empowered Resistance: The Impact of an African Indigenous Faith on the 'Woman Who Was More Than a Man'." Dr. Al-Rasheed talks about her essay, "Sufi Islam and An...
2024-10-261h 02
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 6: Theopoetics in Color by Drs. Oluwatomisin Oredein & Lakisha Lockhart-RuschSend us a textDr. Mitzi J. Smith's guests are Drs. Oluwatomisin Oredein and Lakisha Lockhart-Rusch, the co-editors of Theopoetics in Color: Embodied Approaches to Theological Discourses (Grand Rapids: Wm B Eerdmans, 2024). Available at Amazon.com, Eerdman's publishing, and other book sellers.Dr. Oluwatomisin Oredein is Assistant Professor in Black Religious Traditions, Constructive Theology and Ethics at Brite Divinity School, Texas. Dr. Oredein is a graduate of The University of Virginia (BA) and Duke Divinity School (MDiv). She completed her ThD at Duke in Theology and Ethics in May 2017. Her dissertation examined the t...
2024-10-0456 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 5: "Black Women's Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled Towers"Send us a textIn Season 2, Episode 5, podcast host welcomes co-editors and contributors of the special issue of the African Journal of Gender and Religion entitled "Black Women's Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled Towers."Co-editors:Dr. CL Nash is a Political Theology Research Felow at the University of Edinburgh's School of Social and Political Science and a recent recipient of the prestigioous JIAS Writing Fellowship. Nash directs the Misogynoir to Mishpat ("hatred of Black women to justice") Research Network.Dr. Geeta Patel is an interdisciplinary scholar, poet/translator, curator, and writer-activist...
2024-08-311h 07
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 4: "Horror and Religion" with Dr. DeAnna M. DanielsSend us a textPodcast Host, Dr. Mitzi J. Smith's guest is Dr. DeAnna M. Daniels. She is Assistant Professor of Africana and Religious Studies at the University of Arizona. In 2023 Dr. Daniels earned her Ph.D. in Religion with a concentration in African American Religion from Rice University. Her scholarly interests are diverse, focusing on Black religion, the intersections of gender and sexuality, Black speculative fiction and horror, popular and visual culture, and art and aesthetics. Additionally, her research engages critical theory, disability theory, Black studies, and cultural studies. In this episode we discuss horror and...
2024-08-031h 00
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 3: "Queer Women Preaching" by Rev. Dr. Tijuana GraySend us a textIn Episode 3 of Season 2, Podcast host, Dr. Mitzi J. Smith talks with Rev. Dr. Tijuana Gray (DMin, Columbia Theological Seminary) about her completed doctor of ministry project: "Queer Black Women Preaching: Womanist Thought as a Tool for Normalizing Uncomfortable Conversations."Rev. Dr. Tijuana L. Gray recently received her Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in May 2024 and marked the ninth anniversary of her ordination to the ministry with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. She also holds a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary, a...
2024-07-1951 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 2: The Book of ClarenceSend us a textIn Season 2, Episode 2, podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith discusses the film "The Book of Clarence" with Drs. Amy Lindeman Allen (Assoc. Prof. of New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary, IN) , Kyle Brooks (Visiting Asst. Prof. of Theology and Religious Studies at the Univ. of San Diego), and Tina Pippin (Prof. of Bible & Religion at Agnes Scott College). The film written in the Black radical imagination focuses on the journey and evolution of Clarence, the twin brother of the apostle Thomas. We discuss the racial, gendered, political, theological, christological, pedagogical, and ethical dimensions and...
2024-06-141h 12
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 2, Episode 1: Black Women, Black Love Interview with Dr. Dianne StewartSend us a textPodcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith interviews Dr. Dianne Stewart about her book Black Women, Black Love: America's War on Africa American Marriage (Seal, 2020). This is an important study of the systematic and unrelenting terroristic attack on Black love and marriage through the capture of Africans, enslavement, emancipation, reconstruction, civil rights era and in the present. We discuss the negative and debilitating impact of Christian theology and uncritical readings of the Bible support problematic patriarchal marriage and partnerships. Dr. Stewart's website is https://www.diannemstewart.com/about . Support the show
2024-06-0757 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 21: Conversation with Dr. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Professor, Author, ScreenwriterSend us a textIn this episode 21 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith talks with Dr. Clenora Hudson-Weems about the 18 tenets of Africana Womanism, which is a term Hudson-Weems conceptualized. The sixth edition of Dr. Clenora Hudson-Weems' classic text Africana Womanism: Reclaiming Ourselves will be published this year by Routledge. Dr. Hudson-Weems is Professor of English at University of Missouri. She was the first to argue that the lynching of Emmett Till was the impetus for the civil rights movement. Her recently published edited volume Africana-Melanated Womanism: In It Together (Cambridge Scholars) is available from Amazon and other...
2023-03-311h 20
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 20: Conversation with Dr. Kenneth Ngwa, Professor, Author, ActivistSend us a textIn Episode 20, podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith dialogues with Dr. Kenneth Ngwa, Prof of Hebrew Bible, Drew University Theological School, about his new book Let My People Live: An Africana Reading of Exodus (Westminster John Knox, 2022). Dr. Ngwa's book is available from the publisher, Amazon.com, and other book sellers. He is founder and director of the Religion and Global Health Forum at Drew and founder of "Never Stop Breathing," a research and praxis organization working at the interface of racial, social, and health justice. Support the showTha...
2023-03-2459 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 19: Conversation with Rev. Dr. Raquel S. LettsomeSend us a textIn this Episode 19, podcast host Rev. Dr. Mitzi J Smith talks with Rev. Dr. Raquel S. Lettsome, Distinguished Visiting Professor of New Testament and Womanist Hermeneutics at Eden Theological Seminary about her journey to womanism, her seminal text Call and Consequences, and her ministry (www.RSLministries.com). Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!Consider be...
2023-03-1744 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 18, Conversation with Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins, The Scholar with a CameraSend us a textIn this episode 18 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith welcomes guest and colleague Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins, the Peachtree Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA. He is a documentarian, pastor, professor who teaches with digital media, and the scholar with a camera who is building bridges to justice. He is a staunch supporter of womanism and feminism, Black women in general, and/or LGBTQI+ peoples. In this episode we discuss his latest work. Check out his website at www.drralphbasuiwatkins.org. Support the show
2023-03-0643 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 17 Conversation with Rev Dr Angela N. Parker, Asst Prof of New Testament, McAfee School of TheologySend us a textIn Episode 17 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith has a conversation with womanist colleague the Rev. Dr. Angela N. Parker. Dr. Parker is assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, Decatur, GA. We discuss how Dr. Parker became a womanist biblical scholar and her wonderful book If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I: Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWC...
2023-03-0340 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 16: Interview with Dr. Mmapula D. Kebaneilwe, Womanist HB/OT Scholar, Univ of BotswanaSend us a textIn this episode 16 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith conducts a fascinating interview with Dr. Mmapula D. Kebaneilwe, Hebrew Bible/OT Womanist Scholar, University of Botswana, Humboldt Research Scholar based in University of Bamberg, Germany, and Project Partner with Profs. J. Stiebert of Leeds University and Dr. Katie Edwards of Sheffield University (UK) on The Shiloh Project on Rape Culture, Religion, and the Bible (for which Dr. Smith is one of the consultants). Dr. Kebaneilwe discusses her upbringing in Botswana, her journey in/to womanism, and her research. She is a force!
2023-02-2359 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1 Episode 15: Conversation with Rev Dr Renita Weems and her Recent Essay on Katie CannonSend us a textHebrew Bible/OT womanist scholar, author, preacher, and public theologian Rev. Dr. Renita J. Weems is the guest of this episode 15 of Season 1 of the Beyond the Womanist Classroom Podcast. The host, Rev. Dr. Mitzi J. Smith speaks with Dr. Weems about her essay "The Biblical Field's Loss Was Womanist Ethics' Gain: Katie Cannon and the Dilemma of the Womanist Intellectual." That essay can be read in its entirety in Walking Through the Valley: Womanist Explorations in the Spirit of Katie Geneva Cannon, edited by Emilie M. Townes, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Alison P. Gise J...
2023-02-0359 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 14 Interview with Rev Dr Sharon Ellis DavisSend us a textIn this Episode 14, podcast host Rev. Dr. Mitzi J Smith (womanist scholar, author, professor) interviews Rev. Dr. Sharon Ellis Davis about her new book The Trauma of Sexual and Domestic Violence: Navigating My Way through Individuals, Religion, Policing and the Courts. Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!Consider becoming a monthly subscriber of this pod...
2022-12-0254 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 13 Interview with Dr. CL Nash of Misogynoir to MishpatSend us a textIn this Episode of Beyond the Womanist Classroom, podcast host Dr. Mitzi Smith interviews Dr. C L Nash about her womanist activist work in the United Kingdom and her brainchild Misogynoir to Mishpat, a website devoted to the work of Black women (of African descent) religious scholars. Listeners can find Misogynoir to Mishpat on Facebook and Twitter.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please...
2022-11-2541 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 12: Black Women Professors in Theological Education at PWIs: Challenges, Resilience, and ProgressSend us a textIn this Episode 12, Dr. Mitzi Smith (Podcast Host) has a conversation with her womanist colleagues, Dr. Marcia Y. Riggs (womanist ethicist) and Dr. Lisa Weaver (womanist scholar of liturgy) about negotiating life and work in a predominantly white academy and institution. We discuss the challenges, Black women's resilience, and our beautiful minds, starting with Dr. Aisha S. Ahmad's essay "A Survival Guide for Black, Indigenous, and Other Women of Color in Academe: How to protect your bright mind from the drain of everyday racism you may encounter in academic life" (Chronicle of Higher...
2022-11-181h 12
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 11: Plenty Good Room with Dr. Marcia RiggsSend us a textIn Episode 11 of BTWC, Dr. Mitzi J. Smith's guest is Dr. Marcia Y. Riggs, a womanist ethicist. Dr. Riggs discusses her book Plenty Good Room: Women Versus Male Power in the Black Church. Dr. Riggs argues that we must break free from the social mythologies that we inherited from our enslavement and from white-patriarchal-capitalist society to create new mythologies that engender justice and freedom from gender-sexuality based oppression.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @Beyo...
2022-11-1157 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 10: "Seeing the Future of the African American Church in the Rainbow" with Dr. Ralph Basui WatkinsSend us a textThis is Episode 10 of Beyond the Womanist Classroom. Podcast host Dr. Mitzi Smith interviews Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins about his project "Seeing the Future of the African American Church in the Rainbow." Find more info at futureoftheBlackChurch.org .Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!Consider becoming a monthly subscriber of this podcast t...
2022-11-0443 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 9: Voices of Women in the Struggle for Freedom: Let's VoteSend us a textIn this Episode 9, Dr. Mitzi J Smith and co-host Rebecca Christian lift up the voices of women in the struggle for freedom and empowerment. These are women from the past, from Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer to Pearl Cleage and Michelle Obama and Stacey Abrams. We want to affirm our right to vote, celebrate our right to vote, and encourage us to use our power to vote!Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @B...
2022-10-2833 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 8: Burden & Responsibility of Citizenship: If it Wasn't for the Women!Send us a textThis is Episode 8, Season 1 "The Burden & Responsibility of Citizenship: if it Wasn't for the Women!" with podcast host Dr. Mitzi J Smith (womanist professor, author and scholar) and co-host Ms. Rebecca Christian. We discuss Black women voting rights activists and Mark 12:13-17 (render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God).*See the complete oral history interview civil rights activists Ms. Rosie Head.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us o...
2022-10-2143 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 7 Women, Sexual Violence, and Power Part 1Send us a textIn this episode 7 Women, Sexual Violence and Power, womanist biblical scholar Dr. Mitzi Smith discusses sexual violence against women and power. She focuses on the so-called biblical story of "the woman caught in adultery" and the apocryphal story of Susanna.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!Consider becoming a monthly subscriber of this podcast t...
2022-10-1442 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 6: Conversation with Dr. Michael Newheart about Bible as TestimonySend us a textIn Episode 6 of the weekly podcast "Beyond the Womanist Classroom," Dr. Mitzi J. Smith's guest is Dr. Michael Newheart, her first biblical studies professor at Howard Univ School of Divinity. Dr. Smith talks with Dr. Newheart about the recent book they co-authored that focuses on the Bible as a collection of testimonies and what that means for biblical interpretation.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with yo...
2022-10-0756 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 5: Womanism, Testimonies, and Biblical InterpretationSend us a textIn Season 1, Episode 5 of the weekly podcast Beyond the Womanist Classroom, Dr. Mitzi Smith hosts a conversation with Ms. Rebecca Christian (a public school education in the DC area) about Womanism, approaching the Bible as a collection of testimonies (testimonies about testimonies within testimonies) and justice.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!Consider becoming...
2022-09-3034 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 4: Womanism, Raising Questions and JusticeSend us a textIn Season 1, Episode 4 of the weekly podcast Beyond the Womanist Classroom, Dr. Mitzi J. Smith hosts a conversation with Ms. Rebecca Christian (a public school educator) about the. need for different and diverse questions. Black women must raise their questions when doing biblical interpretation and in life.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!Consider...
2022-09-2335 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, BoosterSend us a textThis is a booster episode of affirmations to encourage ourselves and our neighbors.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!Consider becoming a monthly subscriber of this podcast through Buzzsprout.com.
2022-09-1823 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 3: Privileging the (In)Justice in the World Where We LiveSend us a textIn Season 1, Episode 3 of Beyond the Womanist Classroom, womanist biblical scholar Dr. Mitzi J Smith discussions womanist biblical interpretation and justice in conversation with public school educator Ms. Rebecca Christian. We privilege the world in front of the text, where we live and where we interact with God!Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!Join us again!...
2022-09-1641 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 2: Bible as a "Human" Text and WomanismSend us a textIn this Episode 2 (not 3; my error in the audio) of the weekly Beyond the Womanist Classroom podcast, the host Dr. Mitzi J Smith (womanist biblical scholar, professor, and author) discusses the Bible as a "human" text and what that means for interpretation. Dr. Smith's dialogue partner or co-host for this episode is Ms. Rebecca Christian, a public school educator who is new to womanism. We are delighted you have joined us!Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow...
2022-09-0937 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1, Episode 1 Introduction to Womanism and Biblical InterpretationSend us a textThis is Season 1, Episode 1 of the weekly podcast Beyond the Womanist Classroom hosted by Mitzi J. Smith, PhD and co-hosted by Ms. Rebecca Christian. Dr. Smith is a womanist biblical scholar, professor, and author. In this introductory episode Dr. Smith discusses Alice Walker's definition of "womanist," the Bible as an artifact of the Black community, and justice.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please sh...
2022-09-0229 min
Beyond the Womanist ClassroomSeason 1 Trailer "Beyond the Womanist Classroom Podcast"Send us a textThis is the trailer for the new "Beyond the Womanist Classroom Podcast" hosted by Mitzi J. Smith, PhD, womanist biblical scholar, professor, and author. The podcast is co-hosted by Ms. Rebecca Christian, a public school educator. Please join us as and our guests as we talk all things womanism, biblical interpretation and justice.Support the showThank you for listening!Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.netFollow us on Twitter @BeyondTWCIf you heard something that resonates with you, please share the podcast!J...
2022-09-0109 min