Conversations With a Wounded Healer 116 - Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza - Activist Theology and Dismantling Supremacy Culture
“I hope that my work speaks from the scars and not the wounds.” ~Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD
Revolutions take work. The movement to dismantle supremacy culture rightly demands that much of the work be done off-camera, by those who benefit most from its proliferation. Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD engages those willing to do the requisite heavy lifting through stories (and, sometimes, food).
As a queer activist, Latinx scholar, and public theologian, they stand at the intersections of systemic analysis and lived experience. As a white-passing person of color, they move through the world with the same power, access, and privilege afforded to those who’ve set the ground rules for centuries.
Roberto invites white people to get dirty, to sit with our defenses and explore our tacit acceptance of supremacy culture. Only then, they say, can we join forces and begin to heal our world. “I think the work of coming together is our work...It's an ethics of togetherness because if we are together in a practice of being human with one another, we can actually reshape our democracy.”
The revolution is here. Are you in?
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Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD has been described in a myriad of ways: a scholar-activist, scholar-leader, thought-leader, teacher, public theologian, ethicist, poet of moral reason, and word artist. Among these ways of describing Dr. Roberto, they are also a visionary thinker who has spent two decades working in the hybrid space of church, academy, & movements seeking to not only disrupt but dismantle supremacy culture by focusing their PhD studies on new concepts of being & becoming, decolonizing knowledge production, & bridging with radical difference. They enflesh a deep hope of collaborating in these hybrid spaces where their work seeks to contribute to the ongoing work of collective liberation. Activist Theology as a disciplinary off-shoot of liberation theology & Movement idea has been incubating since 2008 with Dr. Roberto and further developed throughout their doctoral program and engagement with Movement leaders. Now, Activist Theology has the chance to emerge as a collaborative project. Dr. Roberto was named 1 of 10 Faith Leaders to watch by the Center for American Progress in 2018. As a scholar-activist, Dr. Roberto is committed to translating theory to action, so that our work in the hybrid spaces reflect the deep spiritual work of transforming self to transforming the world. Dr. Roberto writes & creates both academic & other valuable resources, including digital resources. Dr. Roberto is a non-binary Transqueer Latinx who calls Nashville, TN home.
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