
Hope & Hard Pills
Exploring practical insight on racial justice and social change.
Latest episodes

Feb 19, 2022 • 28min
Black Liturgies with Cole Arthur Riley
Cole Arthur Riley is the creator of Black Liturgies, a space for Black spiritual words of liberation, lament, rage, and rest; and a project of The Center for Dignity and Contemplation where she serves as Executive Curator. Born and for the most part raised in Pittsburgh, Cole studied Writing at the University of Pittsburgh. She once took a professor’s advice very seriously to begin writing a little every day, and has followed it for nearly a decade.In This Episode:Find out more about Cole's work and order a copy of her bookYou can follow Cole on Twitter and InstagramYou can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Feb 12, 2022 • 25min
Run For Something with Amanda Litman
Amanda Litman is the co-founder and executive director of Run for Something, a PAC that helps recruit and support young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office. Previously, she was the email director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, digital director for Charlie Crist’s 2014 Florida gubernatorial campaign, deputy email director for Organizing for Action, and an email writer for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2012 with a B.A. in American Studies.In This Episode:Find out more about Run For Something at their website and follow them on TwitterKeep up with Amanda on Twitter and check out her bookYou can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Feb 5, 2022 • 45min
Red Lip Theology with Candice Marie Benbow
Candice Marie Benbow is a theologian, essayist, columnist, baker, and educator whose work gives voice to Black women’s shared experiences of faith, healing, and wholeness. The author of Red Lip Theology, she was named by Sojourners as one of “10 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2020” and has written for Essence, Glamour, The Root, VICE, Shondaland, Madame Noire, and the Me Too Movement. Candice created the “Lemonade Syllabus” social media campaign, founded the media boutique Zion Hill Media Group, and, in memory of her mother, established The LouiseMarie Foundation to support HBCU nursing students and community mental health projects. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Candice holds degrees from Tennessee State University, North Carolina Central University, and Duke Divinity School.In This Episode:Order Candice's book Red Lip TheologyFind out more on Candice's website and follow her on Twitter and InstagramYou can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Jan 29, 2022 • 29min
How To Fight Racism with Jemar Tisby
Jemar Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism. His latest book is How to Fight Racism. Jemar has been a co-host of the "Pass the Mic" podcast since its inception seven years ago. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times among others. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN's New Day program. He speaks nationwide on the topics of racial justice, U.S. history and Christianity. Jemar earned is PhD in history and he studies race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century. In This Episode:You can find more information at Jemar's websiteOrder How To Fight Racism and The Color of CompromiseFollow his work through his newsletter, Footnotes, and on Instagram and Twitter.You can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Jan 22, 2022 • 33min
Using Truth in the Face of Opposition with Tarika Powell
Tarika is a queer, neurodivergent environmental policy professional who specializes in helping communities fight against large-scale fossil fuel terminals. Over the past decade, she helped kill dozens of proposed fossil fuel projects in the Pacific Northwest. She was a protester at the police precinct occupation in Seattle in 2020, and is a vocal critic of both police violence and the commodification of the BLM movement. She lives in Philly, where she is building an advocacy and education space arout neurodivergence, mental health, and outdoor therapy.In This Episode:Learn more about Tarika's workFollow Tarika on InstagramYou can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Jan 15, 2022 • 44min
How History Moves the Conversation Forward with Lettie Elizabeth
Lettie Elizabeth is a historian, educator, and advocate living in Wilmington, NC. She is also the host and owner of her podcast History Shows Us. Lettie’s passion for telling history’s truths and connecting the past to today’s racial and social justice issues is evident in the work she does. She received her MA in History in 2015, focusing primarily on American history and specializing in African-American studies. She received her MA in Conflict Management & Resolution in May 2020, allowing her to use mediation, facilitation, and effective communication skills in her work as an educator and advocate. Leading and facilitating workshops to equip people with skills to have the “hard” conversations is something Lettie also enjoys. Lettie was recently announced as a brand ambassador for America Hates Us. She has been a guest on several podcasts and is involved in her local community. Her Patreon community enjoys tons of history and antiracism content from her throughout the month which includes webinars, live Q&As, and a book club with convos! In addition to educating and collaborating online, she is currently working on organizing a couple of workshops to offer in the near future. She is also working on her own personal research project about the Green Book (a travel guide for Black people from 1937-1967) in Wilmington, North Carolina and the larger story it tells.In This Episode:Keep up with Lettie on Twitter and InstagramCheck out the History Shows Us Podcast and follow on InstagramYou can support Lettie on her PatreonYou can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

9 snips
Jan 8, 2022 • 41min
How To Tell Better Stories for Change with Anat Shenker-Osorio
Host of the Words to Win By podcast and Principal of ASO Communications, Anat Shenker-Osorio examines why certain messages falter where others deliver. She has led research for new messaging on issues ranging from freedom to join together in union to clean energy and from immigrant rights to reforming criminal justice. Anat's original approach through priming experiments, task-based testing and online dial surveys has led to progressive electoral and policy victories across the globe. Anat delivers her findings packed in snark at venues such as the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Centre for Australian Progress, Irish Migrant Centre, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation and LUSH International. Her writing and research is profiled in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Boston Globe, Salon, The Guardian and Grist among others. She is the author of "Don't Buy It: The Trouble with Talking Nonsense About the Economy".In This Episode:You can follow Words to Win By on Instagram, Twitter, & FacebookYou can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Dec 18, 2021 • 30min
Why Liberation Requires Healing Justice with Erica Woodland
Erica Woodland is a black queer/genderqueer facilitator, consultant and healing justice practitioner born and raised in Baltimore, MD. He is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 18 years experience working at the intersections of movements for racial, gender, economic, trans and queer justice and liberation. He has extensive experience working with youth, people of color, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities across the country. Erica is the Founding Director of the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network, a healing justice organization committed to transforming mental health for queer and trans people of color. Under his leadership, NQTTCN has trained and mobilized hundreds of mental health practitioners committed to intervening on the legacy of harm and violence of the medical industrial complex while building liberatory models of care rooted in abolition.Erica’s consulting work is founded in transformative practice to strengthen movement organizations’ ability to integrate healing justice into their political organizing work. He has worked with a number of local and national organizations to develop structures and practices that promote sustainability, healing, alignment, and impact. Erica also has a private practice where he provides psychotherapy and clinical supervision with a focus on harm reduction, intergenerational trauma and resilience, grief, and family therapy.In This Episode:You can find more info about the NQTTCN at the website or on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.Erica is on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram and his website.You can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Dec 11, 2021 • 37min
Shoutin' in the Fire with Danté Stewart
Danté Stewart is a speaker and a writer whose work in the areas of race, religion, and politics has been featured on CNN and in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Sojourners, The Witness: A Black Christian Collective, Comment, and elsewhere. He is the author of the recently released SHOUTIN' IN THE FIRE (Convergent, 10/5/21). He received his BA in sociology from Clemson University and is currently studying at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.In This Episode:Order Danté's book Shoutin' in the Fire.You can find Danté on Instagram, Twitter, and his website.You can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry.

Dec 4, 2021 • 35min
Why We're All Complicit with Jill Louise Busby
Jill Louise Busby (more affectionately known as jillisblack) is a writer and filmmaker critiquing, imploding, and barrel-laughing at our personal and communal hierarchies; the myth of white fragility (and other words for racism); the endlessly-pending and highly-exclusive revolution, identity, and reaction-based illusions of societal progress; and the boundaries that all place on our lives. Believing a shift away from anti-difference begins with an outpouring of radical, multi-generational, inclusive, and validating honesty, Jill’s work charms audiences just past their limits of comfort, inviting them to seek a new and more genuine freedom in the discomfort of truth.Her debut book, Unfollow Me: Essays on Complicity, an intimate, impertinent, and incisive collection about race, progress, and hypocrisy, was released in September of 2021 from Bloomsbury Publishing. In This Episode:Order Jill’s book Unfollow Me: Essays on Complicity!You can find Jill on Instagram and on her website for everything else.You can pre-order Andre's book All The White Friends I Couldn't Keep. Sign up for Andre's Hope & Hard Pills Newsletter at his website. Catch up with Andre on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook. Check out Andre's Patreon if you'd like to support what's going on with his work!Music: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way (Remix) by Andre Henry