Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker

When it comes to the enduring legacy of racism, what place is there for forgiveness, humility, and healing? On today’s episode, Amy Julia’s friend Niro Feliciano interviews her about how she came to write White Picket Fences and what she has learned in talking about social divisions over the past few years. {This episode originally aired on Niro's podcast—All Things Life.}Show Notes:Niro Feliciano is a certified cognitive therapist and is the co-founder of a multi-specialty mental health group—Integrative Counseling and Wellness Group in Wilton, CT. Follow Niro at nirofeliciano.com, on Facebook at Niro Feliciano, The Incidental Therapist, and on Instagram at @niro_feliciano.In our conversation, we talk about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “beloved community,” which you can read more about here, and we talk about how Black authors topped the New York Times bestseller list. We also discuss talking to children about racism, privilege, and current events, which you can learn more about from my interview with Patricia Raybon and my interview with our children.We mention the shooting of Philando Castile, as well as Head, Heart, Hands, which is an action guide to accompany White Picket Fences, and our family’s Civil Rights tour.I mention Osheta Moore's Dear White Peacemaker podcast.Finally, we mention two Bible passages: Micah 6:8 and Isaiah 20.This podcast season is called White Picket Fences, and it is based on my book White Picket Fences: Turning Towards Love in a World Divided by Privilege. Learn more about White Picket Fences! Also check out free RESOURCES to accompany White Picket Fences—action guide, discussion guides—that are designed to help you respond. Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Natasha Sistrunk Robinson grew up as a Black woman in a patriotic family in Orangeburg, South Carolina. She went on to serve as a United States Marine and later worked in the Department of Homeland Security. She is now an author, speaker, and leader. Today we talk about her most recent book, A Sojourner’s Truth: Choosing Freedom and Courage in a Divided World. We also cover the topic of patriotism, whether or not churches should seek to become multicultural spaces, and how white people can name both the injustices and the goodness within their lives and use it to serve God’s good purposes.Show Notes:Patricia Raybon wrote the forward for both Natasha’s book, A Sojourner's Truth, and for my book, White Picket Fences. We talk about the times we have been co-speakers at events—here’s an example.Natasha mentions the Orangeburg Massacre, which occurred in her hometown. We talk about monuments in the South, which you can read more about here. We talk about several books and people: Divided by Faith, James Baldwin, and Frederick Douglass’ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July. Natasha also references an article she wrote for Christianity Today, and we mention Acts 17 and the book of Exodus from the Bible, as well as research from Pew Research Center and this article on Ed Stetzer’s Christianity Today blog: Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, Marxism, and Biblical Ethics.Natasha and I talk about supporting organizations led by people of color. Read more about this here.This podcast season is called White Picket Fences, and it is based on my book White Picket Fences: Turning Towards Love in a World Divided by Privilege. Learn more about White Picket Fences! Also check out free RESOURCES to accompany White Picket Fences—action guide, discussion guides—that are designed to help you respond. Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.Follow Natasha online: www.natashasrobinson.com; Facebook; Instagram; TwitterT3 Leadership Solutions, IncLeadership LINKS, IncWe want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

In this follow up to last week’s interview with Patricia Raybon, Amy Julia interviews her three children. Penny, William, and Marilee all talk about what they’ve learned from books, museums, and the recent protests after the death of George Floyd.Show Notes:We begin our conversation by talking about our family’s Civil Rights tour in 2019. Here’s a description of our four-day tour, as well as a recommended itinerary, which includes the Whitney Plantation that Marilee mentions, as well as the Legacy Museum, which is where we saw the jars of dirt that Penny talks about.We talk about the death of George Floyd.Penny mentions the song Way Maker.All three children talk about books/resources they recommend for learning more about race and privilege. Go here for links to the resources they mention (as well as many more resources!). In relation to this conversation and reading books from different perspectives, Marilee mentions the Little House series.This podcast season is called White Picket Fences, and it is based on my book White Picket Fences: Turning Towards Love in a World Divided by Privilege. Learn more about White Picket Fences! Also check out free RESOURCES to accompany White Picket Fences—action guide, discussion guides—that are designed to help you respond. Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

How do white parents talk with their children about race and racism? Why do white evangelical and Black Christians seem so socially and politically divided? How can we move towards one another in love even when we disagree? Author Patricia Raybon and Amy Julia discuss these questions and more in this conversation about race, books and reading, parenting, and faith. (Also, check back next week for a bonus episode where Amy Julia talks with her kids about what they’ve learned from talking about racism and injustice at home.)Show Notes:Patricia begins by talking a bit about her background. Go here to learn more about her career in journalism and as a professor of journalism.We mention my Patricia begins with talking a bit about her history. Go here to learn more about her writings and career in journalism and as a professor of journalism.We talk about my essay series about racial healing on my Christianity Today blog and the connection to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Patricia wrote an article entitled “A White Cop and a Black Lady” that was published on my CT blog following this essay series.We mention Brené Brown, Kelli Trujillo, and Howard Thurman.We talk about mortgage discrimination, economic disparities, and white privilege.Patricia recommends reading Alex Haley’s book Roots: The Saga of an American Family, as well as Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.Patrician mentions an article she wrote entitled “Will We Judge Young Looters or Love Them?” Find Patrica Rabyon online: patriciaraybon.com. She also writes for Our Daily Bread Ministries, DaySpring’s (in)courage, Charles Stanley’s InTouch Ministries, and Christianity Today.If you would like to read more from Patricia, she recommends starting with My First White Friend, and then reading I Told the Mountain to Move, which is a prequel to Undivided: A Muslim Daughter, Her Christian Mother, Their Path to Peace. Two additional books that Patricia recommended to me but not mentioned in the podcast are: Born a Crime and Cry, the Beloved Country.This podcast season is called White Picket Fences, and it is based on my book White Picket Fences: Turning Towards Love in a World Divided by Privilege. Learn more about White Picket Fences! Also check out free RESOURCES to accompany White Picket Fences—action guide, discussion guidesWe want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

How can we talk about race and disability without conflating the two? How can white, able-bodied, neurotypical people enter into this conversation? What is the difference between “white fragility” and being vulnerable? What is the connection between contemplation and activism? Amy Julia talks with author, podcaster, and advocate Micha Boyett today about all these questions and more. Show NotesFollow Micha Boyett online:Website: michaboyett.comInstagram (features Micha’s writing): @michaboyettInstagram (features life with Micha’s son Ace, who has Down syndrome): @acefaceismyfriendFacebook: @MichaBoyettTwitter: @michaboyettMicha also co-hosts a podcast called The Lucky Few, with Heather Avis and Mercedes Lara. I mention that Micha is a poet and studied with Mary Karr. I reference last week’s podcast episode: S3 E1 | Waking Up to Privilege with David Bailey. We talk about Jean Vanier’s book Becoming Human and our sorrow over the sexual abuse perpetrated by Vanier. We mention Fr. Richard Rohr and his phrase “the really real,” and his prayer for “one good humiliation a day.” Why the phrase “all lives matter” is problematic and some of the warning signs of gaslighting. We talk about White Fragility by Robin J. DiAngelo. We mention The Rule of St. Benedict and mention Micah 6:8 from the Bible. Finally, here is my favorite podcast episode on The Lucky Few: Friendship Pt. 2 with Guest, Melynn Henry. This podcast season is called White Picket Fences, and it is based on my book White Picket Fences: Turning Towards Love in a World Divided by Privilege. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Race, class, and the kingdom of God all come up in this conversation between Amy Julia and David Bailey, Director of Arrabon, a ministry to help churches become reconciling communities. In this introductory episode for Season 3, David and Amy Julia talk about why white people can feel afraid to enter into conversations about race, the controversies over Confederate monuments in David’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia, whether this moment of protest and activism will translate into lasting social change, and more.  Show Notes:David references a lot of rich material in this show, so hopefully I’ll get it all recorded in one place. First, there are some references to the Bible. David talks about the foundational Judeo-Christian narratives found in Genesis 1 and Genesis 3, and he also makes reference to the “Jericho Road” and the “Good Samaritan” which can be found in Luke 10:25-37. Next, we discuss current events, including monuments along Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, Rush Limbaugh’s visit to The Breakfast Club, and Ezra Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ conversation about non-violence and policing. We also talk about The Porter’s Gate project, a collaborative worship album David helped put together (and invited me to attend) with a disparate group of Christian worship artists. This is an album about justice and mercy, all taken from Scripture. Here’s the essay about Christian anger that David mentions he wrote recently for Christianity Today. Finally, to learn more about David’s work, go to arrabon.com. There are great resources for churches and individuals who want to become reconciling communities. David also directs Urban Doxology, whose most recent release is “God Not Guns.” Also, I mention that I define privilege as “unearned social advantages.” To hear more about this idea, read What Privilege Is, and What Privilege is Not.David M. Bailey is a public theologian and culture maker who believes the church should lead by example in effective cross-cultural engagement and practices in reconciliation.  He’s the founder and executive director of Arrabon; an organization that builds reconciling communities in the midst of a digital, diverse, and divided world. David is an active speaker, consultant and strategist for many national organizations about cultural intelligence and culture-making. He is the co-author of the Race, Class, and the Kingdom of God Study Series. David is the executive producer ofWe want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Race, class, identity, privilege. These are topics and concepts that divide us, but what if we could start talking about them? Through conversation and stories that follow the themes of my book, White Picket Fences: Turning toward Love in a World Divided by Privilege, we are going to explore these hard topics in order to move together towards healing. Show Notes:White Picket Fences bookResources: White Picket Fences discussion guidesDavid Bailey / ArrabonWe want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Finding contentment and strength in all circumstances has never been easy. That was true for Paul 2,000 years ago writing from a prison cell, and it is true now for those of us in the midst of very ordinary hard days and those of us in extraordinarily hard days. This week, Amy Julia talks about small but hopeful steps people are taking in response to the recent protests in cities and towns across the country, and she explores the final verses of Paul’s letter to the Philippians and how they can find strength and contentment. She talks about how we can find protection in who God is and how that allows us to enter into conversations and relationships with an open heart. And finally, she shares a sneak peek at the next season of The Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast, coming very soon! Philippians 4:10-23Some Stories of Hope in a Week of HardshipTa Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein’s interviewBetween the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

In the midst of a week of social unrest across the nation, how can we work towards peace? This episode looks at Paul’s words, “do not worry” and talks about how we can cultivate personal and social peace. Amy Julia examines the problems of reading the Bible individualistically and considers how we can also read it in the context of a broader community of faith and humanity. This episode is especially relevant for white Christians who are looking for ways to learn, listen, lament, and love. Show Notes:Today’s Bible passage comes from Philippians 4:1-9. I used N.T. Wright’s Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters and George Hunsinger’s Philippians commentary in preparation for this show. In the show, I reference the Destructive Power of Despair by Charles Blow, Episode 103 of this podcast, which is about love as the foundation, and a recent blog post I wrote offering 5 Small Steps toward Racial Healing. Also, I mention Niro Feliciano's podcast All Things Life episode titled From Hurting to Hopeful: Race, Privilege and Meaningful Action and this article about childhood anxiety from the May issue of The Atlantic.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

In a time of uncertainty and lethargy, Amy Julia offers thoughts on the nature of hope, the vehicle for hope, and the source of our hope. This bonus episode comes from a talk she gave years ago that details how she moved from fear to hope after her daughter Penny’s diagnosis of Down syndrome. She encourages all of us to cultivate hope—not optimism—in the face of fear. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!