In this episode, we have a conversation with justice educator, activist, (sometimes reluctant) minister, and writer/speaker Alicia Crosby. Alicia and April start off by bonding over their shared alma mater, Hollins University. After that, we get into Alicia’s faith journey, her “ecumenical promiscuousness” and what she’s learned from different Christian traditions, her coming out journey and pansexual identity, and her work related to religious trauma (particularly racialized, imperialist trauma and LGBTQ+ trauma). We also talk about how whiteness and imperialism shows up in both conservative and progressive spaces, the importance of intersectional justice, personal healing, and decolonization (particularly in deconstruction/reconstruction), purity culture, and about the vast spectrum of people who identify with the Christian faith and how they interpret the Bible, from the white folks who worship a macho capitalist “warrior king Jesus” to people like Alicia, who identify more with the Jesus who was changing the world by sitting at dinner tables.
You can follow Alicia on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @aliciatcrosby. You can learn more about her and her work at https://www.aliciatcrosby.com/, and you can buy from her new line of merch at ACTOutGear on Etsy, https://www.etsy.com/shop/ACTOutGear?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1028890815.
Make sure to listen to the very end of the episode to hear an exciting life update from April (grad school plans!!), as well as what shows we’re watching right now.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
Chanequa Walker-Barnes’ “Prayer of a Weary Black Woman” in A Rhythm of Prayer (curated by Sarah Bessey)
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (which was also adapted into a Broadway musical, the soundtrack rocks, go listen to “Changing my Major,” and unlike April in her freshman year of college, don’t pause it and stop listening when you hear the word “sex”)
Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta)
Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!