Daniel P. Rhodes discusses Cesar Chavez, who organized farmworkers through strikes, boycotts, and pickets—and through less common organizing practices such as Eucharist, fasting, and pilgrimage. Dan reflects on how Chavez’s experience of dislocation and deracination in childhood formed him into … Read More

Donyelle McCray discusses Howard Thurman, civil rights leader, preacher, writer, mystic and thinker who was a mentor to Dr. King and the founder of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples. Donyelle focuses on Thurman’s tenderness: how his mother and grandmother contributed to … Read More

Grace Y. Kao reflects on Yuri Kochiyama, an activist known for her cross-racial solidarity work on causes such as reparations, Puerto Rican independence, and black nationalism. Grace emphasizes two areas that Kochiyama’s biographers have often overlooked: her central passion for fighting against unjust imprisonment, … Read More

Peter Slade discusses Howard Kester, an activist and organizer known for his work with the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union and for the reports he wrote on his investigations of lynchings, which helped to put an end to festival lynching in the American South. … Read More

Nichole M. Flores shares her research and reflections on Ella Baker, a civil rights activist and organizer whose work in the civil rights movement focused on empowering the poor and the young. Nichole discusses how Baker’s work paved the way for Black Lives Matter … Read More

Carlene Bauer discusses Dorothy Day, a writer, editor, journalist, and activist best known for being one of the founders of the Catholic Worker movement. Carlene reflects on Day’s life leading up to the work she’s most known for, considering how her childhood and … Read More

Heather A. Warren reflects on John A. Ryan, a Catholic priest who worked for labor reform and coined the phrase “a living wage” in the early 1900s. Heather discusses how Ryan’s priestly vocation extended beyond the walls of the church, … Read More

Becca Stevens shares her insights on William Stringfellow, an activist, writer, and lawyer whose prophetic voice called the church—and many other institutions—to accountability. Becca reflects on the challenge Stringfellow poses to people of faith: to take the mandates of belief seriously, even to … Read More

W. Ralph Eubanks discusses Mahalia Jackson, the great gospel singer who was a tenacious, savvy, quiet witness for justice. Ralph illuminates Jackson’s role in the civil rights movement, where she was a comfort and inspiration to Dr. King as well as an … Read More

Soong-Chan Rah reflects on Richard Twiss, a Native American writer, speaker, scholar, and activist, whose witness to Evangelicals (and beyond) critiqued prevailing understandings of Native communities. Soong-Chan shares how his own friendship with Twiss offered a unique window into his … Read More

David Dark shares his research and reflections on Daniel Berrigan, a Catholic priest and anti-war activist best known for being a participant in the Catonsville Nine action when Catholic activists burned draft files in protest of the Vietnam War. David suggests that Berrigan’s witness—as one who took the Christian Gospel … Read More

M. Therese Lysaught discusses Mary Stella Simpson, a Catholic sister and midwife who transformed maternity care in the United States and took her healing work to the Jim Crow-ravaged town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, where she cheerfully and unrelentingly worked for change. … Read More