HTI Open Plaza

In this episode of OPTalks, the HTI community and friends offer prayer and song as expressions of gratitude and strength, to offer company, in praise of peace and love.

In this episode of OPTalks, spiritual care counselor Reverend David Ramos shares his experiences providing pastoral and chaplaincy support at VNS Health, formerly Visiting Nurse Services, during the COVID-19 pandemic in NYC. The dialogue delves into the challenges pastors and chaplains faced as they navigated trauma, fear, and grief within their communities during a time of widespread illness, political unrest, and societal distress. Rev. Ramos highlights the unique struggles of pastoral work at this time, from dealing with congregational fears around death to addressing the theological dilemmas raised by a pandemic that forced many to confront mortality in profound ways. The conversation also addresses the role of spiritual care counselors, as distinguished from traditional chaplaincy, to emphasize a broader, more inclusive approach to spiritual support, particularly for individuals facing end-of-life. The conversation describes the spiritual dimensions of care and the human need for meaning in times of crisis. Rev. Ramos offers that, “...the pandemic's a host of a lot of different things. You know, we're talking about the heels of the George Floyd protests, there's a lot of political chaos that is happening during that season of people who have been traumatized by social upheaval as well as death. Interestingly enough, what happens to many pastors, some of the pastors were bred within a triumphalist theology… and now they're dealing with death, death and dying, at untold levels that we are still trying to wrap ourselves around.”

In this episode of OPTalks, HTI community members offer prayers to bring us closer to the divine, the holy, toward hope, communal inspiration, and love.

In this episode of OPTalks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez interviews Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. on Spirit Christology, which integrates the study of the Holy Spirit and the life and mission of Jesus Christ, bringing together Christology and pneumatology and asks what scripture says about the spirit in the life of Christ. Spirit Christology examines the Holy Spirit's role in Christ's ministry and its implications for Christian life today. According to Dr. Sánchez, renewed interest in the relationship between the Spirit and Christ has been sparked by the revival of Trinitarian studies, Vatican II, and the rise of Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. Within the lived experience of Latine communities, the conversation examines how the Holy Spirit's presence in Christ informs a theology of justice, marginalization, and inclusion. Drawing from biblical narratives of Christ's interactions with marginalized groups, the work argues that Spirit Christology empowers believers to engage in mission work centered on justice and inclusion. It highlights the significance of Christ's border-crossing ministry as a model for addressing the socio-political realities of Latine immigrants. By contextualizing Spirit Christology within this framework, Dr. Sanchez advocates for a theology that is spiritually transformative, encouraging solidarity and practical engagement with the struggles of marginalized communities. He claims that Spirit Christology “...shows how the spirit's place and activity draws Christ from a marginal place, because Christ himself, you know, is from Galilee…and ends up being also a marginalized figure.”

In this episode of OPTalks, Dr. Ish Ruiz and Dr. Colleen Mary Mallon, a Dominican Sister, discuss her latest book, Inclusivity and Institutional Change in Education: A Theologian's Journey (Eerdmans, 2024). The book examines the intersection of theology, education, and social justice, with a specific focus on race and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Sister Mallon shares insights from her book which offers a critical examination of how Catholic institutions can better engage with diversity, equity, and inclusion. She discusses her process of unlearning whiteness and the need for greater awareness of positionality. As a Puerto Rican scholar, Dr. Ruiz reflects on the complexities of addressing race and privilege from his perspective as a person of color. The talk emphasizes the importance of personal transformation, intentional dialogue, and structural accountability in reconciliation and healing within the Catholic tradition. In this regard, Drs. Ruiz and Mallon explore Pope Francis' model of synodality, where the Church discerns the guidance of the Holy Spirit; Sister Mallon's adaptation of Ken Wilber's framework for mapping right relationships; and examples of advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, such as the work of Sister Janine Gramick. Sister Mallon stresses the Church's need to embrace difficult conversations with love and humility, to disagree in love. This conversation and the book are part of the Theological Education between the Times (TEBT) series, an initiative out of HTI member school Emory University Candler School of Theology that “gathers diverse groups of people for critical, theological conversations about the meanings and purposes of theological education. The project begins with a recognition that theological education is between the times, on the way. And it works in the confidence that we do not walk this road alone.”

In this episode of OPTalks Father Brian Strassburger and Father Flavio Bravo talk with artist and anthropologist Cinthya Santos Briones about the Jesuits' efforts on behalf of migrants in the Rio Grande Valley, what it means to acompañar migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, and why they see themselves as an itinerant group as they work with migrants on both sides of the frontera. In 2021, a small mobile team of Jesuit priests arrived in Brownsville, Texas, where they started Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries to work with migrants on both sides of the Rio Grande, including migrant shelters in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. In describing their purpose, Fr. Strassburger explains, “We feel this call to go to the margins of society where people are most excluded or ignored or underappreciated or underserved and we certainly see that that is a truth and reality here on the U.S. Mexico border, especially when you see the conditions of migrants camps and shelters on the Mexican side of the border.” This episode is part of the Faith and Flight: Latinx Migration in the Art of Belief project, based at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Educational Center and made possible through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

In this episode of OPTalks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodriguez interviews Dr. Xochitl Alviso, an associate professor at California State University, Northridge, who emphasizes the importance of grounding theological reflection in the lived experiences of Christian practice. The conversation delves into the dynamics of faith, community, and belonging, and reimagines how the church can more authentically embody the transformative message of “good news” Christianity in inclusive ways. Dr. Alviso advocates for an active ecclesiology—one that studies the church and practices its mission in ways that reflect the diverse and evolving needs of today's world. She shares her experience founding a The Pub Church in Boston, an inclusive space designed for individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those with painful histories with traditional church. The Pub Church experience offers a welcoming, less judgmental environment as a place for honest reflection, diverse expressions of identity, and communal support. Dr. Alviso also illustrates the power of communal faith and collective healing through the concept of parenting by committee—a process of trauma recovery. She explains, “Sometimes, that's how we heal our trauma… we need to be reparented by a committee of people who help us experience a different way of being affirmed.”

In this episode of OPTalks, Isabel Gonzalez and Christian Silva—recent MDiv graduate and current master's candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary—converse with Dr. Matthew Vega, an HTI Scholar and now assistant professor at the University of San Diego. The discussion centers on Dr. Vega's dissertation on Blaxican theology, which uncovers intersections of Black and Latinx identities. It highlights the complexities of categorizing identities within American public discourse, particularly the tendency to oversimplify racial identities into binaries like ‘Black' and ‘Mexican,' along with their historical contexts. Dr. Vega situates Blaxican theology as a shared struggle for liberation and an internationalist theology, emphasizing that “Black people can't be free unless other people in other parts of the world are free, and Mexican and Mexican American people can't be free unless other people in other parts of the world are free.” His dissertation defense received the highest praise from his committee, and he shares valuable advice for future scholars preparing for their defenses. Drawing from his journey as a first-generation college student, Dr. Vega discusses the systemic challenges he faced and how they have shaped his theological perspective. The conversation also addresses disrespecting borders, liberation theology, and the dynamics of counterpublics in theological discourse.

This OPTalks episode features a conversation between Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez and Dr. Teresa Delgado, who reflects on her experiences as a doctoral student, discussing the unique challenges she faced, particularly as a Latina balancing family responsibilities and academic demands. Dr. Delgado emphasizes the importance of community support, particularly the acompañamiento that HTI offers, which she credits for her perseverance and success. She illustrates the impact of mentorship and the broader implications for women and mothers navigating the academic landscape, and its systemic challenges. Dr. Delgado also describes the dissonance between her embodied understanding of theology and the cerebral expectations of the academy. The conversation highlights the importance of listening to students' experiences and rethinking traditional pedagogical silos within theological institutions. Reflecting on Dr. Daisy Machado's work, Dr. Delgado heightens the potential of community by stating, “I'm thinking about the ways that…contemporary problems like the environmental crisis is requiring us to delve into church history and ethics and biblical studies and systematic theology across all of those, and social scientists and climate scientists draw from all of that kind of expertise to offer some kind of prophetic word into this moment.”

This OPTalks episode features a conversation between Dr. Yohana Junker and Rev. Dr. Aizaiah Yong exploring the intersections of art, spirituality, and decolonial studies within theological education. Reflecting on their co-teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Drs. Yong and Junker highlight the necessity of cultivating inclusive and compassionate classroom environments. The dialogue highlights how spiritual practices and artistic expression are vital tools for healing and social justice, which enable students to bring their full selves into the learning process while deepening connections. They discuss the transformative power of relationships within the context of higher education while critiquing Eurocentric individualist frameworks from their chapter, "Contemplative Practices and Acts of Resistance in Higher Education: Narratives Towards Wholeness." They also argue for a holistic approach that honors the interconnectedness of students' emotional, psychological, and vocational lives. Their collaboration as co-educators emphasizes how mutual support, compassionate listening, and convivencia foster resilience and hope in academic spaces often marked by structural violence and disconnection. Additionally, the ongoing challenges of navigating personal and collective grief while striving for justice and liberation can be met in these spaces. Dr. Junker says she, "…didn't want to just write out of like, oh, here's a spiritual practice, this is going to…help you in these ways, without sitting with the actual grief of working in institutions of higher education, working within power structures that are very asymmetrical, that have perpetrated, you know, historically so much violence against people like you and me,” to which Rev. Dr. Yong responds, “We're also confronting intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, against people, groups done in the name of religion and white supremacy.”

This podcast episode features a dialogue between Stephen Di Trolio Coakley, a PhD student at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Dr. Edwin Hernández, President of Antillean Adventist University. The conversation chronicles Dr. Hernández' journey from his roots as a preacher's child in Puerto Rico to his role in sociology, theology, and fundraising, particularly during his tenure at Louisville Institute. Dr. Hernández reflects on his early experiences in ministry, his academic pursuits, and the transformative mentorship of figures like Dr. Caleb Rosado, Dr. Julian Zamora, and Olga Villaparra. Notably, Hernández recounts his involvement in establishing the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) by taking the lead on writing a significant proposal that he co-authored, which addressed funding gaps in Latinx theological education. The discussion underscores Dr. Hernández' commitment to fostering inclusive theological spaces as opportunities for scholars and communities while adapting to the changing educational environment. He asserts, “It's important for us to reinvent who we are, to connect to, to challenge institutions, to be more faithful and responsive to the needs of our community.”

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez, HTI Executive Director, talks with Boston University doctoral candidate Daniel Montañez about directing the national Mygration Christian Conference that he founded in 2019. Montañez credits his mentorship and relationship with Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas as integral to this work.  Regarding migration, Montañez relates that “...as people who are along the way, and as we find ourselves from the moment that we're born to the moment that we die, we experience this type of temporal movement, movement through time. What does it mean to treat those who we come into contact with who may actually be going through some type of refugee experience or asylum-seeking experience or just in a new country? What does it mean for us to care for them, and to love them as sojourners along the way?” The Mygration Christian Conference is a space where pastors, scholars, practitioners, and community leaders who serve their communities can gather to have conversations about their experiences, their beliefs, and how their faith can serve all immigrant communities better. The conference takes place October 4-5, 2024, at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA. This year's keynote speakers will be historian and theologian Dr. Justo L. González and Daniel Yang, National Director of Churches of Welcome at World Relief.

Dr. Felipe Hinojosa talks with fellow historian, colleague, and good friend Dr. Johanna Fernández, Associate Professor at Baruch College, about Latino history and the exhibit on youth movements that was put on hold by the Smithsonian National Museum in the fall of 2022. Dr. Fernández teaches 20th-century U.S. history and the history of social movements. Dr. Hinojosa is the John and Nancy Jackson Endowed Chair in Latin America and Professor of History at Baylor University. The scholars' curated show was widely billed as the “largest federally funded Smithsonian exhibit on Latino Civil Rights History.” “But after pushback from conservative Latinos in the private sector and the halls of Congress,” writes Olivia B. Waxman in TIME, “that exhibit is on hold.” And Dr. Fernández and Dr. Hinojosa found themselves embroiled in the political turmoil.  In this episode of OP Talks, the two scholars take us behind the scenes–from the selection of Latino youth movements as an exhibit theme, to the work entailed in creating the exhibits and what ultimately brought the project to a halt. “This question that we were going to answer through the Smithsonian exhibition on Latino youth movements…‘Who am I?' That's the quintessential existential question that everyone asks themselves,” says Dr. Fernandez, author of The Young Lords: A Radical History (UNC Press, 2020), a history of the Puerto Rican counterpart to the Black Panther Party. ”Who am I, and what's my relationship to the nation? And what's my relationship to my community?” she continues. “That was one of the key questions we were going to ask and answer through that exhibition.”

In this episode of OP Talks, Amanda Bolaños talks with fellow graduate student Amirah Orozco about mujerista theology, pneumatological ecclesiology and lo cotidiano (the everyday). Bolaños asks Orozco to imagine a conversation with late activist and theologian Ada María Isasi-Diaz for whom lo cotidiano was central to her work. Bolaños and Orozco are close friends and theology doctoral students at Duke Divinity School and the University of Notre Dame, respectively. Orozco credits the work of Isasi-Diaz as part of the foundation that led her to ”understand what mujerista theology was more directly and become sort of aware of the different style and the different flavor that mujerista theology gives us.” If she could talk with the late Isasi-Diaz, Bolaños asks Orozco, what would she ask? “I think that my big conversation with her would be [about] Pope Francis,” said Orozco. “I think it is a real tragedy that we don't have her around to be thinking with us in this moment where the [Roman Catholic] church is opening up in a new way.”

In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Neomi De Anda talks to 2023 HTI Book Prize winner Dr. Marlene M. Ferreras about her book Insurrectionist Wisdoms: Toward a North American Indigenized Pastoral Theology (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). Through practical theological and anthro/gynopological methods, Insurrectionist Wisdoms offers an analysis of the situation of working-class Maya mexicanas living in Yucatán, México who work on the assembly line of a multinational corporation. Relying on in-depth, firsthand interviews, Dr. Ferreras brings to light the exploitation of women of color by large, multimillion-dollar corporations and delves into the ways these women can, and do, fight back. Drawing on a decolonial approach to pastoral theology and feminism, Dr. Ferreras proposes Lxs Hijxs de Maíz as an image for pastoral care and counseling.

In this episode of OP Talks, Jacob Leal talks with his mentor Dr. Filipe Maia, Assistant Professor of Theology at the Boston University School of Theology, about his book, Trading Futures: A Theological Critique of Financialized Capitalism (Duke University Press, 2022), and pivots to the power of the imagination, ancestors and the interruption of linearity. Dr. Maia argues that a language of active hope, or “future-talk,” is critical as a mode of critique, particularly with the financial market's need to control future outcomes and its sacrificial nature, especially for the oppressed. The scholars' conversation recognizes the importance of liberation theologist Ruben Alves and the Brazilian/Portuguese concept of saudade, which captures the essence of absence and deep longing for return. Leal, a third-year PhD student at Boston University, illustrates these points by describing his research about the dreams of the ancestors and about the Mesoamerican ballgame Ullamaliztli, which is having a resurgence in present-day Mexico. As a testament to his willfulness and longing to summon a different future, Dr. Maia states: “My motion in the direction of hope is fragile, mournful, and tentative, but is also quite stubborn. The hope I embrace persists. It keeps coming back, haunting me forward...I remain within the language of hope, not to simply profess that I have hope.”

In this episode of OPTalks, PhD candidate Rebecca Mendoza interviews PhD candidate Anthony Trujillo about his mixed heritages as a member of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and Mexican Catholic traditions on his father's side, and the white settler Baptist ministers on his mother's. This conversation was held at the 2023 American Academy of Religion in San Antonio where they talked about identity markers that appear as contradictions or convergences between Indigeneity and Christianity. Mendoza also comes from mixed ancestry, of a Mexican American Catholic father and white settler mother. Trujillo shares how his grandmother insisted that his identities are “so closely tied that you can't be one without the other and in fact that it would almost be a violence to my grandma and her siblings to extricate those things from each other.” The experience of doctoral work has allowed him to delve into “how we think of ourselves.”  Mendoza and Trujillo discuss the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, the interdisciplinary nature of Indigenous studies, the Native American paradox of simultaneously holding the importance of place with the ability to move and change, and the religious relational work of the “Terralogian” to understand  “spiritual beings and the spiritual body politic” to land or place.

Dr. Alejandro Nava and Dr. Raúl Zegarra converse about their respective books, Street Scriptures: Between God and Hip-Hop (University of Chicago Press, 2022) and A Revolutionary Faith: Liberation Theology Between Public Religion and Public Reason (Stanford University Press, 2023). Both writers were students of David Tracy and they share the concern of public theology's impact on broader society. Dr. Zegarra embraces what he considers the sophisticated philosophy of John Rawls, in particular, “the way he thinks about justice…for the poor.” Conversations at the interface of diverse traditions and the public is of utmost importance to his interests. In his practice, Dr. Nava's work at the “hyphen that connects the mystical and prophetic” comes to life through hip-hop as “a voice of disenfranchised communities” that “...emerged out of the cracks and corners of the modern world.”

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren, talks with writer Grace Loh Prasad about her debut memoir The Translator's Daughter (Mad Creek Books/The Ohio State University Press, 2024) and her life as the daughter of professor parents in Taiwan during the era of White Terror. Prasad's father, a polyglot who was the first Taiwanese PhD graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary, translated for the United Bible Societies. Her mother descends from the first Christian Convert in Taiwan. Prasad talks about living in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States, and being a “third culture kid,” her asterisked American identity, and metaphysical homelessness.

In this episode of OP Talks, Amirah Orozco, a doctoral student of Systematic Theology at Notre Dame, talks with Dr. Raúl Zegarra, Assistant Professor of Roman Catholic Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, about his book A Revolutionary Faith: Liberation Theology Between Public Religion and Public Reason (Stanford University Press, 2023). The book, which is in conversation with the work of theologians Gustavo Gutiérrez and David Tracy, delves into how religious organizing and mobilizing can help enrich and strengthen democracy. Dr. Zegarra's work “shows how liberation theology advocates have been able to produce a new balance between faith and politics that advances an agenda of progressive social change without reducing politics to faith or faith to politics,” writes Stanford University Press.

Amantina Durán medita sobre los regalos de su hija

In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Javier Viera, President and Professor of Education and Leadership at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Dr. Maria Liu Wong, City Seminary of New York Provost, discuss her recent book  On Becoming Wise Together: Learning and Leading in the City (Eerdmans, 2023). This work proposes “that intercultural and communal understandings of theological teaching and learning suit the context of a complex and quickly changing urban world better than individualistic, rational Western habits of knowing.” According to Dr. Wong, “This book reframes traditional Euro-North American conceptions of theological education by reflecting critically on my lived experience as a British-born Chinese-North American woman, a family member, an immigrant, an urban theological educator, a maker, a gallery curator, a community gardener, a Girl Scout troop leader, and a scholar.” This conversation and the book are part of of the Theological Education between the Times (TEBT) series, an initiative out of HTI member school Emory University Candler School of Theology that “gathers diverse groups of people for critical, theological conversations about the meanings and purposes of theological education. The project begins with a recognition that theological education is between the times, on the way. And it works in the confidence that we do not walk this road alone.”

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodriguez, HTI Executive Director, talks with Dr. Luis G. Pedraja, President of Quinsigamond Community College, about his leadership trajectory from professor to senior administrator. The Cuban-born theologian started his career as a faculty member before becoming a chair, then later a dean and a provost. He describes transitioning between roles and the lessons learned. “You have to get buy-in from the people you are leading,” Dr. Pedraja says, looking back at his earlier days as an administrator. “If that doesn't happen, whether you are right or wrong, it doesn't matter. You have to be a leader that brings people along with you.”

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Tony Lin talks to Dr. Nely Galán, entrepreneur, Emmy Award–winning TV producer, real-estate mogul, author, and podcaster. Her New York Times bestseller Self Made: Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way (Spiegel & Grau, 2016), which features a foreword by financial advisor Suze Orman, inspires women to find their financial footing in the world and become entrepreneurs. "God is going to help you, but you have to help yourself,” Dr. Galán tells Rev. Dr. Lin. Part of being self-made and helping yourself is being flexible and evolving, she says. “To make it to the end of your life, what I've learned is, you have to make yourself over, over and over again…You are on a trajectory, and that trajectory is an obstacle course…Along the way, if you are not flexible, if you don't pivot, if you don't evolve, if you don't grow all the time, and are willing to change, and are willing to understand that the road is not a clear road, and go with that, you are not going to make it to the end of your life. You are going to be a very fear-based person [who] is suffering a lot.” Dr. Galán knows firsthand about flexibility and pivoting. Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, she emigrated to the United States with her parents and her brother after the revolution. They were warmly welcomed by an American family in New Jersey, thanks to the missionary work of the Presbyterian church. Years later, when her son was in third grade and struggling in school, Dr. Galán decided to go back to college “to fill in her educational gaps.” She wanted to be a role model for her son and encourage him in his own educational journey. At the height of her television-producing career (she is owner of Galán Entertainment and former president of Telemundo's entertainment division), Dr. Galán decided to return to college, where she earned a PhD as a clinical psychologist. She went on to work as a therapist at a middle school for a year. “Sometimes, in life, you have to do what the world perceives as taking a step backward to move forward,” she says. “You cannot be afraid to pivot, to change, to hear your inner voice.  I always say I have deep conversations with God myself. I don't need to go somewhere to do it. I do it myself. I ask God questions, and God answers me.” In 2016, TJ Jakes, Senior Pastor of The Potter's House, invited Galán to his show to speak about personal economic empowerment, “because God can't do everything.” While her call for empowerment around abundance might easily be misconstrued in a society of overconsumption, Dr. Galán clarifies the spirit of her message. "I am not a grandiose person,” she tells Rev. Dr. Lin. “I don't live lavishly. I don't want money for those reasons. I want to live okay, but I really am more about having money for freedom to do the things I want to do. What I want is to democratize finance... I really feel like the missing link for us is lack of knowledge." In fact, Dr. Galán believes that money can be a spiritual practice: “How you deal with it. Why you make the money What you do with the money, and then how you spend the money, is a spiritual practice." MORE LISTENING "Money Maker/Mi mundo rico with Nely Galán" is the podcast for everyone with untapped greatness who just needs the tools to take flight.

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In this episode of OP Talks, sociologist Rev. Dr. Tony Lin talks to New York Times National Correspondent Edgar Sandoval about his start in journalism, writing about Texas, and the nuances of the U.S. Latino experience. In particular, Sandoval discusses his experience of reporting on the mass shooting that occurred on May 24, 2022 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Sandoval was born in California and spent part of his childhood in his parents' Mexican home state of Zacatecas, before settling in South Texas. While still in college, Sandoval got his start in journalism at The McAllen Monitor, his hometown newspaper, where his first job was writing obituaries. After graduation, he worked newsroom jobs that took him to California, Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York. He spent almost three years writing about the assimilation of Latino immigrants in Pennsylvania; the articles are anthologized in The New Face of Small-Town America: Snapshots of Latino Life in Allentown, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010), which captures "vivid portraits of the people and families behind the demographic statistics." In New York, Sandoval worked for the New York Daily News for a decade before joining The New York Times in 2019, where he is now a National Correspondent based in Texas. Coming full circle, he currently writes about South Texas people and places for the NYT's National Desk.

In this episode of OP Talks, Emanuel Padilla talks to T.I. Frazier about growing up with parents who were pastors, writing for children, and about his most recent book, Faith Arising (Timothy Frazier, 2022), which charts his journey of discovery and explores Christian teachings. The book invites readers “to critically examine key moments in your life where you felt lost, heartbroken, inspired, challenged, courageous, overwhelmed, and at peace.” His devotional Faith Growth Stages is forthcoming in 2023. Born on the East Coast and partly raised in Southern California, Frazier served ten years with the United States Army National Guard in various roles, including Chaplain Assistant. “As a Boricua, but also African-American, we're storytellers. And being able to share our story is a way of sharing our legacy. Why we do what we do,” says Frazier, who is the proud father of a three-year-old and also the author of the children's book Lauren the Cow (Timothy Frazier, 2022). “The stories, lessons learned,” he tells Padilla, “they're really stories about our faith, and the more we can share our journey— and being honest about it, even in the places that are difficult—it becomes an adventure that others can learn from.”

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren Lin talks to celebrated author Sandra Cisneros about her new poetry collection 'Woman Without Shame' (Knopf, 2022) "Art," she says, "is the medicine that heals our heart from the darkness that overwhelms and transforms us. You need to create art not to distract you but to bring you in touch with this darkness that is inside us. Art's mission isn't to entertain or distract. Art's mission is for making you sit with your wounds and transform those demons before those demons transform you." In this post-pandemic world, where politicians have failed to lead, and the world seems heartbroken, Cisneros continues to turn to her spiritual teachers: the late Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh and Pema Chödrön, an American Buddhist teacher, author, nun. If she had to give anyone writing advice, Cisneros says she would tell them to write in the spirit of service. "What the writing has taught me is [that], whatever I create with love--on behalf of those I love, with no ego involved, no personal agenda—siempre sale bonito; it always turns out well," she advises. "When you write, you have to be in some place of service, generosity and absolute humility."

In this episode of OP Talks, historian Dr. Felipe Hinojosa talks to filmmaker Ray Santiesteban about his documentary The First Rainbow Coalition (Independent Lens, 2020) and the need for more Latinx historians and filmmakers. Through rare archival footage and interviews with members of The Rainbow Coalition, Santiesteban tells the story of the groundbreaking alliance between the Black Panther Party, Hispanic activist group The Young Lords, and The Young Patriots, comprising working-class southern whites. In the 1960s, the alliance banded together as The Rainbow Coalition in Chicago—one of the most segregated cities at the time—to fight police brutality and substandard housing. Though the documentary covers events from 50 years ago, says Santiesteban, the documentary “is still relevant because we're still grappling with [what] people were fighting against in the ‘60s.” Because the United States is more diverse than it was then, he adds, coalitions across ethnic lines have even more potential today. ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY In 1969, the Chicago Black Panther Party, notably led by the charismatic Fred Hampton, began to form alliances across lines of race and ethnicity with other community-based movements in the city, including the Latinx group the Young Lords Organization and the working-class young southern whites of the Young Patriots. Finding common ground, these disparate groups banded together in one of the most segregated cities in postwar America to collectively confront issues such as police brutality and substandard housing, calling themselves the Rainbow Coalition. The First Rainbow Coalition tells the movement's little-known story through rare archival footage and interviews with former coalition members in the present-day.  While the coalition eventually collapsed under duress from constant harassment by local and federal law enforcement, including the murder of Fred Hampton, it had a long term impact, breaking down barriers between communities, and creating a model for future activists and diverse politicians across America. READ MORE READ MORE Independent Lens Discussion Guide for The Rainbow Coalition [DOWNLOAD PDF]

“The arts is where we find our humanity,” says José Pérez, who spent 20 years in prison and now advocates for the rehabilitative arts and foster children. He credits poetry, and the arts in general, with transforming his life. “Our art comes from us. It comes from the deepest parts of ourselves,” he tells cultural sociologist Rev. Dr. Tony T. R. Lin. “And when [our art] goes into the world, you know, it's like you're sharing yourself with someone.” In this episode of OP Talks, Pérez also reads three of his poems, part of a larger collection previously featured on HTI Open Plaza. The episode opens with “Sense of Mind,” a poem Pérez calls a prayer. First incarcerated at age thirteen, then a second time at sixteen, he describes his mindset then: "I thought in my head—in my immature and my young mind—I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison. Little did I know that that poem was like a prayer. That was like God's gift." Pérez left prison with a calling to help advocate for rehabilitative arts programs in prisons. He also advocates for children and teenagers who, like him, grew up in the foster system. “I'm speaking to that right now, being proactive and being able to affect change in that community,” Pérez tells Rev. Dr. Lin. “The poetry, for me, [is] not just about the words; it's also about the action.”

Theologian Lucila Crena talks to photojournalist Eve Fairbanks, who has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa for thirteen years. Her debut book The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa's Racial Reckoning (Simon and Schuster, 2022) “weaves together the stories of three ordinary South Africans over five tumultuous decades in a sweeping and exquisite look at what really happens when a country resolves to end white supremacy.” As Fairbanks points out, there was a time when the Apartheid system of segregation in South Africa seemed like an "eternal Gordian Knot, like a hopeless bind." That is, "until 1994, when, suddenly, you had, in one day, [a] parliament change from being 100 percent white to being 80 percent people of color...literally overnight."

Faith, Love, Outreach, Restoration, Advancing the Gospel—these are the stated values of FLORA Ministries, founded by Noemi Córdova. Based out of Expansion Church in Queens, New York, the organization “supports immigrant families and mobilizes the Church to build with their communities.” In this episode of OP Talk, Rev. Milly Silencio talks to Córdova, who is “passionate about working alongside others and seeing people come together to foster hope in their communities.”

No atual turbilhão de incerteza política, os protestantes assumiram um papel central no desdobramento da fusão da política e da religião no Brasil. O livro recente do Dr. Wanderley Pereira Da Rosa, Por uma fé encarnada: uma introdução à história do protestantismo no Brasil (Editora Recriar, 2022), reinterpreta a missão protestante – suas raízes históricas, teológicas e ideológicas – e oferece uma análise através do prisma da teologia social e política sem desconsiderar a pluralidade do mundo protestante. Neste episódio do OP Talks, o Dr. Pereira Da Rosa e o Dr. João Chaves ajudam a situar o cenário político atual. Eles discutem a natureza de ser protestante no Brasil hoje e o desenvolvimento contínuo da fé ao longo da história, desde o movimento inicial do protestantismo no país até sua iteração nacionalista mais recente. --- In the present turmoil of political uncertainty, Protestants have taken a central role in the unfolding nature of Brazil's merging of politics and religion. Dr. Wanderley Pereira Da Rosa's recent book, Por uma fé encarnada: uma introdução à história do protestantismo no Brasil [Towards an Incarnated Faith: An Introduction to a History of Protestantism in Brazil] (Editora Recriar, 2022), reinterprets the Protestant mission—its historical, theological, and ideological roots—and offers an analysis through the prism of social and political theology without disregarding the plurality of the Protestant world. In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Pereira Da Rosa and Dr. João Chaves help situate the current political landscape. They discuss the nature of being a Protestant in Brazil today and the faith's ongoing development through history, from the initial movement of Protestantism in the country to its most recent nationalist iteration. READ MORE Chaves, João B. and Raimundo Barreto. “The shared religious roots of twin insurrections in the U.S. and Brazil.” The Washington Post, 18 January 2023.

In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Jorge Juan Rodríguez V and Rev. Dr. Lis Valle-Ruiz discuss digital platforms for popular theological education. Drawing from his academic training in history and biblical studies, Dr. Rodríguez V offers tips, such as identifying "the one thing you want people to walk away with," and describes how different digital platforms have shaped his writing. He finds life in translating what he has learned to others: "How can I take this knowledge and make it accessible?" Rev. Dr. Valle-Ruiz shares her experience of "being a social media presence" as a scholar who studies worship and preaching. She not only understands the challenges ‘digital immigrants' may encounter when engaging digital platforms but also recognizes how important having a multimedia presence is to ‘digital natives.' Learn more from these Puerto Rican scholars and their call to public scholarship.