WGBD: When God is Black and Disabled

WGBD welcomes serial entrepreneur Nanoshka Johnson as she challenges church and culture to accommodate the pace at which disabled persons function.  She personifies the no-limit possibilities of business acumen, ministry, and ingenuity.  

This episode of WGBD: When God is Black & Disabled welcomes Ms. Rachel Chapman, a disability activist in the church, and serves on the Disability Commission of the United Church of Christ. Her passion is disability awareness beyond building modifications only. 

This episode of WGBD:  When God is Black & Disabled reflects on developing a hermeneutic of disability by framing salvation through the disabled body of Jesus at the Crucifixion.  What had been essential for disabled persons was coopted by ableds affected by quarantine--the familiar exile of disabled persons. JusticeUnbound.orgThis reflection first appeared as the Good Friday meditation at Justice Unbound, an interactive journal on Christian social justice, a ministry of the Presbyterian Church USA but holds to the ecumenical voice of the Church universal.

WGBD welcomes Kenya Francis, a lupus survivor, who thrives to live a full life in spite of the early demise of her mother and sister from chronic illnesses.  She is candid and gracious in calling for community, to not be forgotten by the church. 

WGBD welcomes Dr. April Renee Lynch, a scholar of 15th-17th Century Italian renaissance art.  Her august publications and travel to the Vatican are a wellspring of information as to how art and theology are interdependent.  

Tylia Flores is a spitfire of an advocate for stomping out cerebral palsy!  She has a fierce love of God and people. It is family support that keeps her light warm and bright

This episode of WGBD:  When God is Black & Disabled reflects on developing a hermeneutic of disability by framing COVID-19 public response with reasonable accommodations through the story of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel. What had been essential for disabled persons was coopted by ableds affected by quarantine--the familiar exile of disabled persons.  EvolvingFaith.com This reflection is excerpted from Episode 17:  Identity, Belonging, and Disability on the Evolving Faith podcast.  Along with two other persons of faith with disabilities, we discuss our realities, identities, and challenges in moving through society.  Please head over to their podcast to listen:Ep. 17 Identity, Belonging, and DisabilityHosted by Sarah Bessey and Jeff ChuFeaturing Stephanie Tait, Derrick Dawson, and Raedorah StewartIn a beautiful, wise experience, we are thrilled to welcome Stephanie Tait, Derrick Dawson, and Raedorah Stewart as they each present a talk about identity, belonging, and an evolving faith through the lens of disability. Then our guests join Sarah and Jeff in a life-giving conversation on identity, hope, beauty, belonging, covenant, and perceiving the new thing God is doing. (This episode runs a bit longer than usual because it is a full Evolving Faith conference session.) Now available and streaming wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Rev. Yani Davis aka The Peace Pastor spits and flows a testimony of hearing and healing--both supernaturally!  With their vision of ministering wholeness and wellness, the people are sure to not perish!Keywords:  hymns, hip hop, queer, kidney disease, disability, mother, Inglewood, SULUHU, Wellchella, wholistic communal care, COVID, quarantine, church plant, spiritual, entrepreneur

This is part two of our insightful conversation with Rev. Stephanie A. Duzant, Social Action & Virtual Minister at St. Matthews AME Community Church, Hollis Queens, New York. She shares with us the power of taking charge of your diagnosis and pain management--don't take ‘No' for an answer! Keywords:  disability, new york, nevada, chiari malformation, Black woman, womanist, communion, edible, cbd, pain, pain management, skittles, arizona iced tea, mikvah, sciatica, eucharist, healing, thc, travon martin, COVID, quarantine

 On this episode of WGBD, Rev. Stephanie A. Duzant, Social Action & Virtual Minister at St. Matthews AME Community Church, Hollis Queens, New York. She shares with us the power of taking charge of your diagnosis and pain management--don't take ‘No' for an answer! This is part one of a two-part conversation. Keywords:  disability, new york, nevada, chiari malformation, Black woman, womanist, communion, edible, cbd, pain, pain management, skittles, arizona iced tea, mikvah, sciatica, eucharist, healing, thc, travon martin, COVID, quarantine

The WGBD “When God is Black and Disabled” Podcast with and by Black women of faith with disabilities both amplifies our voices and seizes the teachable moment to assist preachers in developing a hermeneutic of disability.  This week's episode lays the foundation upon which future programming is built--interpreting familiar stories to amplify the disability narrative within our sacred texts. This episode is more apologetic and establishes an ethos of disability as God's good work instead of regarding disability as accidental or punitive.  Future episodes will be character studies. In between full teaching episodes, Black women of faith with disabilities and chronic illnesses will be our special guests sharing troubles, triumphs, and testimony of how God, the Imago Dei, is incarnate through them!   Today's lesson is taught by Rev. Raedorah C. Stewart, the host--Director of Christian Education at Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ and Director of the Writing Center at Wesley Theological Seminary. 

Hello and welcome to WGBD “When God is Black and Disabled” a podcast by and with Black women of faith with disabilities, hosted by the Rev. Raedorah C. Stewart. This podcast is a space to amplify the voices and validate the experiences of Black women of faith from various streams of spirituality, in the church, and for the culture.  In doing so, we imagine the Imago Dei with disabilities as incarnate and more valuable to humanity than is cast as burdensome, accidental, or incidental to God's creative genius.  Content includes hermeneutical reflections on disability in the Bible, non-canonical, and other sacred texts; special guests with varying disabilities narrating their stories; commentaries of lament; and calls for action that the church becomes the head and not the tail of disability justice.  About the Host:  Rev. Raedorah C. Stewart is known as RevSisRaedorah in publications and QueenQueenDom on social media platforms holds a Masters of Arts in Christian Leadership from a Calvinist seminary on the West coast;  MDiv equivalency courses in biblical Greek and Hebrew from the same; and completion of the Doctor of Ministry in Spirituality and Story from a Wesleyan seminary on the East coast.  I have held committee positions in the American Academy of Religion including the Committee of Persons with Disabilities in the Profession, Womanist Theology and Ethics groups, Queer Studies in Religion, Theology and the Arts, and African American and Indigenous Preaching.  Publications include poetry in “Deeper Shades of Purple:  Womanism in Religion and Society” through the NYU Press; and in other publications by and for Black women in the church; article in the Tikkun Magazine article, “Made by God, Broken by Life: Developing an African American Hermeneutic for Disability”; article in the Sage Journal Theology Today, “Loop, Hook, Pull: Disabled by Design—Creating a Narrative Theology of Disability"; and academic paper in the International Journal of Black Theology, “Say Now Shibboleth--Queerying Words at Work in Worship.”  I am ordained clergy, a seminary professor, and Director of Christian education at my home church. This podcast is launched with grace and generosity by support from the Henry Luce Foundation and Columbia University's Center on African American Religion, Sexual Politics and Social Justice (CARSS).  I am grateful for the review team who discerned the urgency of advancing disability as a justice issue in the 21st Century and saw value in my proposal to receive one of their Rapid Response Grants.  A special thank you to the psalmist, Ms. Wasaba Sidabey aka Soul Queen Wu aka The Self-Love Enthusiast, who composed, recorded, and mixed the podcast Intro and Outro.  Her gift to the body is only now beginning to be known.  Get to know her, hire her, pay her--www.SoulQueenWu.com.Finally, I thank God for this opportunity to serve and thank you for tuning in.  Subscribe.  Get notifications.  We'll be back each Sunday after dinner and a nap.  See you next week.  Calls-to-action: Please share this podcast.Interested in being a guest?:  hire@iwritesolutions.comInvite Rev. Stewart to preach or speak:  hire@iwritesolutions.comThank you for love gifts and offerings:  CashApp $Raedorah  |  Venmo @Raedorah