This podcast is for former church girls who woke up one day and realized that life was bigger than what Big Mama and the Bible say. These friends were lucky that as they started exploring their identities as Black women, they had each other. The hosts, Kelli King-Jackson, ACC and Kendra Ross, PhD, invite you into their group chat as they talk about faith, f(r)amily, community, politics, and pop culture. They don't believe in leaving any Black woman behind so all are invited into the conversa ...
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Beyond the Womanist Classroom is a weekly podcast hosted by womanist biblical scholar Dr. Mitzi J. Smith (PhD). We discuss all things womanism, cutting-edge biblical interpretation, and justice. Please consider supporting us by subscribing to our podcast on buzzsprout.com.
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Womanist Bible Talk: A Podcast for Womanish Bible Readers and Friends
Vanessa Lovelace & Gay Byron
“Womanist Bible Talk: A Podcast for Womanish Bible Readers and Friends” engages stories about women in Scripture from the perspectives of contemporary Black and other women of color from different walks of life and various socio-economic backgrounds. Hosts, Vanessa Lovelace and Gay Byron, redeem the reputations of biblical women, such as Jezebel, Delilah, and Mary Magdalene who are often represented as “bad girls of the Bible” and introduce other women who have either been nameless or hidden ...
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Ep. 9- Why Do I Know So Many Black Women With A Broken Uterus?: On Black Women’s Reproductive Health with Dr. Chiyah A. Lawrence
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Good Sis of the Pod, Dr. Chiyah A. Lawrence is back with Kendra and Kelli to discuss something we don't often discuss openly: reproductive health and the challenges Black women face. You'll hear each of them describe their experiences of navigating over the years, how it's impacted (or not impacted) their confidence as a woman, and Kendra even real…
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Send us a text In this episode, Dr. Margaret Aymer and I interview Dr. Mitzi Smith to discuss her article in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse, “Race, Gender, and the Politics of ‘Sass’: Reading Mark 7:24–30 through a Womanist Lens of Intersectionality and Inter(con)textuality.” What does women's speech, Sandra Bland, a…
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The pod is podding! Kendra and Kelli share their reflections one week after the general election of 2024. Joined by their producer and digital media manager, Leatra and Meg, the hosts share their feelings immediately following the election and what they hope this means for our society going forward. Find your community, Black women, for such a time…
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Ep. 8- I Did Not Know What Freedom Was Until I Left: On Black Women Expats with Roshida Dowe and Stephanie Perry of ExodUS Summit
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Black women-- we see you, hear you, and share your concerns post-election 2024. This week, Kendra and Kelli are joined by Roshida Dowe and Stephanie Perry, co-founders of ExodUS Summit. This organization hosts virtual and live events and workshops that show Black women ways to plan their ExodUS while fostering community. Roshida and Stephanie tell …
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Bonus Ep. 3- If You're Not Uncomfortable, You're Not Doing the Work with Sheryl Thomas-Washburn
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In this extended bonus episode, Kelli and Kendra are joined by Sheryl Thomas-Washburn, AKA Mama Sheryl, who highlights her JEDI-B (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) work experience and gives us an overview of her consulting work with Tomia LLC. They cover related topics such as white fragility and the discomfort of change. Speci…
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Kendra and Kelli cover it all this week-- from The Church (and politics!) catering to entertainment purposes these days to a mighty read from Kendra towards Donnie Swaggart regarding his recent words condemning the Black Church. The nerve! Kelli also shares updates on her office renovations, and Kendra gives a shout-out to her friend, WNBA All-Star…
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Season 2, Episode 7: Part II Black Women’s Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled Towers
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Send us a text In Episode 7 of Season 2, Dr. Mitzi Smith's guests are two editors, Dr. CL Nash and Dr. Carol Marie Webster of a special issues of The African Journal of Gender and Religion Vol. 30 No 1 (2024) entitled "Black Women’s Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled Towers." We are also joined by two contributors, Rev. Shandon…
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Send us a text In Season 2, Episode 8, podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith and her guests from Season 2, Episode 7, Dr. CL Nash, Dr. Carol Marie Webster, Dr. Almeena Al-Rasheed, and Rev. Shandon Klein stay by to reflect on some of the themes and womanist issues and concerns raised (and not raised) in the podcast. Support the show Thank you for listenin…
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Send us a text In this episode, I interview Dr. Cheryl Anderson to discuss her article in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse, “The Song of Songs: Redeeming Gender Constructions in the Age of AIDS.” Can the book of erotic poetry also known as the Song of Solomon redeem harmful gender constructions in Gen 2-3? Can the Blac…
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Sign us up for the Christian Jubilee because we are getting into it on this episode! Our guest, Denele Biggs, takes us on a journey exploring critiques of the church and its exclusion of certain community members. She also shares her healing journey after a painful response from the church when she sought support, and the women share ways they've e…
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Season 2, Episode 6: Theopoetics in Color by Drs. Oluwatomisin Oredein & Lakisha Lockhart-Rusch
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Send us a text Dr. Mitzi J. Smith's guests are Drs. Oluwatomisin Oredein and Lakisha Lockhart-Rusch, the co-editors of Theopoetics in Color: Embodied Approaches to Theological Discourses (Grand Rapids: Wm B Eerdmans, 2024). Available at Amazon.com, Eerdman's publishing, and other book sellers. Dr. Oluwatomisin Oredein is Assistant Professor in Blac…
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Kelli and Kendra are taking a much-needed break from recording new episodes this week, but we want to give you a glimpse into where they started on their podcast journey. Hop into the way back machine with us as we listen to their first episode, recorded with friend of the pod, Dr. Chiyah A. Lawrence, back in February 2024. This week, they discusse…
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Ep. 4- The Dichotomy of What We Were Taught in the Black Church vs What's Real with Tanika Harris
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Make sure you grab your church hanky for this episode! This week's guest, Tanika Harris, takes us on a journey as she shares her experiences as a church girl throughout the years, describes what it means to be a recovering people pleaser, and offers some loving critiques for the Black Church. She even closes us out in a beautiful prayer that will s…
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In this bonus episode, hosts Kelli and Kendra unpack the Black tax they referenced at the end of Episode 3- "You ARE That Man" (click here to listen to the last full episode if you haven't heard it yet). You'll also hear Kelli talk about how impactful Melissa Harris-Perry's research on the Black tax has been for her over the years, Kendra gives a s…
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This week, This Womanist Work hits the road! In this episode, Kelli and Kendra are joined by their good sis Dr. Chiyah A Lawrence, who co-created the vision and visuals for the podcast, their producer, Leatra, and their social media manager, Meg, in person in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. From the (not) "Eco-Lodge" in Martha's Vineyard, these three…
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Season 2, Episode 5: "Black Women's Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled Towers"
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Send us a text In Season 2, Episode 5, podcast host welcomes co-editors and contributors of the special issue of the African Journal of Gender and Religion entitled "Black Women's Radical Religious Epistemologies in Mahogany & Steepled Towers." Co-editors: Dr. CL Nash is a Political Theology Research Felow at the University of Edinburgh's School of…
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Welcome to This Womanist Work, a podcast for former church girls who woke up one day and realized that life was bigger than what Big Mama and the Bible say. In this episode, Kelli and Kendra discuss succession planning in personal, professional, and political spaces, how Black women are leading the charge on staying ready to mobilize for political …
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Welcome to This Womanist Work, a podcast for former church girls who woke up one day and realized that life was bigger than what Big Mama and the Bible say. In this episode, Kelli and Kendra discuss the social media comments about Montgomery, Alabama's mayor, Steven Reed, their early days in the hip-hop haven of Clinton Hills, Brooklyn, in the '90s…
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Send us a text In this episode, I interview Dr. Shively T. J. Smith to discuss her article in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse, “One More Time with Assata on My Mind: A Womanist Rereading of the Escape to Egypt (Matt 2:13-23) in Dialogue with an African American Woman Fugitive Narrative.” We discuss the ahistorical dep…
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Welcome to This Womanist Work, a podcast for former church girls who woke up one day and realized that life was bigger than what Big Mama and the Bible say. In this episode, you will meet the hosts, Kelli King-Jackson, ACC & Kendra Ross, PhD, learn how they are connected, and hear them talk in real time about how they could even be kin. Shoutout to…
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Send us a text Podcast Host, Dr. Mitzi J. Smith's guest is Dr. DeAnna M. Daniels. She is Assistant Professor of Africana and Religious Studies at the University of Arizona. In 2023 Dr. Daniels earned her Ph.D. in Religion with a concentration in African American Religion from Rice University. Her scholarly interests are diverse, focusing on Black r…
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Welcome to This Womanist Work, a podcast hosted by Kelli King-Jackson, ACC, and Kendra Ross, PhD. The hosts invite you into their group chat as they talk about faith, f(r)amily, community, politics, and pop culture. They don't believe in leaving any Black woman behind so all are invited into the conversation! In each episode, our hosts invite you t…
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Send us a text In Episode 3 of Season 2, Podcast host, Dr. Mitzi J. Smith talks with Rev. Dr. Tijuana Gray (DMin, Columbia Theological Seminary) about her completed doctor of ministry project: "Queer Black Women Preaching: Womanist Thought as a Tool for Normalizing Uncomfortable Conversations." Rev. Dr. Tijuana L. Gray recently received her Doctor …
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Send us a text This episode Dr. Valerie Bridgeman joins me to discuss her article in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse, “‘I Will Make Boys their Princes’: A Womanist Reading of Children in the Book of Isaiah.” We discuss the good, bad, and ugly of the parent/child metaphor in Isaiah, rebellious Israel, and parental disc…
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Send us a text In Season 2, Episode 2, podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith discusses the film "The Book of Clarence" with Drs. Amy Lindeman Allen (Assoc. Prof. of New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary, IN) , Kyle Brooks (Visiting Asst. Prof. of Theology and Religious Studies at the Univ. of San Diego), and Tina Pippin (Prof. of Bible & Religi…
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Send us a text Podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith interviews Dr. Dianne Stewart about her book Black Women, Black Love: America's War on Africa American Marriage (Seal, 2020). This is an important study of the systematic and unrelenting terroristic attack on Black love and marriage through the capture of Africans, enslavement, emancipation, reconstruc…
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Send us a text Guest co-host, Dr. Mitzi Smith and I, interview Dr. Bridgett Green, to discuss her article in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible, "'Nobody's Free Until Everybody's Free': Exploring Gender and Class Injustice in a Story about Women (Luke 18:15-17)." Dr. Green broadens the world of infants in the Greco Roman world for our listeners …
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Send us a text Guest co-host, Dr. Mitzi Smith and I, interview Dr. Margaret Aymer to discuss her article in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible, “Outrageous, Audacious, Courageous, Willful: Reading the Enslaved Girl of Acts 12.” Dr. Aymer discusses the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, immigration and slavery in the ancient world. Dr. Aymer…
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Send us a text Dr. Sharon Jacob and Dr. Jennifer Kaalund join guest co-host, the Rev. Dr. Mitzi Smith, and me in discussing their article "Flowing from Breast to Breast: An Examination of Dis/placed Motherhood in African American and Indian Wet Nurses" in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Follow along as Dr. Jacob and …
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Send us a text Guest co-host, the Rev. Dr. Mitzi Smith joins me in interviewing Dr. Stacy Davis for her article “The Invisible Women: Numbers 30 and the Politics of Singleness in Africana Communities" in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Listen to Dr. Davis discuss vows made by single, never-married biblical women, the…
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Send us a text Gay L. Byron was the co-host of Womanist Bible Talk: A Podcast for Womanish Bible Readers and Their Friends. Gay died suddenly and unexpectedly December 6, 2023. The Rev. Canon Hugh Page and the Rev. Dr. Margaret Aymer joined me to pay tribute to this womanist scholar, researcher, teacher, preacher, and friend.…
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Send us a text In this episode, guest, Marlene Underwood, discusses her essay, "'Battered Love': Abuse in the Book of Job" in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse edited by Gay L. Byron and Vanessa Lovelace. Marlene discusses the treatment of Job by the deity through the lens of intimate partner violence. Learn how an upri…
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Send us a text In this inaugural episode, hosts, Vanessa Lovelace and Gay Byron, explain how this podcast grew from their volume of essays featuring an ensemble of Old Testament and New Testament women scholars of color titled Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse to bring those voices to life in interviews with the contrib…
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Season 1, Episode 21: Conversation with Dr. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Professor, Author, Screenwriter
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Send us a text In this episode 21 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith talks with Dr. Clenora Hudson-Weems about the 18 tenets of Africana Womanism, which is a term Hudson-Weems conceptualized. The sixth edition of Dr. Clenora Hudson-Weems' classic text Africana Womanism: Reclaiming Ourselves will be published this year by Routledge. Dr. Hudson-Weems is…
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Send us a text In Episode 20, podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith dialogues with Dr. Kenneth Ngwa, Prof of Hebrew Bible, Drew University Theological School, about his new book Let My People Live: An Africana Reading of Exodus (Westminster John Knox, 2022). Dr. Ngwa's book is available from the publisher, Amazon.com, and other book sellers. He is founde…
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Send us a text In this Episode 19, podcast host Rev. Dr. Mitzi J Smith talks with Rev. Dr. Raquel S. Lettsome, Distinguished Visiting Professor of New Testament and Womanist Hermeneutics at Eden Theological Seminary about her journey to womanism, her seminal text Call and Consequences, and her ministry (www.RSLministries.com). Support the show Than…
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Send us a text In this episode 18 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith welcomes guest and colleague Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins, the Peachtree Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA. He is a documentarian, pastor, professor who teaches with digital media, and the scholar with a camera who is building bridges …
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Season 1, Episode 17 Conversation with Rev Dr Angela N. Parker, Asst Prof of New Testament, McAfee School of Theology
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Send us a text In Episode 17 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith has a conversation with womanist colleague the Rev. Dr. Angela N. Parker. Dr. Parker is assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, Decatur, GA. We discuss how Dr. Parker became a womanist biblical scholar and her wonderful book If God S…
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Season 1, Episode 16: Interview with Dr. Mmapula D. Kebaneilwe, Womanist HB/OT Scholar, Univ of Botswana
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Send us a text In this episode 16 podcast host Dr. Mitzi J. Smith conducts a fascinating interview with Dr. Mmapula D. Kebaneilwe, Hebrew Bible/OT Womanist Scholar, University of Botswana, Humboldt Research Scholar based in University of Bamberg, Germany, and Project Partner with Profs. J. Stiebert of Leeds University and Dr. Katie Edwards of Sheff…
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Season 1 Episode 15: Conversation with Rev Dr Renita Weems and her Recent Essay on Katie Cannon
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Send us a text Hebrew Bible/OT womanist scholar, author, preacher, and public theologian Rev. Dr. Renita J. Weems is the guest of this episode 15 of Season 1 of the Beyond the Womanist Classroom Podcast. The host, Rev. Dr. Mitzi J. Smith speaks with Dr. Weems about her essay "The Biblical Field's Loss Was Womanist Ethics' Gain: Katie Cannon and the…
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Send us a text In this Episode 14, podcast host Rev. Dr. Mitzi J Smith (womanist scholar, author, professor) interviews Rev. Dr. Sharon Ellis Davis about her new book The Trauma of Sexual and Domestic Violence: Navigating My Way through Individuals, Religion, Policing and the Courts. Support the show Thank you for listening! Check Out My Website at…
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Send us a text In this Episode of Beyond the Womanist Classroom, podcast host Dr. Mitzi Smith interviews Dr. C L Nash about her womanist activist work in the United Kingdom and her brainchild Misogynoir to Mishpat, a website devoted to the work of Black women (of African descent) religious scholars. Listeners can find Misogynoir to Mishpat on Faceb…
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Season 1, Episode 12: Black Women Professors in Theological Education at PWIs: Challenges, Resilience, and Progress
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Send us a text In this Episode 12, Dr. Mitzi Smith (Podcast Host) has a conversation with her womanist colleagues, Dr. Marcia Y. Riggs (womanist ethicist) and Dr. Lisa Weaver (womanist scholar of liturgy) about negotiating life and work in a predominantly white academy and institution. We discuss the challenges, Black women's resilience, and our be…
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Send us a text In Episode 11 of BTWC, Dr. Mitzi J. Smith's guest is Dr. Marcia Y. Riggs, a womanist ethicist. Dr. Riggs discusses her book Plenty Good Room: Women Versus Male Power in the Black Church. Dr. Riggs argues that we must break free from the social mythologies that we inherited from our enslavement and from white-patriarchal-capitalist so…
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Season 1, Episode 10: "Seeing the Future of the African American Church in the Rainbow" with Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins
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Send us a text This is Episode 10 of Beyond the Womanist Classroom. Podcast host Dr. Mitzi Smith interviews Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins about his project "Seeing the Future of the African American Church in the Rainbow." Find more info at futureoftheBlackChurch.org . Support the show Thank you for listening! Check Out My Website at www.mitzijsmith.net …
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Send us a text In this Episode 9, Dr. Mitzi J Smith and co-host Rebecca Christian lift up the voices of women in the struggle for freedom and empowerment. These are women from the past, from Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer to Pearl Cleage and Michelle Obama and Stacey Abrams. We want to affirm our right to vote, celebrate our right to vote, and enc…
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Send us a text This is Episode 8, Season 1 "The Burden & Responsibility of Citizenship: if it Wasn't for the Women!" with podcast host Dr. Mitzi J Smith (womanist professor, author and scholar) and co-host Ms. Rebecca Christian. We discuss Black women voting rights activists and Mark 12:13-17 (render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what…
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Send us a text In this episode 7 Women, Sexual Violence and Power, womanist biblical scholar Dr. Mitzi Smith discusses sexual violence against women and power. She focuses on the so-called biblical story of "the woman caught in adultery" and the apocryphal story of Susanna. Support the show Thank you for listening! Check Out My Website at www.mitzi…
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Send us a text In Episode 6 of the weekly podcast "Beyond the Womanist Classroom," Dr. Mitzi J. Smith's guest is Dr. Michael Newheart, her first biblical studies professor at Howard Univ School of Divinity. Dr. Smith talks with Dr. Newheart about the recent book they co-authored that focuses on the Bible as a collection of testimonies and what that…
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Send us a text In Season 1, Episode 5 of the weekly podcast Beyond the Womanist Classroom, Dr. Mitzi Smith hosts a conversation with Ms. Rebecca Christian (a public school education in the DC area) about Womanism, approaching the Bible as a collection of testimonies (testimonies about testimonies within testimonies) and justice. Support the show Th…
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