As a child, it always was a little bit embarrassing for me when my mother worked as a substitute teacher for my elementary school class. It wasn’t that my mom was a bad teacher. It was quite the opposite, actually.

My mother was a riveting and dynamic teacher who made learning fun, and as one of the unpopular kids in my class, it always was an awkward moment when kids would come up to me on days that my mom subbed to tell me, “Eric, your mom is so cool!” I wasn’t as cool as my mom – just what every kid wants to hear. Looking back, though, I can easily tell why: my mom was great at reading stories. She made them come to life, changing her voice, reading dynamically, and using her vocal tone to grab every student’s attention so that even the most plain text of the instructions for our homework somehow carried the importance and gravity of an altar call in a Pentecostal church. My mom had a gift for making the written word come alive.

Robert Chao Romero and Jeff M Liou, authors of the book Christianity and Critical Race Theory: A Faithful and Constructive Conversation also make the words of their book come alive in the interview you are about to hear. In this interview, they share their heart not only for the topics in their book, but also for the church and those people who find themselves outside it. I hope you can hear in their words their passion and love for all people, inspired by God and fueled by scripture.