Words change people. I remember when I was a young social worker, I was assigned to meet with a new client whom I had a strong bias about. I was convinced that this person and I had very little in common, and that this individual was someone potentially dangerous. So I was guarded as I sat down and asked this person about their life, and what brought them to the clinic where I worked. As I listened to them share the story of their life, I found that I started liking them. This was surprising to me. We had some similarities… and I found that contrary to the story I told myself about who they were before we talked, now that they were sharing their story with me, I could feel my heart starting to change. What I realized, was that my prejudgments were wrong.

Since the beginning of the colonial period in America, African Americans have been sharing their stories. In today’s episode, we will talk about some of these writers, thinkers and storytellers, and the impact they made in their lifetimes and ours as well.

Their stories are part of our series discussing Jemar Tisby’s book The Spirit of Justice: True Stores of Faith, Race and Resistance. A link to purchase this book is provided in the show notes for this episode.
Let’s go now and listen to this conversation.

CREDITS:

THE SPIRIT OF JUSTICE – Jemar Tisby
The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance