How to Live for Justice

A Vision for Engaged, Spiritual Activism

A photographer, a Civil Rights Lawyer, and an Episcopal Priest walk into a bar…
This week’s show is no joke, though.  Our guest, the Reverend Dr. Marcia Ledford, Esquire IS a Civil Rights lawyer, a photographer, and an Episcopal Priest.  Stay tuned for a great conversation that encompasses journeys both personal and cultural, the third rails of politics and religion, and where all those things come together in Dr. Marcia’s ongoing work for social justice.

Neither one of your podcasts hosts grew up in a regular religious tradition. And we are wary of the dark power that organized religion can wield to oppress and repress. Even the Buddhists in Myanmar are killing people in the name of. But we can’t deny that the US Civil Rights movement was championed by religious leaders. Nor that “church ladies” in Georgia helped swing the US Senate. Nor that a Jesuit priest, Father Boyle, created Homeboy Industries in LA to help young community members de-escalate violence and develop alternatives to gang life. So… we are really excited to have the Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford present the case for a progressive and engaged Christianity. We hope you listeners are, too. 

Guest Bio:
The Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford - a full name which we love saying  over and over -  is an expert on helping people find ways to work for justice.
She is a civil rights attorney who has represented society’s most marginalized. Her ministry is in Southwest Detroit’s Latinx population—an international port with an aggressive regional ICE director. 

An Episcopal priest, Dr. Ledford holds a Master of Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She earned her Doctor of
Ministry in political theology from Pacific School of Religion.

Dr. Ledford founded Political Theology Matters, LLC, to help the people develop a personal mission grounded in theology for greater social justice. Marcia teaches, speaks, and preaches about political theology in varied forums and maintains a very intriguing blog.

She also happens to be a writer and photographer.  We got so caught up in talking about Civil Rights and personal growth that we didn’t get around to talking about creativity, but we have links in the show notes for you to check out her amazing blog that’s full of resources for activism and education on social justice.

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Music Credits: A Hawaiian in Paris feat.-Pierre-Grill

SHOW NOTES
Key Takeaways: 

•  Action takes place through deep introspection AND then engagement with others. 
• Religion has had (and still has) a role in perpetuating racism, misogyny, homophobia, and inequity. 
• Progressive spirituality and religion have a role to play in creating justice and equity.

Do a Science:

• Go to www.politicaltheologymatter.com Click on the “Learn More” button to download 1-sheet that describes 6 easy ways to be an advocate for social justice right now. 
• PIck one or two of the suggestions and complete them over the course of a week.
• Tune into our Facebook Live broadcast on Saturday morning to report in. 

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Episode References

•  About Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford
  • Her website: Political Theology Matters
  • Social Media
    • LinkedIn: @politicaltheologymatters
    • Facebook: @politicaltheologymatters
    • Twitter: @DocLedford
    • Instagram: @docledford

Related Episodes

• Episode 44: How to Be Authentic and Whole with co-pastors Kate and Colby Martin
• Episode 49: How to Get Off the Couch - Two Local Activists with Rosy Dixson and Ren Manning

 
Dive Deeper on the Topic: 

• The Second Great Awakening
• The Second Coming - by W.B. Yeats (Charles mis-atributed the poem to W.H. Auden.)
• White Fragility - Robin DiAngelo, Michael Eric Dyson
• The Black Christ  - Kelly Brown Douglas
  
• The Spirituality of Resistance - Roger Gottlieb