WGBD: Fire the mic! Introduction

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:
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Thank you for love gifts and offerings:  CashApp $Raedorah  |  Venmo @Raedorah