Becoming Trustworthy White Allies
By Melanie S. Morrison
Duke University Press, 192 pages
Published September 19, 2025
Becoming Trustworthy White Allies is not, as the title implies, a “how-to” guide to help White people learn how to dismantle racism. It is, however, Melanie Morrison’s thoughtful history of her slave-owning ancestors and the oversized role they played in “settling” a small southern town. She connects their stories – erasing the native tribes they displaced and dehumanizing the Black people they enslaved – with later experiences of lynching and modern-day stories such as Trayvon Martin, before briefly connecting them with our own work.
Earthbound: God at the Intersection of Climate and Justice
By Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Orbis Books, 144 pages
March 18, 2025
Theologian Grace Ji-Sun Kim engages “the well-being of our world, including climate change, water health, and environmental racism” in Earthbound. This deceptively slim volume packs in a great deal of practical and theological concerns, as she imagines how to bring our “reforming spirit” to environmental justice. In one of the more thought-provoking chapters, “God is a Verb,” she challenges us to frame our experiences of God more actively, recognizing that God is “to Be,” and is therefore “moving, acting, manifesting through the world.” Once we understand this, we appreciate the urgency of her final chapter on action.
Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes
By Sunita Sah
One World, 320 pages
Published January 14, 2025
We like to think that – had we been present – we would have stood up to police officers executing George Floyd or defied the NASA leaders who made the fatal decision to launch the Challenger space shuttle. But these are just two situations where some involved swallowed their misgivings and went along. Organizational psychologist Sunita Sah says we commonly fail to put our values into action; fortunately, we can learn to defy, not comply. Defy reframes defiance as a behavior rather than a character trait often perceived negatively. This thoughtful work brings psychology and medicine to bear on specific techniques as simple as pausing to find our true “no” or the right time and place to practice defiance. It’s a thoughtful work for those wondering how they are called to speak up for justice.
Full of Myself: Black Womanhood and the Journey to Self-Possession
By Austin Channing Brown
Convergent Books, 249 pages
Published August 26, 2025
Racial justice advocate and educator Austin Channing Brown shares her journey to
live into who she was created to be. She began sharing her story after being fired from a (predominantly White) mega church that denied her the resources to build the diversity programs they claimed to want. In Full of Myself, she re-learns delight and re-claims joy in work and family, with everything from gut-wrenching essays on childhood trauma to life-giving glimpses of getting a makeover with girlfriends. Brown’s fight for self-acceptance empowers (especially Black women), educates (particularly White women), and inspires (everyone).
Embracing the Old Witch in the Woods: Liberating Feminine Wisdom from Christian Patriarchy
By Angela Herrington
Broadleaf Books, 218 pages
Published October 14, 2025
How can we possibly connect deeply to a Creator when we’ve been taught that we, as women, are the reason the world is broken?” asks pastor Angela Herrington. Her thoughtful response encourages women to trust their inner wisdom as they reclaim what is sacred. Christianity’s unhelpful tropes (for example, limiting women to the examples of Eve, Jezebel or Mary while excluding Deborah, Phoebe, Mary Magdalene and others) have meant that women who deviated from the norm were demonized or dismissed. With simple activities and probing questions, Embracing the Old Witch in the Woods is a journey of healing, connecting and thriving.
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