The Iconocast
In episode two of Iconocast: Canvas, Nekeisha and Seth interview sculptor, painter and poet Jake Webster. Born and raised in Greenville, Miss. during the 40s, Jake's roots as an artist reach back to his childhood and extend into the present. Jake was a painter for more than a decade before adding direct carving to his skills in 1974. A resident of Elkhart, Ind. for 21 years, he often uses local materials, including wood from fallen logs in the area and excess limestone from quarries. Recycled materials is a core part of his work, with used nails, bones and scrap metal figuring prominently in his sculptures, and articles like paper, rags and plastic wrappers appearing in his paintings. Jake's artistic pursuits have taken him as close to home as South Bend and Indianapolis, Ind. and as far away as Italy, Greece and France. He invites those who view his work to ask themselves two questions: "What in the hell is he doing?" and, "How do I make my life better from this day forward?" You can find out more about Jake and his work at www.artpostblog.com/jakewebster/

Music for Cavnas 002:
​​"FHH 27" by FREE Hip Hop Beats at soundcloud.com/freebeatshiphop/

Direct download: 002Canvas-JakeWebster.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 2:33pm CDT

In this episode Joanna interviews Dalit Baum. Dalit Baum is the director of economic activism for the American Friends Service Committee. Originally from Israel where she co-founded Who Profits from the Occupation, and of the Coalition of Women for Peace, Dalit now resides in the Bay Area. Dalit is a feminist scholar and teacher, who teaches about militarism and about the global economy in Israeli and American universities. She has been active with various groups in the Israeli anti-occupation and democracy movement, including Black Laundry, Boycott from Within, Zochrot, Anarchists against the Wall and Women in Black.

Direct download: i59_dalit_baum.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 11:28am CDT

In episode 01 of The Iconocast Canvas, co-hosts Nekeisha and Seth discuss the origins and goals of the new segment of Jesus Radicals' long-running podcast. Together, they share their perspectives on the interplay of art, faith and politics in resistance and reconstruction; why they think it's important to make space to explore these connections with artists; and what they hope to do with this venture as it moves forward.

Direct download: 001Canvas-SethNekeisha01_1.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 2:32pm CDT

In this episode Joanna interviews Corrina Gould about the canonization of Junípero Serra and the enslavement of Indigenous Peoples in California missions. Corrina is a Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone woman and an activist in the Bay Area.  She is the mother of three children and currently works as the Title VII Coordinator, Office of Indian Education at the American Indian Child Resource Center. She is also the Co-Founder and a Lead Organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, a small Native run organization that works on issues affecting Indigenous people and sponsors an annual Shellmound Peace Walk to raise awareness of the desecration of the sacred sites in the greater Bay Area. On September 23, 2015, at the same time Serra was being canonized in Washington DC, Corinna and Joanna participated in a protest at Mission Dolores in San Francisco. Their conversation delves into current indigenous activism and the practices that sustain it.

Direct download: i_58_Corinna_Gould.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 11:55am CDT

In this episode Joanna interviews Kazu Haga. Kazu is the founder and coordinator of the East Point Peace Academy and is a trainer in Kingian Nonviolence. Having received training from elders including Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Rev. James Lawson and Joanna Macy, he teaches nonviolence, conflict reconciliation, organizing and mindfulness in prisons and jails, high schools and youth groups, and with activist communities around the country.


Kazu has been active in various social change movements since 1998, including Occupy Oakland and the Movement for Justice for Oscar Grant. He currently resides in Oakland, CA.

Direct download: i_57_Kazu_Haga.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 11:44am CDT

In this episode Joanna interviews Paul Kivel. Paul is a social justice educator, activist, and writer, and has been an innovative leader in violence prevention for more than 35 years. He is an accomplished trainer and speaker on men’s issues, racism and diversity, and the impact of class and power on daily life, among other things. Paul is the author of numerous books and curricula, including "Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice" and "You Call This a Democracy?: Who Benefits, Who Pays, and Who Really Decides." In this interview he discusses his latest book, "Living in the Shadow of the Cross: Understanding and Resisting the Power and Privilege of Christian Hegemony" and invites others to join the conversation.

Direct download: I_56_Paul_Kivel.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 10:37am CDT

In this episode Joanna interviews Rev. Lynice Pinkard and Nichola Torbett. Lynice is a pastor, teacher and healer in Oakland, California. Her work is dedicated to decolonizing the human spirit and to freeing people from "empire affective disorder." Nichola is a contributor to the Jesus Radicals blog and the founding director of Seminary of the Street in Oakland. She is committed to  joining the move of God’s spirit against the physical and spiritual deadliness of American culture under corporate capitalism. Together they discuss the national conversation on race and racism and the roles of people of color and white people in movements for justice.

Direct download: I55_Lynice_Pinkard__Nichola_Torbett.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 1:24pm CDT

In this episode Joanna interviews Joerg Rieger. 

Joerg Rieger is a professor, author and activist. Originally from Germany, his theological work is based on the recognition that more radical and faithful visions of Christianity are needed. Since 1994 he has taught constructive theology at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas. His books include Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude and Religion, Theology and Class: Fresh Engagement After Long Silence. He continues to develop this vision of radical Christianity in close collaboration with colleagues both nationally and internationally and with emerging grassroots movements. In Dallas, he and his spouse Rosemarie are active in the religion and labor movement.

Direct download: Iconocast_Joerg_Reiger.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:10pm CDT

In this episode Joanna and Mark interview Bill Ayers. 

Bill Ayers is an author, including the books, Public Enemy: Confessions of an American Dissident;To Teach: The Journey in Comics with Ryan Alexander-Tanner; Race Course: Against White Supremacy, with Bernardine Dohrn. He co-founded the revolutionary group, Weather Underground, in 1969, a radical left-wing organization aimed at supported Black liberation movements and protesting US imperialism through the use of targeted bombing of government and bank property.

Before retiring Bill served as distinguished professor of education and senior university scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is an education theorist and lives in Hyde Park, Chicago with Bernardine Dohrn. His partner, comrade and soulmate for close to half a century. 
In this episode he discusses his terrorist label, movement building and what it means to live in the present moment, moving away from generational separations and from cynicism to hope.

Direct download: Iconocast_Bill_Ayers.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 8:32pm CDT

In this episode Joanna and Mark interview Micky Jones.

Micky is a perpetual learner, communicator, facilitator, and contemplative activist living just south of Nashville, Tenn. She studies with the co-learning community at NAIITS (North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies) through George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Her early career includes the cutthroat world of contemporary Christian music, YMCA administration and community youth services through Rocketown in Nashville. She now engages groups through academic gatherings, conferences, blogs and podcasts on a wide variety of topics. Recently named one of the Black Christian leaders changing the world by the Huffington Post, she also serves on the leadership team of TransFORM Network as the director of training and program development.  Her special interests & scholarship include womanist & practical theology, the intersections of Black and Native American history and theology, the pursuit of shalom, faith-rooted organizing, intersectional justice, community formation and health issues. She believes in revolution love and never passes up a dance floor!

Direct download: Iconocast_Micky_Jones.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 1:34pm CDT

In this episode Joanna interviews Sandhya Rani Jha. They discuss the defining racist narratives of the United States, intersectionality, what it means to be an ally, intergenerational movement-buildling and more. These themes are explored at length in Sandhya's new book, Pre-Post-Racial America: Spiritual Stories from the Front Lines

Sandhya serves as director of the Oakland Peace Center in Oakland, California a collective of 40 organizations creating access, equity and dignity for all in Oakland and the Bay Area. She also serves as Director of Interfaith Programs for East Bay Housing Organizations, where she organizes faith communities to advocate for housing as a human right and spiritual mandate throughout California’s Bay Area. She serves as a consultant with Hope Partnership and an anti-racism/anti-oppression trainer with Reconciliation Ministries for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is a faith-rooted organizer with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (formerly Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice – CA) and is particularly proud of her podcast, Hope from the Hood, available on iTunes and at sandhyajha.com

 

Direct download: Iconocast_-_Sandhya_Rani_Jha.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 10:32am CDT

In this episode Joanna and Jason interview Willie Baptist.

 

Willie Baptist is a renowned anti-poverty organizer.  Coming to political awareness in the 1965 Watts uprisings, through the Black student movement, and as a shop steward with the United Steelworkers, Willie has ultimately dedicated 40 years to organizing the poor.  He provided vital leadership to the National Union of the Homeless, as formerly homeless father; the National Welfare Rights Union; the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign; and many other networks. Willie now serves as the Scholar-in-Residence of Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary (New York), which is dedicated to raising up generations of religious and community leaders dedicated to building a social movement to end poverty, led by the poor.  He is also the coordinator of the associated Poverty Scholars Program, a leadership development, technical assistance, and skills training program for grassroots organizers working around issues of economic justice, with the aim of building a national movement to end poverty united across lines of race, religion, geography and issue-focused organizing. Since 2007, the Poverty Scholars Program has focused on reigniting the Poor People’s Campaign and finishing the unfinished business of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Willie has recently co-authored Pedagogy of the Poor, which draws on lessons from grassroots organizing and social theory for building a movement to end poverty.

Direct download: Iconocast-Willie_Baptist.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 2:03pm CDT

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