Season 1 Episode #1: Black Theology, Faith, & Feminism

Diversity Matters with Oscar Holmes IV Season 1 Episode 1 Episode Title: Black Theology, Faith, & Feminism  Guest: Candice Marie Benbow   Diversity Matters with Oscar Holmes IV is a podcast that explores all things diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) related. In each episode, Oscar and his guests have lively discussions around DEI topics, explore the latest research on the topic, and discuss the implications so that listeners will be more knowledgeable about the topics and be able to apply the insights to their lives.   Show Summary: In this episode, Candice Marie Benbow, a Theologian, Essayist, Creative & the host of The Red Lip Theology Podcast shares about her story of living in 2 different worlds that's not congruent; Hip-hop & Church, which helped in shaping her as an individual with the guidance & love of her mom.   Her goal is to bring the theological concepts into a mainstream conversation where anyone can have access to. She tells how it is possible to be a feminist and still be biblically aligned. As a Black feminist Christian, she wants to create a community where there’s safety and honor for everyone.   She urges churches to think differently about sexuality and gender identity & speak from an informed place that honors the reality of people's experiences. She states that if God gives grace to the human race, so can the people he created. Description: This episode is about Black Theology, Feminism, Faith, Sexuality/Gender Identity & the experiences of people within Black communities and churches from past to present.    If you are suffering from any kind of discrimination or abuse, always know that there are people & communities that you can count on. Don’t be afraid to speak up and don’t let the abuse or bias torment & silence YOU because your voice is important.  Guest Contact & Promos:    3 Value Bombs:     “You never get education simply for education sake. You always get education to do something with it .”   Embrace the way on how God created YOU and show up in this world. Pastors should learn to collaborate with the train professionals in their cities and communities that are trained to deal with sexual trauma and sexual violence and speak to the resources that people need. Show Highlights:    What is Candice's story & why is it important for people to tell their stories?   3:03 Candice     I tell people that at the core of me, I am a Black girl raised in the South and in the church at this moment where hip hop is growing up. And so I am both a child of the Black church and a child of hip hop culture.   What is Red Lip Theology?   6:09 Candice    What's funny is red lip theology came out of this moment where I was being really snarky with one of my white seminary classmates, because I got my MDiv from Duke and Duke required before you graduated that you take a Black church studies course.   Red Lip Theology is giving the permission again to be intentionally transgressive and honoring that all of these different spaces like the ones that I said, helps to make mean I'm not inherently sinful and evil, you know things   What does being a "Black Feminist Christian" mean & is it important for people to understand?   13:07 Candice    Because first and foremost I said to people that God made me Black that made me a Black woman like that was the way that God decided that I would show up in this world. That was the lens through which I am to see the world and that I'm to be seen.   A world that affirms Black girls and Black women and keeps us safe, to me is a world that God wants, right? Being a Black feminist Christian to me is a no brainer. That like I bet to be in a space and in a world where I live, move and have my being as a Black woman, and that you know, we are all supposed to push to create safety and to honor each other. What advice do you have for other people who may feel inferior?   19:10 Candice    I think the first thing that I would say is the beauty now of social media and of the digital phase is that we have global access to different thinkers. It's hard to evolve. If everyone in your community thinks that you're too crazy.   The second thing that I will say is that you have to give yourself permission for absolutely every single thing that you believe to be challenged.   Do you have any disappointments in the Black church?   26:00 Candice    This notion that above anybody, Black men, Black cisgender heterosexual men, are to lead and to be protected. And we understand historically that during the height of Jim Crow, reconstruction and the civil rights movements, when they were not when Black men were not respected in society, they could go to the church and the pastor and the deacon.   What are some of the key issues that are in the Black church that we need to speak more openly about, and how should we publicly deal with it?   39:44 Candice    I definitely think that the first one comes to mind is just a sexual trauma and sexual assault.