For decades, the religious right told Christians that abortion was the one issue that outweighed every other. 

Yet ICE recorded at least 18 miscarriages in its custody from January through September 2025, then lost count, and the movement's loudest voices have barely said a word.

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Tisby asks why an unborn child's life should matter less because their mother is an immigrant, and how race shaped the religious right from the start.

In 1971, the Southern Baptist Convention backed laws allowing abortion in cases including rape, incest, and likely h...

This episode of The Justice Briefing is different. Instead of starting with a current event and working backward to the history, Dr. Jemar Tisby does what he loves most: he tells stories.

Diving back into primary source research for his new Substack series, History Rhymes: Democracy and Voting Rights Edition, left him feeling like a grad student again, brimming with material he could not wait to share. So he devoted a full episode to three of those stories.

The first is about the Congress that refused to seat more than sixty former Confederates in December 1865...

On the 61st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Dr. Jemar Tisby closes a full history of the law by turning to the fight over it right now.

What took blood and marches to win in 1965 has been taken apart in the thirteen years since 2013, from Shelby County to Louisiana v. Callais, and almost nobody marched.

Dr. Tisby refuses to end there. He points to the faith leaders already mobilizing to protect the ballot before the November midterms, from William Barber's 100 days of action to the poll chaplains and peacekeepers being trained in local churches...

The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee just voted to have South Carolina lead off the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries, and Dr. Jemar Tisby explains why that decision matters more than the news cycle will let on.

He walks through what a primary actually does, why the order of states determines momentum, money, and makes the case that this is a win for the party.

In this episode:

On the Fourth of July, the White House released a 160-page report accusing the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History of "ideological capture."

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby reads the report's own words, walks through the two congressional hearings it triggered, and makes the historian's case that the charge is a confession.

His argument is simple: there is no such thing as objective history. Facts are objective, but facts do not interpret themselves, and interpretation is the work of the craft. When the right demands "straightforward" scholarship, what they really...

What is the one thing every social movement must do before anything else? In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby argues that it is not fundraising, filing for nonprofit status, or even getting out the vote. It's something much more foundational.

Drawing on his training as a historian of race, religion, and social movements, Dr. Tisby traces the pattern across four eras of American history. In every case, the injustice that moved people to act was violent, visible, and visceral.

Dr. Tisby then turns to the present. ICE keeps killing people, and...

The Justice Briefing | Show Notes

What Mainstream Media Keep Getting Wrong About Douglas Wilson

NPR just gave Douglas Wilson another splashy, in-depth interview, and Dr. Jemar Tisby has a problem with it.

Not that the media covers Wilson: the pastor from Moscow, Idaho has a direct line to power through his disciple Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, and that is newsworthy.

The problem is how they cover him.

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Tisby makes the case that respectful, on-location, one-on-one coverage does exactly what...

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, white Christian nationalists are telling their version of the story: that America was founded as a Christian nation.

In part two of his America 250 series on The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby argues that there is a better, more truthful story to tell if we know how to tell it, and that telling it requires something most churches have never named: a theology of history.

Dr. Tisby is a historian and a believer, and he makes the case that those two things belong together, and that Christians...

How should we think about the Fourth of July, a day dedicated to celebrating independence and freedom, in light of the unfreedom of race-based chattel slavery?

What do we do about the fact that of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence 41 of them held slaves?

Do those noble words of the Declaration stating that “all men are created equal” apply to anyone other than wealthy white men?

Frederick Douglass, the formerly enslaved 19th century abolitionist, has something to say.

We take his speech, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of Jul...

As the country marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, one claim is everywhere: the United States was founded as a Christian nation.

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby refuses the flat yes or no and insists on the first move any honest answer requires, which is to define the terms.

If "Christian nation" means a country shaped by Christians and their ethics? Does it mean a government with an official, state-sanctioned church?

History has the receipts,

Dr. Tisby walks through the primary sources, from Article VI...

This week on The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby breaks down why Juneteenth and America 250 are not the same kind of anniversary, even though they fall just weeks apart this summer.

Dr. Tisby argues that America 250 asks the nation to celebrate how great it has been, while Juneteenth asks a harder, more honest question: how free are we, really?

Using a ten-point comparison chart, he walks through what each holiday marks, whose freedom it centers, and what's at risk of being lost or co-opted in 2026.

Dr. Tisby also explains why this year carries...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby breaks down the Southern Baptist Convention's recent vote to amend its constitution—by a 77 percent margin—banning women from preaching to assembled congregations.

Dr. Tisby draws on his own history with the SBC to offer an insider's analysis of what the Truth and Unity Amendment actually says, why Al Mohler pushed for it, and what the election of new SBC president Willy Rice signals about the denomination's continued rightward turn.

But Dr. Tisby goes deeper than the headlines.

Tracing the SBC's origins back to 1...

In this urgent episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby breaks down the Supreme Court's latest ruling in Allen v. Milligan--a decision that allows Alabama to eliminate one of its only two majority-Black congressional districts just months before the 2026 midterm elections and while primaries are already underway.

Drawing on his training as a historian and his recent trip to Selma to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Dr. Tisby explains how the Court's selective application of the Purcell Principle exposes a legal system being weaponized to dilute Black political power rather than protect it.

...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby examines the stunning victory of Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary and asks what it reveals about the moral state of American politics. Despite years of scandals, impeachment, felony indictments, and allegations of corruption, Paxton not only survived politically—he won decisively. Dr. Tisby explores why voters embraced a candidate with such a record, how loyalty to Donald Trump has eclipsed character as a political qualification, and why this race represents a larger battle over the meaning of Christianity in public life. Contrasting Paxton's vision of faith wi...

Episode Description

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Jemar Tisby confronts a pressing question facing the American church: Why are so many pastors silent about voting rights in this moment? Drawing from his firsthand experience at the “All Roads Lead to the South” march and rally in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, Tisby connects today’s attacks on voting rights to the long struggle for Black political power during the Civil Rights Movement. He reflects on the spiritual weight of marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the legacy of Bloody Sunday, and the urgent need for moral courag...

The Trump Administration has released a massive new report from its “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,” arguing that conservative Christians were targeted by the federal government under President Biden.

The report frames conflicts over abortion, LGBTQ rights, education, COVID policies, and workplace protections as evidence of anti-Christian discrimination.

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby examines the report’s arguments, historical claims, and political implications. He explores how white Christian nationalism uses grievance politics, why some Christians conflate losing cultural dominance with losing religious freedom, and what happens when Christianity becomes closel...

Conservatives on the Supreme Court dealt what amounts to a “death blow” to the Voting Rights Act.

But you don’t have to be a legal scholar to understand what really matters here.

The effect is to dilute the voting power of Black people and other people of color who tend to vote Democratic. 

But the entire decision rests on a faulty understanding of racism and how to address it.

This assumption has a name: colorblindness. It is not a virtue.

If race caused the inequality, then race must be name...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Jemar Tisby examines the recent spotlight on Douglas Wilson—and why his influence is not new, just newly visible.

For years, Black Christians and other truth-tellers warned about Wilson’s theology, his views on race and gender, and his vision for a theocratic society. Those warnings were largely ignored. Now, as his ideas gain wider attention, the consequences are becoming harder to dismiss.

Tisby explores who Douglas Wilson is, how his influence spread through evangelical institutions, and what this moment reveals about the church’s failure to heed earlie...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby makes a clear and urgent case: stop trying to persuade white Christian nationalists. After nearly a decade of hardened political and theological divisions, the question is no longer who is confused—it’s what we do with the clarity we now have.

Drawing on history, current events, and a powerful re-reading of Mark 6, this episode reframes faithfulness not as endless argument, but as discernment, boundaries, and strategic action. If you’ve felt drained by unproductive debates, this conversation will help you reclaim your time—and your mission.

In...

People keep asking me, “How did it go?”

And I understand the question.

But there’s actually a better question.

The better question is, “What did last night signal?”

What happened last night was more than just a sold-out film premiere.

It was a signal. A shift. A glimpse of what the future of Christian storytelling could be.

This film is the first official production of Tisby Studios.

It’s proof that there is an audience for what I call Transformational faith films—stories that don’t just res...

Right now the Christian film industry is dominated by what I’ve called “Devotional” films.

These films are often produced by people promoting a conservative—even fundamentalist—and heavily right-leaning version of Christianity.

Not every film needs to do everything. And each type of film has its place.

But we need more films in the Transformational category.

Too many stop with personal piety and holiness. Which is not bad but it’s incomplete.

Not enough films show how faith turns worldly logic upside down.

Not enough Christian films show h...

The scariest thing about the movies Get Out and Sinners isn’t the body-snatching or the blood-sucking. It’s how accurately they show us what whiteness does.

These films are not just horror stories. They are commentaries on extraction, exploitation, and colonization.

In this episode, Dr. Jemar compares the two films and the use of horror to convey deeper social truths.

--------

Learn about new short documentary and schedule a screening: jesuswasamigrant.com

Invest in truth-telling at the intersection of faith, history, and justice: JemarTisby.Substack.com

What role should the church play in a moment of rising authoritarianism and political instability?

In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Jemar Tisby sits down with Rev. Michael McBride—pastor, organizer, and executive director of Live Free USA—to explore why democracy depends on moral vision, collective action, and faith communities willing to show up.

This conversation goes beyond politics. It’s about the spiritual stakes of this moment—and what it means to practice a faith that actively pursues justice.

In this episode:

Something strange happens whenever a certain kind of white Christian politician speaks about justice in public.

Suddenly commentators act like they’ve discovered a brand-new species: the Christian who actually sounds like Jesus.

David French wrote that James Talarico is “one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian.”

You can really only write a sentence like that if you have one kind of Christian in mind.

Because if the Black church is in your imagination, that sentence simply doesn’t make sense.

----<...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing podcast, I talk about Iran, Armageddon, and End Times Prophecy.

We get into:

Take Action:

I leave you with this thought:

A theology that excuses violence does not glorify God.

A faith that ignores injustice does not serve humanity.

...

You don’t have to cross an ocean, a continent, and cultures to 1930s Germany to learn how to resist authoritarianism

Black history is a witness is right here in the United States.

That is why any serious response to authoritarian power today must reckon honestly with Black history.

In this episode, Dr. Jemar explains what we can learn from the people who promoted democracy before us.

Here are four ways Black history teaches us to resist authoritarianism

We lost another giant of human and civil rights.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. died on February 17 at the age of 84.

His passing gives us occasion to reflect on his life, his faith, and his moral imagination.

What stands out to me about Jesse Jackson’s death in this moment is how he practiced politics.

He wanted to form a 🌈 Rainbow Coalition that would be participatory and inclusive.

Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition stands in stark contrast to what this regime is attempting to implement--a narrow, exclusionary politics. In other words, white C...

For decades, the dominant interpretation of Reconstruction came from something called the Dunning School.

Named after William Archibald Dunning (1857-1922), an influential Columbia University historian who taught for more than forty years and served as president of the American Historical Association in 1913.

This school of thought helped shape the modern historical profession in its infancy—and it whitewashed history.

That’s why Black history is not optional. It is corrective.

Learn more about this history in this episode.

Read more about acts of resistance in my latest book, The Spir...

And your pastor probably doesn't know it.

The FBI seized 700 boxes of ballots in an attempt to further investigate the discredited like that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from DJT.

This isn't about the past, it's about the future--the 2026 midterms.

In this episode, Dr. Jemar talks about the implications of this act and the imperative of pastors, church leaders, and Christian influencers to use the pulpit and their platforms to speak up about what's happening in politics.

This moment doesn't need timid steps, it needs moral clarity.

With your...

We have the words of King but not his walk.

We quote King, but we do not live like him. We celebrate him but we don’t imitate him. We love King’s wisdom, but not King’s way.

In this podcast, I talk about what makes King’s way so hard, and why we need to take up the mission despite the difficulty.

What part of King’s vision and legacy do you find most inspiring? What part are we most in need of today? Let us know in the comments!

The best...

About three dozen protestors entered the sanctuary of Cities Church in St. Paul and staged a protest so disruptive that they halted the service.

They were there protesting the fact that one of the church’s leaders, David Easterwood, serves as the leader of the local ICE field office.

They were there protesting the murder of Renee Good and the tyranny of ICE in their communities.

But their protest invites the question: Should we disrupt church services?

Change must come to the U.S. church. It is up to Christians who co...

In this episode, Dr. Jemar Tisby emphasize the importance of understanding Martin Luther King Jr. beyond his most famous quotes, especially as MLLK Day approaches.

Dr. Tisby argue that King has too often been reduced to a symbol rather than remembered as a complex, challenging figure—and that this reduction has led to widespread misunderstandings of what he actually believed.

In particular, he pushes back against the notion that King advocated for a colorblind society, highlighting instead his clear race consciousness and his support for policies like affirmative action, which are frequently ignored in sanitized re...

ICE is what happens when Americans refuse to learn from Black history.

In this episode, I respond to the killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

I draw on the Black history, specifically the example of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

Finally, I turn to Venezuela.

I connect domestic repression to international aggression and argue that the same ideology animating ICE and CBP also fuels an imperial “crusader mentality” is visible in rhetoric about the Western Hemisphere and...

On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, but it did not “free the slaves.”

In truth, the Emancipation Proclamation was extremely limited, provisional, and conditional.

That does not mean it was not important, meaningful, or didn't matter.

Historical accuracy is important, and by the end of this episode you will be able to name precisely what the Emancipation Proclamation did and didn’t do as well as its connection to the Black Christian community.

In this episode, I take you through the history of the:

Cultural Artifacts is our version of a Top Ten list for the year.

My former podcast co-host G. Tyler Burns and I are back for part two.

This time we’ve got a few albums, some books, and a variety of movies and television shows you’ll want to check out right away!

As always, the rules remain the same: these artifacts don’t have to be new.

They just have to be consumed this year. The things that steadied us. Challenged us. Made us feel more human in a year that d...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

No. I’m not talking about Christmas (that’s wonderful, too).

But if you know me and my former podcast, Pass The Mic, you already know what I mean.

Cultural Artifacts!!!

This is the first Cultural Artifacts episode since PTM ended, so it is only right and fitting that my very first official guest on The Justice Briefing is none other than Rev. G. Tyler Burns!

I honestly can’t imagine a better way to mark this moment.

For long...

After countless hours studying Klan documents, rituals, speeches, and theology—and comparing them with what we see today—I am prepared to make this claim clearly:

There is a direct ideological line from the Ku Klux Klan to modern white Christian nationalism.

This is not a clickbait claim. It is a historically grounded conclusion.

Join Me for What Comes Next

Join me this Sunday, December 7 at 4 p.m. ET online for a live Vision Casting Meeting

Register now.

Never Miss an Episode of The Justice Briefing podcast

There are moments in a democracy when the choice becomes stark, the stakes undeniable, and the moral line unmistakable.

Recent events in our nation have made a simple fact painfully clear:

There is no redeeming this presidency. And now it’s time to say what millions are thinking but too few are willing to say out loud.

Trump has to go. Legally. Immediately. Without equivocation.

🚨 I’m hosting a Vision Casting Meeting for something I’ve never publicly unveiled until now—TISBY MEDIA.

This is the multimedia ecosystem we’re building t...

The truth is not valuable only when it produces political fallout. The truth matters because it is the truth.

If nothing else, we owe the survivors honesty.

Truth is liberation. Truth is light. Truth is how people wounded in the dark find their way back toward hope. 

The Justice Briefing

Today, I’m officially announcing that the podcast is becoming The Justice Briefing

Welcome to the first episode.

The Justice Briefing brings you the most important issues of the day, and interprets them at the inte...

What can a Star Wars series teach us about authoritarianism, resistance, and the state of democracy in America? 

In this episode of Footnotes, Jemar Tisby sits down with his friend and producer, Beau York, a man steeped in Star Wars lore. Together they explore how Andor—a show set in a galaxy far, far away—becomes an urgent mirror for our political present. T

hey discuss the rise of empire, the courage of ordinary people, and the power of storytelling to stir the soul when facts fall flat. 

Whether you're a sci-fi fan, a studen...