The Justice Briefing with Dr. Jemar Tisby

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.

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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.

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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...

Dr. Beth Allison Barris the James Vardaman Professor of History at Baylor University. She earned her PhD in Medieval History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the bestselling author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth.

In this episode we talk about her latest book, Becoming the Pastor's Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman's Path to Ministry.

We discuss:

In this episode of Footnotes, I sit down with investigative journalist Katherine Stewart to discuss her latest book, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy. 

Katherine’s work, including her previous book The Power Worshipers, which inspired the documentary God & Country, exposes the hidden networks of money, power, and religious extremism shaping our political landscape. 

We dive into the key players behind the antidemocratic movement—funders, thinkers, sergeants, infantry, and power brokers—exploring why financial influence is central to their success. 

Katherine u...

In this episode, I take a closer look at Homestead, the post-apocalyptic drama from Angel Studios based on the novel Black Autumn. I explore its themes of faith, anti-government sentiment, and personal property rights, plus its connection to real-world trends like doomsday prepping and Christian nationalism. Join me as I unpack how this film reflects the intersection of faith, politics, and culture.

Subscribe: JemarTisby.Substack.com  

Spirit of Justice (All Ages Books): bookshop.org/shop/jemartisby 

Key Themes:

On this episode I speak with Amanda Tyler, head of the BJC, a Baptist group that works for religious freedom for all, about her new book "How to End Christian Nationalism."

We talk:

Pick up the book at EndChristianNationalism.com and access a whole library of resources for use in your local context at ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org

Give your kids the...

Fuller Texas and the Pannell Center for Black Church Studies welcome author, speaker, and public historian, Dr. Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise, in celebrating the release of his most recent book The Spirit of Justice: Faith, Race, and Resistance. In this chat recorded live at Fuller Texas, Dr. Tisby will share the heart behind his new work which features bold stories of individuals who have gone before us and how their legacy continues to encourage us to pursue solidarity as the fight against injustices continues today. Following the presentation, Dr. Dwight Radcliff, Academic Dean of the Pann...

Joel Edward Goza dismantles the deep-seated myths that perpetuate white supremacy—and makes the case that reparations are necessary to heal America’s racial wounds and live up to our democratic ideals. 

Like many well-intentioned white people, Goza once believed that he could support Black America’s struggle for equality without supporting reparations. Reparations, he thought, were altogether irrelevant to the real work of racial justice. 

This is a book about why he was wrong. In fact, any effort to heal our nation’s wounds will fail without reparations. 

In Rebirt...

Dive into the pages of The Spirit of Justice and uncover the enduring power of faith and resistance in the fight for racial equality. Here are key themes and takeaways you'll explore:

We are nearing 100 episodes! Let me know what you'd like to hear or see more of on the Footnotes podcast. Email: info@jemartisby.com 

Please leave me a review! The last new review was July 2023! I'd be glad to read yours on the next episode. 

You're hearing from Rev. Dr. Jennifer Harvey about her latest book "Antiracism as Daily Practice: Refuse Shame, Change White Communities, and Help Create a Just World"

ORDER HERE

We discuss: 

--Why I resona...

Author interview!!! Caleb Cambpell has written a book you've probably been waiting for...

It's called "Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor." 

At one point in his young life, Caleb Campbell was an avowed white supremacist. Then through a series of experiences he followed Jesus and has turned his energies toward discipling his white Christian nationalist neighbors out of this harmful ideology. 

In a first for Footnotes, we are jointly releasing this episode. I wanted to have Caleb on my show, and he wanted me...

We often frame the white Christian nationalism as a problem exclusively of far-right, fundamentalist evangelicalism. What we talk much less about is mainline Protestants and how they have contributed to the rise of Christian nationalism from the 1940s to the present.

I talk with Rev. Dr. Brian Kaylor about the book he co-authored called, Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism.

Among the topics we cover are:

Juneteenth became a national holiday in 2021. While many African Americans have celebrated the holiday for decades, many other people know little about it. In this teach-in Dr. Jemar Tisby--a historian, professor, and bestselling author--talks about the history of Juneteenth and describes its importance in the life of the nation. 

In this video you will learn about: 

--The announcement on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, TX 

--The Junteenth flag and its symbolism 

--Why we should celebrate Juneteenth as a national holiday 

--And more! 

You can get...

Dr. Jemar interviews Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter-McNeil about her latest book "Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities." 

Dr. Brenda is a professor of Reconciliation Studies, a program she founded, at Seattle Pacific University. She is also a pastor and has been doing racial reconciliation work for decades. 

We talk about her journey from Trenton, NJ to Seattle, WA, the importance of self-care in justice work, and how to move beyond the theory and get practical in doing racial reconciliation. 

...

In my second book, How to Fight Racism, I wrote a section called "Create a Pipeline of Mental Health Therapists of Color." In it I suggested that "you or your church could contribute to scholarship funds for people of color interested in getting trained in mental health and therapy." 

Well, a group actually did this and formed the Black Mental Health Counselors Reparations Foundation. I spoke to the three founders: Drs. Dr. Layla Bonner, DeAndrea Witherspoon Nash, and Danny Bryant. 

They explain the extensive and EXPENSIVE process of training to b...

There is a movement of people who grew up in evangelical Christianity out of those circles. These are ex-evangelicals or "exvangelicals."  Now Sarah McCammon, a politics reporter for NPR, has given us the first book-length treatment of this movement and the individuals within it.  In this interview we talk about her very evangelical upbringing (and wax nostalgic about growing up in the 90s along the way). She tells us her thoughts about what's leading to this disillusionment with evangelicalism. We talk about how race affects people differently within and outside evangelicalism. And she tells us what it's like to be a jo...

I have often said, "White Christian nationalism is the greatest threat to democracy and the witness of the church in the United States today." Now there's a documentary showing and telling why this is true.  I talk to Dan Partland, the director of "God & Country" a feature-length documentary film that "takes a closer look at the dangerous implications and explores how a base of Christians has radically stoked a movement erasing the line between Church and State."  Partland explains how he approached the delicate tension of truth-telling while still engaging a potentially skeptical audience. He describes how film can be a...

Michael Wear is the author of The Spirit of Our Politics. It's a book that takes a fresh approach to how faith and politics should interact. Instead of beginning with policies, pundits, or politicians, Wear encourages us to begin with our own spiritual formation.  We talk about everything from our similar conversion stories in evangelical contexts to how to engage people with radically different political persuasions.  Order The Spirit of Our Politics HERE.  Be sure to subscribe to my Substack: JemarTisby.Substack.com  Get your merch here: JusticeTakesSides.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Finally, finally, finally you can pre-order my latest book The Spirit of Justice: Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance! This is a book for all those who are weary and heavy-laden. It encourages you by telling the true stories of people who found reservoirs of strength—what I call the spirit of justice—to resist oppression and keep on keeping on. If you pre-order the book you get several bonuses. You get exclusive access to the first chapter of the book. You get access to my keynote message from “The Color of Compromise 5-Year Anniversary Event” where I give a talk titl...

I went to Northern Ireland as part of an endeavor hosted by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Telos Group. We were looking at justice and peacemaking in the context of worship. To that end we visited places such as Corrymeela, Derry, Giant’s Causeway, Clonard Monastery, and Stormont just to name a few. In this very special episode of Footnotes, I offer some of my reflections about the trip. The journey deeply impacted me, and I hope this is not my last trip to Northern Ireland! Read more HERE. Be sure to subscribe to JemarTisby.Substack.com And...

In this episode I talk with first-time author Ronald Olivier whose life is a movie...or at least a book. He wrote "27 Summers: My Journey to Freedom, Forgiveness, and Redemption During My Time in Angola Prison." As a historian and racial justice advocate, I've made incarceration one of my primary areas of focus in terms of action and raising awareness. That's why I was honored and excited to talk to Ronald about his experiences in Angola Prison and what he has share with us now that he's on the other side. You'll fee like you could listen to Ronald tell s...

Racism, white supremacy, and the attempt to control Black bodies didn't go away after the Civil War. As I often say, "Racism never goes away, it adapts." One of the ways racism persists is through our criminal legal system, especially the death penalty.  Joia Erin Thornton is the founder and executive director of the faith leaders of color coalition (flocc). Through her organization she works toward eliminating capital punishment in the carceral system. She talks about her journey into this work and why faith leaders need to be involved.  Episode Highlights:  How growing up in the South (Memphis and New Orl...

How do you keep the flame of justice burning in the midst of so much misery and disappointment? A new book, Heart on Fire: 100 Meditations on Loving Your Neighbor Well, is just what you need.  In this episode I get to interview first-time author and long-time artist, Dani Coke Balfour. We talk about how art relates to activism and how all of us have a role to play in doing "good work."  Be sure to grab your copy of Heart on Fire wherever books are sold!  Buy the Book On Amazon Bookshop Episode Highlights:  The difference between "equity" and "equality"  Why it's b...