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Why did Ryan Coogler set "Sinners" in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932? What do the film's music, Christianity, vampires, and racial dynamics reveal about the Jim Crow South? And how much history is contained in scenes that last only a few seconds? In this special Sinners Movie Teach-In, historian Dr. Jemar Tisby joins award-winning creator Garrison Hayes to explore the overlooked history and cultural influences behind Ryan Coogler's acclaimed film. Jemar spent years teaching and living in the Mississippi Delta, not far from Clarksdale, and has devoted his career to studying race, religion, and justice in American history.  Together, Jemar and Garrison examine the film's historical setting, its religious symbolism, the music of the Delta, and the economic structures that shaped Black life long after emancipation. **Spoiler warning:** This conversation discusses major plot developments and scenes throughout the film. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and introduction to the Sinners Movie Teach-In   05:18 First impressions of Sinners and its Clarksdale setting   10:18 Chinese immigrants and racial boundaries in the Delta   13:23 Introducing the Sinners Movie Syllabus   16:10 The Mississippi Delta: slavery, cotton, and generational poverty   22:38 Fannie Lou Hamer, education, and Black religious thought   28:34 Christianity, Hoodoo, and African spiritual traditions   33:40 The blues, Robert Johnson, and the juke joint   36:43 The vampires and competing visions of unity   41:08 Convict leasing and the prison labor system   46:37 Sharecropping, plantation money, and debt   51:47 Ryan Coogler's ownership deal and economic power   57:41 Chinese–Black solidarity and survival under Jim Crow   61:35 The Choctaw and Indigenous knowledge   65:59 Irish identity, colonialism, and the construction of whiteness   68:28 How to use the Sinners Movie Syllabus ABOUT THE HOSTS Dr. Jemar Tisby is a historian, author, filmmaker, and racial justice advocate whose work explores the intersection of faith, history, and justice. Garrison Hayes is an award-winning communicator and creator whose work explores history, race, culture, and contemporary issues. Free Educational Resource: The Sinners Movie Syllabus Jemar Tisby and historian Keisha N. Blain created the #SinnersMovieSyllabus, a free guide to the history and culture that informed the film. The syllabus includes books, films, music, and educational materials about the Jim Crow South, Black Christianity, the blues, migration, racial violence, and Black horror. Read the syllabus HERE For more discussions about faith, history, and justice, subscribe to Footnotes:

How do you tell a compelling story about racism, injustice, or social change without making your audience feel like they're listening to a sermon? What separates a story that moves people from one that overwhelms them with its message? And how do you build a creative career telling these stories when there isn't an obvious path forward? In this episode of The Justice Briefing, historian, author, and filmmaker Dr. Jemar Tisby sits down with award-winning writer and director Nick Brooks, director of the new narrative short film What Will We Tell Them. Brooks is the author of Promise Boys, Up in Smoke, and the Ethan Fairmont trilogy. His creative career has taken him from teaching and writing children's books to filmmaking, music, and video game writing. Their conversation explores the craft of storytelling, the relationship between social justice and art, the importance of representation, and the persistence required to create opportunities. In This Episode, You'll LearnWhy justice-centered stories can become preachy. How to build a story around characters. Brooks's three ingredients for a strong story. Why trusting your audience matters. How lived experience shapes creative work. How to pursue opportunities before you feel fully qualified. How to move from inspiration to a finished film. What went into making What Will We Tell Them. About Nick BrooksNick Brooks is an award-winning author, director, and musician whose work spans young adult and middle-grade fiction, film, and music. His writing explores the lives of young people navigating institutions, expectations, and systems of inequality. Learn more about Nick: thenickbrooks.com What Will We Tell ThemLearn more about the film "What Will We Tell Them" by subscribing for updates at: jemartisby.substack.com Chapters00:00 — Welcome and *What Will We Tell Them* screening announcement   01:45 — Meet Nick Brooks: author, filmmaker, and creative artist   04:47 — Telling stories about justice without preaching   08:30 — Hook, heart, and theme: how Brooks develops stories   11:19 — The influence of hip-hop, books, and Black storytelling   14:47 — How to nurture social awareness in young people   18:20 — Howard University, mentorship, and discovering education   24:09 — Writing children's books and finding a creative purpose   29:15 — Creating opportunities and getting a literary agent   33:56 — Taking risks, handling rejection, and writing for GTA VI   38:15 — How children's books opened doors to a new career   41:11 — *Fruitvale Station*, Ryan Coogler, and becoming a filmmaker   45:30 — Learning filmmaking by getting onto film sets   48:13 — Mistakes to avoid when telling stories about injustice   50:44 — The story behind *What Will We Tell Them*   54:21 — Filmmaking challenges, preparation, and adapting on set   57:29 — Private screening details and ways to support the film Stay ConnectedSubscribe to "Footnotes" for historically grounded analysis, commentary about faith and justice, and updates on new films and educational projects: jemartisby.substack.com Instagram: @JemarTisby

What do you do when the church, workplace, organization, or community you once called home no longer reflects your values? How do you know when it's time to stop fighting for a seat at someone else's table? And if you decide to leave, how do you figure out what comes next? Maybe you've spent years trying to make an institution better, only to discover that there's a limit to how much change its leaders will tolerate. Maybe your presence is welcomed, but your perspective isn't. Or maybe you have a vision for something different, but you're not sure you have the resources, experience, or courage to build it. This episode of The Justice Briefing will help you think through your next move. Dr. Jemar Tisby shares lessons from his journey out of white evangelical institutions and into building Tisby Media, an independent organization dedicated to truth-telling at the intersection of faith, history, and justice. Drawing on his personal experiences with racial exclusion, institutional resistance, and entrepreneurship, Jemar offers three practical principles for turning dissatisfaction into constructive action. You'll discover how to move beyond simply knowing what you want to leave behind and start identifying what you want to create. And you'll learn why building your own table might not be what you actually need. In this episode, you'll learn:How to recognize when an institution has made space for you without giving you meaningful powerWhy righteous anger can be a powerful starting point for creating positive changeHow to identify the deeper motivation that will sustain you when building something new gets difficultThe three factors that can help you discover a mission uniquely suited to your gifts and convictionsThe surprising difference between building your own table and building your own chair You'll also hear about Jemar's forthcoming book, Notes from an Evangelical Reject, and get updates on projects from Tisby Media, including the upcoming short film What Will We Tell Them? If you're tired of shrinking yourself to fit someone else's vision—or you have a dream of creating something better but don't know where to begin—this episode will help you see the possibilities in front of you and take your next step with greater clarity. Mentioned in this episodeNotes from an Evangelical Reject — Jemar's forthcoming book, available for preorder. Publication date: January 19, 2027. How to Resist White Christian Nationalism — A self-paced course featuring practical action steps. Jesus Was a Migrant — Watch the trailer and learn about community screenings at https://jesuswasamigrant.com. What Will We Tell Them? — A new narrative short film from Tisby Studios. Book Launch Team — Join Jemar's launch team for exclusive resources, updates, and opportunities to help spread the word about Notes from an Evangelical Reject. Join HERE. Footnotes — Subscribe for historical insights and analysis at the intersection of race, religion, and politics. JemarTisby.Substack.com Episode chapters00:00 – How to Build Your Own Table 02:27 – Why So Many People Are Questioning Their Institutions 07:48 – Jemar's Journey Through White Evangelicalism 12:58 – When You're Given a Seat but Not a Voice 17:19 – Principle 1: Identify Your Internal Driver 19:59 – How Righteous Anger Can Fuel Constructive Change 21:24 – The Vision That Pulls You Forward 22:28 – Principle 2: Create a Clear Mission 24:09 – Discovering Your Gifts and Learning to Trust Yourself 27:33 – Finding Joy and Passion in Your Work 29:29 – Identifying the Need Only You Can Address 31:09 – Principle 3: Decide What You're Actually Building 31:43 – The Difference Between Building a Table and Building a Chair 36:21 – How Jemar Built Tisby Media 40:03 – The Justice Briefing, Teaching, and the Justice Institute 42:40 – Tisby Studios and the Power of Film 44:10 – What Will We Tell Them? and the Legacy We're Creating 46:16 – Notes from an Evangelical Reject and the Book Launch Team 54:02 – Upcoming Projects and New Developments 58:04 – Why We Need New and Truer Institutions Follow Jemar TisbyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JTisby About The Justice BriefingThe Justice Briefing is your weekly guide to current events at the intersection of faith, history, and justice. #TheJusticeBriefing #JemarTisby #EvangelicalReject

In a rare guest interview, Dr. Jemar Tisby sits down with Dr. Matthew D. Taylor, author of the new book Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists. They discuss Christian supremacy, Christendom, and imperialism. Going deeper, they explore how Jesus displayed and taught about power, and why the tyrants who claim his name avoid those teachings with surgical precision. They also talk about the cost of this work. Dr. Taylor lost his job for writing this book. You'll come away with a theological case for defying tyrants and a picture of what that looks like in the church, in politics, and in everyday life. Get Defying Tyrants wherever you get your books. Topics Addressed Pete Hegseth's speech and the new Office of Religious AffairsConstantine's conversion and the merging of church and empireChristian supremacy as the ideology beneath Christian nationalismWhy "antichrists" in 1 and 2 John refers to Christians who harm others in Jesus' nameThe parable of the wheat and the taresThe cost of speaking out against authoritarianismSupport conversations like this one by becoming a paid subscriber at JemarTisby.Substack.com. Resources Referenced Matthew D. Taylor, Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists (Broadleaf, 2026)Matthew D. Taylor, The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy (2024)Matthew D. Taylor's Reckonings (Substack)Scripture: Mark 10:42-45; 1 John 2:18-19; Matthew 13:24-30

Get the course. Gain the confidence: How to Resist White Christian Nationalism White Christian nationalism is the greatest threat to democracy and the witness of the church in the United States today.  Most people who follow this work already know that. So why don't we have more confidence to confront it?  In this back-to-basics episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby names five obstacles to confidence:  1. leaving out the "white,"  2. calling every conservative Christian a Christian nationalist,  3. leading with facts alone,  4. stopping at 'it isn't really Christian,"  5. mistaking understanding for resistance.  Along the way, he brings the receipts, from PRRI's newest data showing that nearly two-thirds of Americans resist Christian nationalism to Gorski and Perry's "deep story" of a Christian America that was supposedly stolen and must be taken back. The episode builds toward a revelation Dr. Tisby had live on the show: what people need most to resist white Christian nationalism is confidence. The truth is on our side.  To move from understanding to action, Dr. Tisby introduces his new self-paced course, How to Resist White Christian Nationalism. Topics Addressed How the plantation's paternalistic hierarchy mirrors the white Christian nationalist visionTokenism: why people of color in the movement are useful but never central, and why tokens get spentNew PRRI data: nearly two-thirds of Americans resist Christian nationalism, with Arkansas and Mississippi the least resistant statesThe "deep story" of white Christian nationalism and why we must meet a bad story with a truer storyThe third commandment, the no true Scotsman fallacy, and the responsibility of Christians to resistThe ARC of Racial Justice and the gap between understanding and action Resources Referenced 1. How to Resist White Christian Nationalism (self-paced course), Dr. Jemar Tisby 2. PRRI, New Report Analyzes the Two-Thirds of Americans Who Resist Christian Nationalism (September 24, 2026) 3. Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2022) 4. Dr. Jemar Tisby, The Color of Compromise (2019) 5. Dr. Jemar Tisby, How to Fight Racism (2021), source of the ARC of Racial Justice 6. Scripture: Exodus 20:7; Isaiah 6:8 Support the Show Fewer than 5% of subscribers make this truth-telling at the intersection of faith, history, and justice possible. For $7 a month, or $5.83 a month on the annual plan (less than a gallon of gas in LA), you can help keep The Justice Briefing going. Become a paid subscriber at JemarTisby.Substack.com. Stay informed. Stay faithful. Stay in the fight.

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 harm to a mother's emotional health, then reaffirmed that stance after Roe v. Wade.  Historian Randall Balmer argues in Bad Faith that what first mobilized conservative Christians politically was the IRS denying tax exemptions to racially discriminatory Christian schools like Bob Jones University. So was it ever about life in the womb, or was it about power? Support the podcast: Is this kind of information worthwhile? That's the only question you need to answer. If yes, become a paid subscriber at JemarTisby.Substack.com  For $5.83 a month on an annual subscription, you fund the research behind every episode, along with Tisby Media's new course and films.

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, overrode a president more than a dozen times, and wrote insurrection into the official record. The second is about the 1868 Charleston constitutional convention, the only one in American history with a Black majority, where recently emancipated men wrote the most democratic document South Carolina had ever seen and included the children of the people who had enslaved them. The third is about Amos T. Akerman, a former Confederate and enslaver who became attorney general and prosecuted the first Ku Klux Klan out of existence for forty years. Taken together, the three stories make one argument: Congress has the power, it lacks the will, and history has the receipts. Topics AddressedWhy the first iteration of the Ku Klux Klan disbanded in the mid-1870s and did not reconstitute until 1915The 1868 South Carolina constitutional convention: 76 Black delegates out of 124, and the only Black-majority state legislature in U.S. historyWhat Black delegates actually wrote into the state constitution, including free public schools, protected suffrage, women's property rights, and a permanent ban on secessionThe three Enforcement Acts, and why the Ku Klux Klan Act finally worked by naming the state itself as the defendant Resources ReferencedHere's What Congress Did When Members Had a SpineWhen Black People Wrote the ConstitutionWhen the Department of Justice Prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan Out of ExistenceThe Spirit of Justice by Jemar Tisby: bit.ly/spiritofjusticeA Way Forward: Hope in Uncertain Times, Nashville, August 28-30, with Rep. Justin Pearson, Shane Claiborne, and others. Free, but registration is required: Register here Support This WorkHistory Rhymes: Democracy and Voting Rights Edition runs weekly through the 2026 midterms, roughly twelve installments in all. The episodes are free. The articles are free. The research is not. If this is the kind of work you want more of, become a paid subscriber at JemarTisby.Substack.com. It is $5.83 a month on the annual plan. Less than six dollars for history from a PhD historian who spent years learning the tools of the discipline to bring it to you. Stay informed. Stay faithful. Stay in the fight.

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, and he names the moment for what it is: the civil rights movement of our generation. The episode also launches History Rhymes: Democracy and Voting Edition, Dr. Tisby's three-month series tracing the struggle over the vote from Reconstruction to today. In This Episode Why 2026 is the civil rights movement of our generation, and how the April march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge echoed 1965How the Voting Rights Act was taken apart in thirteen years, from Shelby County to Louisiana v. CallaisFaith leaders mobilizing before the midterms, including William Barber's 100 days of actionPoll chaplains and peacekeepers: protecting voters, protecting ballots, and protecting the system itselfThe launch of History Rhymes: Democracy and Voting Edition on FootnotesThe closing charge: register, check your registration, and take somebody with you Resources ReferencedThe Washington Informer, "Faith leaders start 100-day countdown to Nov. 3 election," featuring Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Tony Lee of Community of Hope AME Church: https://www.washingtoninformer.com/faith-leaders-midterm-vote/Black Church PAC and its Freedom Summer events: https://www.blackchurchpac.org/All Roads Lead South Coalition, organizers of the 2026 march across the Edmund Pettus BridgeHistory Rhymes: Democracy and Voting Edition, Dr. Tisby's new Footnotes series: https://JemarTisby.Substack.com Support The Justice BriefingThe Justice Briefing runs on readers and listeners, not advertisers. If it helps you make sense of this moment, the best way to support it is to subscribe to Footnotes at JemarTisby.Substack.com. The annual plan comes to $5.83 a month, it keeps this work independent, and it puts every installment of History Rhymes: Democracy and Voting Edition in your inbox from now through the midterms.

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: What a primary actually is, and why it is not a direct vote for the nomineeWhy the order of states determines momentum, media coverage, donor confidence, and who drops outThe South Carolina versus Nevada split and the case Latino leaders made for NevadaThe progressive objection to a Southern first primary and what it assumes about Black Southern votersSix things candidates should do over the next 18 months to earn Black votes Resources referenced: Previous episode: "What Every Social Movement Must Do"Dr. Tisby's YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@JTisby Support the show: There are no ads on The Justice Briefing and no sponsors. Paid subscribers are the ones who make this work possible. If the breakdown of the 2028 primary calendar was useful to you weeks before it becomes a headline, become a paid subscriber at JemarTisby.Substack.com.

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 want is a story that agrees with them. This is not about erasing the founders. It is about expanding the narrative to tell the whole truth. History does not repeat itself, Dr. Tisby reminds us, but it rhymes. In This Episode Why "objective" history is a myth, and why interpretation is the historian's jobThe fundamentalist "plain reading of Scripture," and what it shares with the demand for "straightforward" historyNarratives of declension and their link to "Make America Great Again"Inside the two congressional hearings, and which committee actually holds jurisdiction over the SmithsonianThe witnesses behind the report: the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and Hillsdale CollegePragerU, the 1776 curriculum, and this White House's record on historyThe Lost Cause, the UDC textbook committee, and the Dunning SchoolDu Bois and Carter G. Woodson on expanding the narrative, plus the ARC of Racial Justice as practical next steps Resources Referenced Saving America's Story, the White House report on the National Museum of American HistoryW.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935), and its chapter "The Propaganda of History"Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933)Dr. Tisby's article on the Dunning School, at JemarTisby.Substack.comJesus Was a Migrant, the first film from Tisby Studios, at jesuswasamigrant.com Support the Show The Justice Briefing is independent and listener-supported. Dr. Tisby is not attached to any institution on a full-time basis, which means this history reaches you because readers and listeners make it possible. If this episode gave you the background the headlines skip, support the work at JemarTisby.Substack.com. An annual membership comes out to just $5.83 a month, and it keeps the weekly articles and podcast coming.

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 he makes the case that under this administration, immigration is the tip of the spear: the most public, most violent, most visceral campaign of them all. In This EpisodeWhy every social movement must find the injustice that evokes the most moral outrage and press on it until progress comesThe "violent, visible, visceral" test for what actually mobilizes people to actHow abolitionists, Ida B. Wells, civil rights activists, and the Black Panther Party each pressed on their era's defining injusticeThe recent ICE killings of Lorenzo Salgado Araújo in Houston and Johan Sebastián Durán in MaineThe 2,000-arrests-per-day quota, masked agents, unmarked vehicles, and the lack of accountability fueling reckless violenceWhy immigration is the tip of the spear for this administration, and why attacks on voting rights struggle to spark the same outrageThe story behind Tisby Studios' first film, Jesus Was a Migrant, and why it is distributed through group screeningsConcrete action steps: booking a screening, abolishing ICE, taking off the masks, demanding accountability, and emphasizing the ethics of the kingdomResources ReferencedMartin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, on nonviolent coercion and the healthy tension that forces a society to confront its prejudiceThe Black Panther Party's Ten-Point ProgramThe Color of Compromise by Dr. Jemar Tisby, and its closing chapter, "The Fierce Urgency of Now," which introduces the ARC of Racial JusticeJesus Was a Migrant (JesusWasAMigrant.com)Last week's episode, "What Mainstream Media Keep Getting Wrong about Douglas Wilson"Support the PodcastThe best way to support The Justice Briefing is to become a paid subscriber at JemarTisby.Substack.com. Fewer than 5% of subscribers are paid; the $70 annual plan comes out to about $5.83 a month, and it keeps this podcast, and this kind of history, coming every week.

The Justice Briefing | Show NotesWhat Mainstream Media Keep Getting Wrong About Douglas WilsonNPR 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 Wilson wants. From there, Dr. Tisby walks through who Wilson is and what he actually believes, from his rejection of the Nineteenth Amendment to his vision of a theocratic America, then names a better way to cover him. The real question is not what Wilson believes. It is who gets to speak for Christians, and which version of God and country will prevail. In This EpisodeWhy NPR, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times keep making the trip to Moscow, IdahoThe one line where Wilson admits a "respectful hearing" is the win he is afterWilson's theology explained: reformed fundamentalism, postmillennialism, biblical patriarchy, classical Christian education, and dominionismHis views on repealing the Nineteenth Amendment and "household voting"How the Gospel Coalition, Desiring God, and other evangelical platforms gave Wilson legitimacy years before the mainstream media didWhy the coverage centers Wilson, on his own turf, with no counter-voice in the frameThe lack of racial analysis in most coverage of Wilson and Christian dominionismA better model: pass the mic to the scholars, pastors, and survivors who resist himResources ReferencedScholars and books that offer a counter-narrative Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a NationBeth Allison Barr, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel TruthSheila Wray Gregoire, She Deserves Better: Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Sex, Self, and Speaking UpTia Levings, A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian PatriarchySarah Stankorb, Disobedient Women: How a Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors, and Ignited an Evangelical ReckoningAnthea Butler, White Evangelical RacismObery Hendricks, The Politics of JesusBryan Massingale, Racial Justice and the Catholic ChurchSurvivors speaking out Sons of Patriarchy (sonsofpatriarchy.com), hosted by Sarah Bader and Peter BellSupport the ShowThe best way to materially support The Justice Briefing is to subscribe to Footnotes at JemarTisby.Substack.com, the #4 ranked publication in the history category. Your subscription is what keeps this work independent and coming to you every week.

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 should be passionate about truth and history. Topics AddressedAnniversaries as arguments about the past, and how they shape who we were, who we are, and who we must becomeWhat white Christian nationalists actually mean by "Christian nation": theocracy, a covenant like ancient Israel, Christian privilege, and a religious test for being a "real" AmericanThe restoration narrative of fear and grievance, and why regression differs from progressionThe biblical case for a theology of history: the Bible as a history book, and God's repeated command to rememberThe dangers of forgetting, and why memory is a guardrail against idolatry and injusticeHistory and identity: how the power to tell the story is the power to shape identityThe church's abdication of teaching history, and the "potato chips" problem of getting your history from social mediaApplying the ARC of Racial Justice (Awareness, Relationships, Commitment) to doing history wellResources ReferencedPart one of the series: "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?" on The Justice Briefing"James Baldwin Was Right About Patriotism," drawn from the autobiographical note in Notes of a Native Son"The Trick Inside Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Speech""How Gerald R. Ford Celebrated Black History During America's 200th Anniversary"The Spirit of Justice and How to Fight Racism by Dr. Jemar TisbyPrimary sources: the U.S. Constitution and First Amendment, the Treaty of Tripoli, the Danbury Baptist letter, and the Declaration of IndependenceScripture: Deuteronomy 8, Psalm 77:11, Luke 22:19"Echoes of Injustice: From Manzanar to Mass Deportation," a mini documentary on the YouTube channel (YouTube.com/@JTisby)Christians Against Christian Nationalism, by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious LibertyPublic Religion Research Institute (PRRI) at prri.org Support This WorkEverything I do here is available for free, but I would really like your help. This kind of truth-telling at the intersection of faith, history, and justice is possible because of the people who choose to support it. Subscribe at JemarTisby.Substack.com: $5.83 a month on the annual plan, and help make this work possible. Stay informed. Stay faithful. Stay in the fight.

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 July” as our primary text for exploring the tension between liberty and bondage in U.S. history. Listen and share! Right now, curricula across this country are being rewritten to erase exactly the tension Douglass named in 1852. Subscribe and make sure this history does not get edited out from under you. JemarTisby.Substack.com

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 and the First Amendment to the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and the Treaty of Tripoli, and he traces the longer backstory of Henry VIII and the colonists who fled state religion. In This EpisodeWhy "define your terms" is the first move in answering the Christian nation questionThe sense in which the claim is true and the sense in which it is falseHistory has the receipts: Article VI, the First Amendment, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the Treaty of TripoliHenry VIII, the Act of Supremacy, and why colonists fled state religionThe difference between the separation of church and state and the separation of faith and politicsThe Enlightenment roots of the DeclarationWhat white Christian nationalists actually mean, and why the slogan works as a permission structure for powerResources ReferencedThe Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History by Warren ThrockmortonThe Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance by Jemar TisbyThe Color of Compromise (book and video study) by Jemar TisbyRededicate 250, National Mall, May 17, 2026Primary sources: Article VI of the U.S. Constitution; the First Amendment; the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786); the Treaty of Tripoli (1797); the Act of Supremacy (1534); John Locke, Second Treatise on Civil GovernmentSupport the ShowSupport The Justice Briefing by subscribing at JemarTisby.Substack.com, where Dr. Tisby brings the receipts every week so you can answer questions like this one from an informed perspective.