The Justice Briefing with Dr. Jemar Tisby

Dr. Jemar Tisby
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The Justice Briefing is your weekly guide to understanding current events through a historically grounded, theologically rooted, justice-centered lens. Instead of framing the world through fear or culture-war panic, we draw from the spirit of justice—from the biblical prophets to the Civil Rights Movement. This isn't just commentary; it’s discipleship for truth and justice.

  1. Aug 7

    Everything You Were Never Taught About the Voting Rights Act

    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.

  2. Jul 31

    Stop Telling Black Voters to Wait

    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.

  3. Jul 24

    Why "Objective" History Is a Myth

    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.

  4. Jul 17

    How to Stop ICE from Killing People

    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.

  5. Jul 10

    What Mainstream Media Keep Getting Wrong about Douglas Wilson

    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.

  6. Jul 3

    Why America 250 Needs a Theology of History

    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.

  7. Jul 1

    Fourth of July Teach-In with Dr. Jemar Tisby

    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

  8. Jun 26

    Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? The Honest Answer

    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.

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The Justice Briefing is your weekly guide to understanding current events through a historically grounded, theologically rooted, justice-centered lens. Instead of framing the world through fear or culture-war panic, we draw from the spirit of justice—from the biblical prophets to the Civil Rights Movement. This isn't just commentary; it’s discipleship for truth and justice.

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