Power, Privilege, and Subversive Witness with Dominique DuBois Gilliard

This week, we have a fascinating interview with Dominique DuBois Gilliard, the Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation for the Evangelical Covenant Church, and author of Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege. We talk to him about that book; how the Bible discusses privilege; reading Scripture with ideas like privilege, power dynamics, and trauma in mind; how disciples of Jesus leverage privilege for God’s Kingdom; the church’s truncated conception of repentance; and a lot more.  

Other resources from Dominique mentioned during the episode: 

* The video series curriculum accompanying Subversive Witness

* Dominique’s last book, Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores

Shake the Dust is a podcast of KTF Press. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Find transcripts of this show and subscribe to get our newsletter and other paid content at KTFPress.com. 

Hosts: 

Jonathan Walton – follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  

Suzie Lahoud – follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  

Sy Hoekstra – follow him on Twitter.  

Our theme song is “Citizens” by Jon Guerra – listen to the whole song on Spotify. 

Our podcast art is by Jacqueline Tam – follow her and see her other work on Instagram.  

Production and editing by Sy Hoekstra. 

Transcript by Joyce Ambale and Suzie Lahoud. 

Questions about anything you heard on the show? Write to shakethedust@ktfpress.com and we may answer your question on a future episode. 

Transcript

Dominique Gilliard: Privilege unbridled is something that seduces us to abide by the patterns of this world. And so when you are a person who is not impacted by the oppression that's happening in the world, then you have the privilege of being able to say, “Oh, well that's not my issue. I don't really have to be concerned about it. And the fact that you're trying to shine a light on this in a way that makes me uncomfortable­­­- you're actually the source of the problem, not the oppression that's provoking your lament.”

[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/That it will roll in abundance/ And that you’re building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]   

Sy Hoekstra: Welcome to Shake the Dust, leaving colonized faith for the Kingdom of God, a podcast of KTF Press. My name is Sy Hoekstra. I am here with Jonathan Walton and Suzie Lahoud.

Jonathan Walton: Today we have an interview with Dominique DuBois Gilliard, the Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation for the Evangelical Covenant Church. Gilliard’s latest book,