Episode 12 - Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza on Public Theology, Intersectional Activism and Social Justice

When we think of theology or philosophy or ethics, we often think of mere theory, either received from authorities on high or taught in stale classrooms, without real world, daily applicability to pressing social concerns. But Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza — this week’s guest on Speak Out with Tim Wise — knows that real liberation requires the blending of theory and practice. As a Transqueer Latinx activist (they/their/them pronouns), and public theologian committed to expanding our moral horizons, Henderson-Espinoza expresses in clear and bold terms, “crucified people are my people,” and discusses what it means to engage a truly liberatory theology and ethics. Challenging state violence — which is, after all, what crucifixion represents, in both literal and metaphorical terms — is the highest responsibility of persons committed to social justice. As Robyn and Tim discuss in this episode, only by doing so in an intersectional way (and challenging the binaries that so often divide us) can true liberation for all — oppressed and oppressor — be obtained.