Intersections with Phil Allen, Jr.           

Episode:  002; Are We Really Crabs In A Barrel?

Airdate:  October 12, 2020

Length:   1:14:19

Guest(s):   Dr. Rodney D. Smith; author, Are We Really Crabs In A Barrel?

Intersections with Phil Allen, Jr. not only exists at the intersection of race, culture and theology, but thrives there, as well. This week, host Phil Allen, Jr. is joined by Dr. Rodney D. Smith, a change management consultant specializing in diversity, equity and inclusion for businesses and non-profit agencies. Dr. Smith is also the author of Are We Really Crabs in a Barrel? The Truth and Other Insights About the African American Community, which refutes the idea that  Blacks are not helpful to each other and within their community.

This week’s slightly expanded edition of Intersections features a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion. Your host and guest illuminate topics including the disenfranchisement of Blacks by one of President Roosevelt’s post-Depression New Deal programs; the Discovery Channel reality show “Deadliest Catch”; and the fact that “white gaze" is indeed "a thing." 

And all these subjects bring us back to race, theology and culture? Yes they do, dear listener, like a cul de sac. Enjoy.

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Phil Allen, Jr. is a Los Angeles-based pastor, social justice activist, filmmaker and author. His book Open Wounds explores the murder of Nate Allen—Phil Allen’s grandfather—in the Jim Crow era of South Carolina and how that traumatic event resonated through generations of his family. Open Wounds – which is based on the Allen-produced documentary of the same name – will be published in February 2021. Allen is a Ph.D. student studying Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.