Intersections with Phil Allen, Jr.        

Episode: 013 “Disruptive Peacemakers: Setting the Table for ‘The Talk’”

Airdate: January 4, 2021

Length: 1:05:33

Guests: John Williams

Let’s start the year off with a conversation with John Williams on how we can and must move from conversations to action when it comes to advocating for racial justice and movement towards racial reconciliation. John Williams, who once upon a time practiced law full-time (and still does), was moved over thirty years ago to be fully engaged in the work racial justice and reconciliation. With the heart of Christ, and the wisdom of the Spirit, Mr. Williams walks us through his own journey and how he has come to facilitate spaces for “the talk.” By “the talk,” it is meant, the hard and truthful conversation around race.

His work as Director of the Center for Racial Reconciliation at Fellowship Monrovia Church in the Pasadena area outside of Los Angeles has impacted countless lives in the church and outside of the church. Considering the times we are in today on the heels of 2020, he calls us to be “disruptive peacemakers.” Now that’s a mouthful but is worth deeper reflection from us all.

Join us in this conversation about race and racism from “sundown towns” to the spiritual underpinnings of both racism and the work of reconciliation. You will not be disappointed, but you will be thoroughly informed. What you do with the information and the charge is up to you.

You can follow John Williams on Facebook or Instagram @profjaydub.   

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Phil Allen, Jr. is a Los Angeles-based pastor, social justice activist, filmmaker and author. Allen’s 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 February 9, 2021. Allen is a Ph.D. student studying Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.