Intersections with Phil Allen, Jr.

Episode: 028 “After the Chauvin Verdict: Now What”

Airdate: April 26, 2021

Length: 29:29

In this episode Phil Allen is simply downloading his thoughts on the Chauvin verdict and what it really means for us as a nation. Does this verdict suggest radical cultural change, particularly with law enforcement and policing the African American community, or is it simply a moment and a chance to catch our collective breath. Will things remain the same once this is a distant memory?

Allen delves into what it means to live as a Black person in what we calls the “in-between.” In this in-between existence is where Black people figuratively “hold their collective breaths” awaiting justice, opportunities, equity, and even respect. In the meantime, Allen brings to the forefront the issue undergirding racism, whiteness (some may say white supremacy).

The question to ponder is “Where do we go from here?” We can continue to deal with the symptoms of racism or we can do the soul work and address its undergirding forces—whiteness/white supremacy—and truly transform our nation.

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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 – was published on February 9, 2021. The book can be purchased on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, or Fortress Press.com. Allen is a Ph.D. student studying Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.