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In a time of division, how do we create a sense of collective freedom? It’s a question that peace activist, artist and poet Genesis Be grapples with in all her work. Genesis Be has a new book out, People Not Things: Love Poems & Paintings for Humanity, and recently curated the Freedom Rising art show in Brooklyn, New York featuring work by incarcerated artists currently held by the Georgia Department of Corrections. She is the subject of the upcoming film “Mississippi Turning” about the successful yearslong effort to remove the Confederate symbol from the state’s flag. In this episode taped at the CUNY studios in NYC, we turn to a poet and a preacher. Genesis Be joins Laura Flanders and cohost Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, the Senior Minister for Public Theology and Transformation at Middle Church, to discuss how to reject stigmas and advance liberation. Genesis Be painted in the studio — for her and us it was a first.

“I hung a noose around my neck and draped myself in a Confederate flag . . . It was a very scary time for me because I got thrown into the fight to change the Mississippi State flag. There were a lot of death threats, but a lot of support during that time.” Genesis Be

“The word freedom is hijacked often by folks: freedom from having to change, freedom from having to admit the humanity of others, freedom from having to widen the tent, freedom from having to let go of their sense of exceptionalism . . . This [conference] was a gathering of likeminded folks sharing a dream of all of us belonging and all of us saving this democracy, interfaith, intergenerational.” Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

Guests:
Genesis Be: Poet, Peace Activist, Artist; Author, People Not Things: Love Poems & Paintings for Humanity
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (Cohost): Senior Minister of Public Theology & Transformation, Middle Church, NYC

PODCAST: Listen to this week's episode on major podcast platforms (Available 6/3): https://lauraflanders.simplecast.com/...

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Check out our Book of the Week on BOOKSHOP*:
“People Not Things: Love Poems and Paintings for Humanity” by Genesis Be: https://bookshop.org/a/22992/97815248...
(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. LF&F is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

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Credits:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Consulting Producer: Rory O’Connor
Consulting Producer: Jordan Flaherty
Senior Video Editor: David Neumann
Creative Designer & Video Editor: Nat Needham
Audio Director: Jeannie Hopper
Development Director: Sarah Miller
Communications Director: Janet Hernandez
Executive Assistant: Nady Piña

Special Thanks:
City University Television
CUNY TV STUDIO
Freedom Rising and Middle Church, Brooklyn Art Haus
Mississippi Turning:
Moral Courage in association with Breakout
Directed by Adam Grannick
Executive Producers: Aunjanue EllisTaylor, Irshad Manji, Michael Farber, Chris Wilson

Photo of Genesis Be by Ryann Jet.
Photo of Jacqui Lewis by David Pexton.