Aurelia Pratt
This interview is with Aurelia Pratt, a Chicana woman, and lead pastor to a progressive Baptist Church based in Austin, Texas. The vision of Pratt’s church focuses on decolonizing faith, justice, inclusion, and liberation. Aurelia speaks to the challenges of navigating life as a pastor during the global pandemic and how her personal experiences with racial tension and microaggressions as a brown woman of color have shaped who she is today.
Billie Watts and Kerry Kirtley
This interview is with Billie Watts and Kerry Kirtley, co-pastors of the Touchstone Community Church. Billie and Kirtley share their passion for creating an inclusive, justice-seeking community outside of their previous ties to certain denomination’s discriminatory practices. Billie and Kerry discuss both past challenges of leaving behind a community that was not accepting of their children and the current challenges of COVID-19 era co-pastor duties.
Shadia Igram
This interview is with Shadia Igram, founder and executive director of Muslim Space in Austin, TX. Shadia speaks about how her experience growing up in a close and vibrant American Muslim community inspired her to create Muslim Space. She talks about her desire to build such a welcoming community in Austin and to improve continuously on its diversity and inclusivity. Shadia also discusses her goal of dispelling the notion of American Muslims as others and outsiders within broader American culture.