Live from the 2025 Wild Goose Festival, we kick off Season 6 as Joe sits down with Rev. Brad Davis of From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice to ask the question "How is it with your soul?" in regards to the work of justice in one of the poorest regions of the country. (Special thanks to our friend Charles Bretan of A Jew and a Gentile Walk Into a Bar...Mitzvah for producing this episode!)

“Spilling the Black Girl Tea: Unfiltered Stories from the Heart of Appalachia” is a multimedia project built on the fundamental belief that the people who are the least heard have the most important things to say. The storytellers in the project are Black girls and women who call West Virginia home — part of a vibrant but often overlooked group that comprises less than 2.5% of the entire Mountain State’s population. Their stories are those of the challenges and joys of Black identity. In the series, seventeen Black girls and women, ranging in ages from 16 to 80, candidly share their experiences in intimate conversations. The participants are students, community leaders, educators, advocates, activists and entrepreneurs who are talking about what matters to them most.

Part 4: Spaces and Places

Episode videos and more: https://wvfaith.org/spilling-the-black-girl-tea/

Joe talks with Brad Davis and Josh Scott about how colonialist interpretations of the Bible have helped contribute to the social, economic, political, and spiritual exploitation of Central Appalachia, including the WV water crisis, at the 2024 Wild Goose Festival. (Our apologies for the extra bit of background noise...this episode was recorded live in an open area without studio controls.)

Learn more about From Below here --> https://www.facebook.com/groups/629075958675198

Check out Josh Scott's work here --> https://www.joshscott.online/

Fresh off the 2024 Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in West Virginia, Heather and Joe take a look at two resolutions that signal a renewed focus on social justice for the denomination in the Mountain State and beyond. Show links: Hope for McDowell: https://hopeinthemountains.com/donate/ (please specify “Hope for McDowell” on the donation page) From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/629075958675198 [Cover image courtesy of From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice]

In one of the historically poorest communities in America, thousands of people are going without clean tap water in their homes. And while cities like Flint, MI, and Jackson, MS, deservedly grab national headlines for their water issues, the Southern West Virginia Coalfields are now decades into a water crisis with few answers on the horizon. In this episode, Brad Davis and Caitlin Ware join Heather and Joe to talk about the West Virginia water crisis, the complex issues surrounding it, and the ways coalfield communities are banding together to create contextual solutions where government and industry have failed. They also talk about the role of faith communities in helping to organize local residents and support local problem-solving efforts. If you’d like to get involved, below are links to some of the coalitions and organizations mentioned in the podcast:

From Below Coalition: https://www.facebook.com/groups/629075958675198

WVUMC Clean Water Initiative: https://www.wvumc.org/clean-water-in-southern-district/

WV Faith Collective: https://wvfaith.org/

WV Water Distribution: https://gofund.me/f55125a7