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Faith, numbers, and land meet in a bold conversation about how Black families—and especially Black mothers—can move from survival to ownership. With guest Tawan Davis, CEO of The Steinbridge Group and NYU adjunct professor, we unpack the cycles behind DEI whiplash and government contraction, then chart a different route: activating underused HBCU and church land, replacing consumer debt with asset-backed leverage, and negotiating from ownership in a global economy that won’t wait for anyone.

We look squarely at the statistics: rising unemployment for Black women, the caregiving load, and a persistent wage gap that stings hardest when paired with student debt. Then we pivot to solutions that build compounding value. Tawan lays out the matching principle in plain language—pair long-term debt with long-term, appreciating assets—and shows how mortgages, whole life policies, and stock portfolios differ from credit cards and car notes. From there, we zoom into practice: structuring projects on HBCU campuses and church-owned land to create housing, services, and jobs while keeping control and sharing upside.

The heart of the story is ancestral. Matriarchs who crossed hostile highways bought homes, welcomed relatives, and built neighborhoods a down payment at a time. Their method still works—small money, big conviction, assets first—and their faith still sets our posture. We carry that ethic into a global frame: build mutual aid and community funds while accessing institutional capital on our terms. It’s not either-or. It’s Ubuntu and underwriting, legacy and leverage, scripture and spreadsheets.

If this mission resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the show. Join our movement: follow Abolitionist Sanctuary on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, download our mobile app, enroll at abolitionacademy.com, and become a member at abolitionistsanctuary.org. Your voice—and your assets—matter.

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We trace Dr. Jamal Bryant’s journey from family roots and grief to a movement-facing ministry that blends sermon craft, organizing, and economic imagination. We press into DEI rollbacks, leadership succession, and building power that feeds, houses, and employs our people.

• personal roots, parental influence, and grief as teacher
• love, accountability, and prayer as intimacy
• sermon craft for an unscripted, attention-thin culture
• Target Fast strategy and reawakening the Black church
• community organizing beyond Sunday metrics
• economic empowerment, land use, and viable revenue
• DEI rollbacks as financial violence against Black women
• shared agendas for elections and policy lanes
• leadership succession and youth pipelines
• abolitionist building alongside reforms

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Visit abolitionistsanctuary.org to give, become a member, and subscribe to our mailing list

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Susan Burton shares her powerful journey from cycling through prison to founding A New Way of Life, an organization providing housing and support for formerly incarcerated women with a 94% success rate. Her story illuminates how systemic racism criminalizes Black women's survival strategies while offering a model for healing through love, tolerance, and community care.

• Experiencing the tragic death of her five-year-old son and lacking access to healing resources in South LA
• Discovering the disparity between how addiction is treated in Black communities (prison) versus white communities (treatment)
• Creating A New Way of Life to offer housing, family reunification, workforce development, and time to heal
• Describing prison conditions as dehumanizing systems that strip identity and dignity
• Emphasizing how faith grounds her work as "a vessel for God's work"
• Challenging churches to move beyond judgment to practical support and abolition
• Extending her mission beyond reentry to community mutual aid during crises

Visit anewwayoflife.org to learn more about Susan Burton's work and upcoming events including the Justice on Trial Film Festival on October 4th and their annual gala on December 7th.

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When flames tore through Altadena on January 7th, they destroyed more than buildings—they revealed deep inequities in how America responds to disasters in Black communities. Against the backdrop of California's fifth deadliest wildfire, this episode brings together two survivors with starkly different recovery experiences.

Tamil, an intergenerational homeowner who operated a braiding business from the house her mother owned for 50 years, woke to find her world literally on fire. "I just sat there for hours as people on the news showed Altadena Drive burning," she recalls. "We left the car and I cried." Sixty miles away from her community and client base, Tamil now struggles with insurance paperwork, mortgage forbearance, and the isolation of starting over without adequate support.

Alongside her sits Shimika Gaskins, president of End Child Poverty California, whose professional connections mobilized immediately after she lost her home. "My place of work was super supportive. My team stepped in to make sure we had everything we needed right away." The contrast between their experiences highlights a troubling reality: disaster recovery systems work better for those already connected to resources.

Both women speak candidly about the failures that endangered lives—no functioning alert systems, fire hydrants without water, and delayed emergency responses compared to more affluent areas. "It's angering when we think about what could have prevented the fire," Shamika notes. "The fact that there was no alert system... it's just unacceptable."

Six months later, their faith remains tested but unbroken. Despite disappointment with some local churches, they've found strength in community and spirituality. "God never makes a mistake," Tamil reflects. "He does send his angels." Their advice for others still struggling resonates beyond disaster recovery: find your supportive people, protect your peace, remember to breathe, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

This powerful conversation reveals both heartbreak and hope—a testament to Black women's resilience and a call for equity in disaster response. Listen now and join us in supporting those still rebuilding their lives after the flames.

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What does one night of freedom look like when you're trapped in systems designed to extract your labor, silence your voice, and deny your humanity? In Ryan Coogler's masterful film "Sinners," this question unfolds through the story of Sammy, a young guitarist who seeks artistic expression outside the church walls in 1930s Mississippi. But freedom comes with costs, raising profound theological questions that still resonate today.

This riveting episode of Abolitionist Sanctuary features three brilliant scholars examining how "Sinners" disrupts traditional narratives about sin, salvation, and spirituality. Dr. Funayo E. Wood (Harvard PhD and Ifa Orisha priestess), Dr. Deanna Reed-Hamelin (religious studies scholar specializing in horror), and Dr. Candice Laughinghouse (theologian and musician) bring their unique perspectives to this Juneteenth special that celebrates Abolitionist Sanctuary's fourth anniversary.

Show Highlights:
• Horror as a genre serves as the perfect medium for expressing Black religious experience and the quest for meaning
• The vampire trope symbolizes how oppressive systems extract life and culture from vulnerable communities
• African spiritual traditions like Hoodoo are portrayed as sources of protection and wisdom rather than being demonized
• Black women function as spiritual anchors, with their conjuring practices offering community protection
• Racial capitalism manifests through symbolic elements like wooden nickels that expose the fraudulent currencies of economic exploitation
• The dichotomy between sacred church music and profane juke joint music represents artificial boundaries that restrict freedom
• Questions of theodicy arise when prayers and protective practices work for some but fail to save innocent lives
• Freedom may be fleeting or limited, but artistic expression and spiritual practice offer glimpses of liberation

Keep your eyes on Abolitionist Sanctuary for more critical conversations at the intersections of religion, abolition, and Black motherhood. Visit abolitionistsanctuary.org to become a member and join our mailing list.

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