You Tube Theology

September 23, 2020
A conversation with Joshua Dubler (University of Rochester), Vincent Lloyd (Villanova University), Rev. Lynice Pinkard, and Kempis “Ghani” Songster (activist). Moderated by Kendall Thomas (Columbia Law)

Changes in the American religious landscape enabled the rise of mass incarceration. Religious ideas and practices also offer a key for ending mass incarceration. Activists-scholars Joshua Dubler and Vincent Lloyd advance these bold claims in their new book Break Every Yoke, which weaves religion into the stories about race, politics, and economics that conventionally account for America's grotesque prison expansion of the last half century. By foregrounding the role of religion in the way political elites, religious institutions, and incarcerated activists talk about incarceration, Break Every Yoke is an effort to stretch the American moral imagination and contribute resources toward envisioning alternative ways of doing justice.

Dubler and Lloyd joined us to discuss their work in relation to the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing protests. They were in conversation with pastor, writer, and activist Lynice Pinkard, and Kempis “Ghani” Songster, a former juvenile lifer and founder of the advocacy group The Redemption Project.

This event was organized by the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life and cosponsored by Columbia Religious Life.