Reverend Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, Part II: The Complications of Activism and Spirituality as Protest

New York, I Love You But You've Changed

Today, we bring you part II of Alexis’ conversation with Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft. In part II, Alexis and Amanda discuss: the tension of being a white person in the anti-racist movement and how they wrestle with that tension, how anti-racism needs to show up in day to day life beyond Instagram, the complicated relationship between the Black Lives Matter movement and capitalist institutions like the Grammys, the danger of white feminism and the off base assumptions progressive white people make. Alexis also explains why this moment in time feels, to her, like one long episode of Atlanta. Amanda shares the story behind her controversial decision to appear on Fox News, twice, the relationship between spirituality and protest, and her own decision to go to seminary. She also discusses the history of Middle Church as a progressive spiritual haven and it’s future after a devastating fire burnt it’s Second Avenue sanctuary to the ground last December.

If you missed Part I, Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft is a white mother raising three white kids, a 5 year old daughter and 7 year old twin boys, in the East Village of NYC. She was born and raised in a small town in Kentucky, went to college in Birmingham, AL and to seminary in Richmond, VA. She has lived in NYC for 13 years. Amanda is a movement builder and leader who writes, speaks and studies at the intersection of race, faith, politics, feminism, and parenting. Amanda is also the Executive Minister for Justice, Education & Movement Building at Middle Church, a historic, multicultural inclusive church in the East Village.

You can find the episode in our feed to hear Amanda and Alexis discuss our perceptions of the REAL differences between the American South and NYC, early conversations we had (or didn’t have) about race in our childhood homes, and our definitions of activism. Amanda shares why she brings her own kids to protests, what anti-racist parenting looks and feels like in everyday life (including breaking down the importance of J.Lo and Shakira’s 2019 superbowl halftime performance and discussing the wonders of Dolly Parton with her children), why it is the responsibility of all white parents to talk to their kids about race and why parenting is inherently political.

Places on The Internet to Learn More:

• Middle Church and the fire that destroyed it’s sanctuary

• “Anti-Racist Reading Lists, What Are They For?”, Lauren Michele Jackson for Vulture

• Minor Feelings, Cathy Park Hong

• The atrocities of Peter Stuyvesant

• Amanda on Fox News

• Tamika Mallory on the Grammys

• Stand Your Ground, Kelly Brown Douglas