Monica A. Coleman's Blog, page 3
January 24, 2022
Mental health isn’t about class
“Mental health isn’t about class,” Dr. Monica A. Coleman, Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Delaware and author of Bipolar Faith: A Black Woman’s Journey with Depression and Faith, tells theGrio. “It’s about chemistry, trauma, genetics, experience and all these things put together. Mental health is an equalizer—and all of us can experience that.”
I share my thoughts on addressing mental health following death of Ian Alexander, Jr., the only child of award-winning actress and dir...
January 17, 2022
Celebrate the teachings of octavia butler
The Portalist, a haven for science fiction and fantasy fans, celebrates the “Octavia Tried to Tell Us” webinar series. Since May of 2020, the ‘Octavia Tried to Tell Us’ webinar series has brought activists, authors, scholars, artists, and others together to discuss how the works of the late Octavia E. Butler apply to our current moment. Now, after 22 illuminating webinars, the series is coming to a close. The free final webinar will air live on January 22nd, at 12:00 noon PT/ 3:00 pm EST. It w...
October 17, 2021
Generational Trauma of Racism
I spoke about race, mental health and process theology with Andy Hale of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Great discussion of generational trauma and a little process theology and Whitehead and how it’s all connected. Click below to hear the conversation.
June 9, 2021
Cited in article about Canton McKinley Football team and religious food prohibitions
Canton McKinley head football coach Marcus Wattley and six of his assistants were fired last week following allegations the coaches forced a 17-year-old player to eat an entire pepperoni pizza against his Hebrew Israelite religious beliefs as punishment for missing a voluntary workout.
It has left one of Ohio’s most storied prep football programs working quickly to reset for its upcoming season and the Canton City School District in limbo as it awaits word on whether the player’s family will fil...
May 5, 2021
Mental Health Challenges are Things that Lie to You
Talking about “Bipolar Faith” and mental health challenges with Chris McAlilly and Eddie Rester of The Weight Podcast. Eddie and Chris regularly talk about “topics that are too heavy for a 20 minute sermon.” I love it. We talked about the value of friendship and the depth of God’s love. They made these beautiful images of things I said, so you can click image below to listen.
April 26, 2021
Talking about Barriers for Millennials attending Black Churches
Think tanks and polling firms confirm the decline in religious affiliation among younger Americans. In fact, Millennials and Generation Z have been fleeing churches at record rates. The reasons they give, however, are varied.
In one Barna study, 31 percent of Millennials and 23 percent of Gen Zers claimed that Christians are hypocrites, among their top reasons for feeling a barrier between themselves and the religion. Even 36 percent of churchgoing teens believe “the people at church are hypocri...
February 1, 2021
The Church Needs Therapy
Had a great conversation with Kevin Sweeney of “The Church Needs Therapy” podcast. We talk about how the churches have a hard time being safe space for people with mental health struggles, the power of Jesus calling us friend instead of master, and why we all need spaces to walk in and bee able to lose our mind, and still leave with dignity.
Listen here!
November 25, 2020
This Might Get You Kicked Out of Church with Faith Uncut
“This might get you kicked out of church” is the tagline for the Faith UnCut podcast. I don’t think I said anything heretical, but I had a lively conversation with Amera and Mike about process theology and some extra conversation about black and womanist theologies too. Click image below to listen.
Talking Mental Health with The Ministry Collaborative
I love The Ministry Collaborative because they do resources and support for people in ministry – and Lord knows we need it. Had a great conversation with Jennifer Watley Maxell, of The Ministry Collaborative, and David Finnegan-Hosey about being faith leaders living out loud with depression and how we can all live and heal together. It’s just 20 minutes of excellent convo! Click the image below to hear the podcast
Talking Process Theology with Profane Faith
Had a fun conversation with Daniel White Hodge, Professor at North Park University. He has a great podcast, Profane Faith, where he has great conversations with religious scholars. We talked process theology and careers in today’s religious academy. And yes, we all need Process Theology more. Click the image to hear (I start about 30 minutes in)
