Kelly Brown Douglas on Resurrection Hope

Videos and Podcasts on "Resurrection Hope"

Along with members of our adult ACE Sunday School class at Caldwell Presbyterian Church, I have been reading the remarkable book Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter by the Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. In addition to recommending the book, I want to share the following collection of audio and video resources that allow us to hear her speak directly about her ideas. Reading, studying, seeking to understand, and sharing these ideas is a tangible way we can each engage in "Confronting Whiteness" and working to heal ourselves and our communities from our shared, devastating history of enslavement, racism and white supremacy.

Dr. Douglas is an African American Episcopal priest, womanist theologian, and Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral. She was the inaugural Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary, where she held the Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology. She is considered one of the foremost voices in womanist theology, racial reconciliation, and the intersection of faith and racial justice in America. Resurrection Hope won the 2023 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

The book grew out of a devastating question her son asked her: “How do we really know that God cares when Black people are still getting killed? How long do we have to wait for the justice of God?” From that starting place, Dr. Douglas undertakes a searching analysis of how anti-Blackness is embedded not only in the founding of America as a nation, but in the history of Christianity itself. She examines how a “white way of knowing” has come to dominate American identity, how Confederate monuments and “Make America Great Again” function as theological statements, and how the Black church tradition has sustained a vision of God’s justice even when that justice felt impossibly distant.

Her work is deeply relevant to the Heal Our Culture mission: She names white supremacy clearly, unmasks its roots, and refuses to let us stay stuck at the crucifixion. She calls us toward “resurrection hope,” a future where every human being is accorded equal value and where social justice is not a distant dream but an active, Spirit-led commitment.

Below is a curated collection of podcast episodes and YouTube videos where you can hear Dr. Douglas in extended conversation. I recommend bookmarking several of these for your own study, adding them to your own “media queue,” and using them in a small group setting. Six of these videos are also available in this YouTube playlist, to which you can subscribe.

YouTube Videos

1. Book Interview: Resurrection Hope (January 2022)

A focused book interview covering the core themes of Resurrection Hope. A good starting point if you want to hear Dr. Douglas introduce the book in her own words.

2. Resurrection Hope Book Launch Webinar (December 8, 2021)

The official book launch event, recorded live. A wonderful opportunity to hear the initial conversation around the book’s release.

3. Homebrewed Christianity: Resurrection Hope & A Future Where Black Lives Matter (October 2023)

Recorded after Dr. Douglas received the 2023 Grawemeyer Award in Religion, this approximately 59-minute conversation is one of the richest and most accessible of the interviews available. Highly recommended.

4. Orbis Books Publisher Interview with Robert Ellsberg (February 2022)

Publisher Robert Ellsberg of Orbis Books interviews Dr. Douglas in this live conversation. Orbis published Resurrection Hope, and Ellsberg brings a thoughtful editorial perspective to the discussion.

5. Resurrection Hope: Wrestling with Questions of Justice (April 2025)

A more recent conversation that demonstrates how Dr. Douglas continues to develop and apply the book’s framework to our current moment.

6. One Book, One Diocese: Resurrection Hope (May 2023)

A diocesan study conversation designed for congregational use. Valuable for those who want to use Resurrection Hope in a church or small group setting.

Podcast Episodes

1. Inverse Podcast — “The Magnificat and Resurrection Hope” (February 2022, ~58 min)

Recorded live at a conference co-presented with Eastern Mennonite Seminary, this episode connects the themes of Resurrection Hope to Mary’s Magnificat and our ecological crisis. A spiritually rich conversation that locates Dr. Douglas’s theology in the broader tradition of liberation.

2. Homebrewed Christianity — “Faith at the Crossroads” (May 2025)

Dr. Douglas returns to Homebrewed Christianity to explore her emerging concept of “crossroads theology,” understanding theology as a lived experience rather than abstract speculation. A natural companion piece to Resurrection Hope for those who want to follow her continuing work.

Also on YouTube:

3. Seizing Freedom (VPM) — “Interview: Kelly Brown Douglas” https://seizingfreedom.vpm.org/interview-kelly-brown-douglas/

Host Kidada speaks with Dr. Douglas about the evolution of the Black church in America, rooted in West and Central African faith traditions. This episode provides important historical grounding for understanding the theological resources Dr. Douglas draws on in Resurrection Hope.

4. Madang Podcast (Christian Century) — “Episode 22: Canon Theologian Kelly Brown Douglas”

A wide-ranging conversation covering whiteness, anti-Blackness in the church, the Black Lives Matter movement, resurrection, and hope. The host brings a global theological perspective that enriches the discussion.

Also on YouTube:

5. Theology Beer Camp 2025 — “The Sin Is White Supremacy” (on the film Sinners)

One question, four theologians, one hour. Dr. Douglas joins scholars Juan Floyd-Thomas, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, and Adam Clark in a conversation sparked by Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners. The discussion opens into a profound exploration of the blues, the Black church, and the nature of sin in America. One of the most remarkable recent conversations featuring Dr. Douglas — and it happened in 2025, which means her thinking continues to develop and deepen.

Where to Start

If you are new to Dr. Douglas’s work and want to jump in, I suggest beginning with the Homebrewed Christianity YouTube conversation (#3 in the video list) for the fullest single-session treatment of the book’s argument, then the Inverse Podcast episode (#1 in the podcast list) for a conversation that situates Resurrection Hope within a broader theological tradition.

If you want to go even deeper, her earlier book Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God (2015) is essential background. Many of the interviews above touch on it as well.

We can help heal our culture by naming what has broken it. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas names it clearly, and she does so from a place of profound, hard-won hope. That is exactly the kind of voice we need right now.

Forging a “different social memory” (CC BY 4.0) by Wesley Fryer

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If you are reading Resurrection Hope and/or watch / listen to any of the above videos and podcasts, I would love to hear from you in the comments below! Access more related resources my website for “Confronting Whiteness.”