Soulful Revolutionaries

**Subscribers will have access to the full video for future episodes**About Hannah:I am a mother, spouse, friend, and mentor; agitator, advocate, and activator; someone who contains multitudes and is still trying to figure it all out; a complicated, dedicated Christian. I’m also a certified Silly Goose.I strive to bring a unique blend of passion, humor, and relatability to all that I do, and I’m thrilled and honored to have been invited to participate with SR!You can usually find me talking about educational equity, poetry, theology, personal style, or Top Chef (my favorite show); singing and dancing with my kids; advocating for the oppressed; or taking thirty minutes to leave after I’ve already said goodbye at a party. I am someone who loves languages, language, words, and the way we choose to express ourselves. I am a theopoeticist - I am active and engaged in the considerations of how we understand, construct, manifest, and experience God. I am a praying woman! I believe in prayer and the power of community to nurture and heal us.I’m a person who loves getting to know other people and figuring out how the Divine shines through them.I’m glad to be joining this podcast at a time when voices calling for justice must be louder than ever, and I’m glad to be in like-minded company on this journey. To quote one of my favorite poems, “I love you. I’m glad I exist.”Resources:Lucille Clifton's "spring song"The Oscar Romero Prayer, "Prophets of a Future Not Our Own" This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurengrubaughthomas.substack.com/subscribe

This is the last episode of Season 3! To help us produce Season 4 of the pod, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thanks for listening!***About this episode's guest: Devin Mackey is a 31 year old trans, queer public figure and “sacred rebel” who has dedicated his life to being an example for humanity in order to show that following your intuition, living authentically, and sticking by your values no matter what—even in the most extreme of circumstances—is the divinely right thing to do. Devin’s sacred rebellion and dedication to the truth has led him from an emotionally abusive and heavily indoctrinated evangelical upbringing, through intense transformation, to a place where he happily calls himself an “Omnist”, or a believer that god exists in all spiritual practices and belief systems. He believes that god cannot be contained into one religious structure and seeks to set them free.You can follow Devin on Instagram, Threads and Youtube. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurengrubaughthomas.substack.com/subscribe

Being in conversation with Erika Saucillo Rivera is a dynamic, joyful experience — almost as electrifying as watching her dance! I’ve known Erika since she was just getting started in the Los Angeles salsa scene and remember being captivated by her confidence and the delight she so clearly took in dancing. Having a chance to interview her over a decade since we first met afforded an intimate look into the determination, passion, and courageous vulnerability that have propelled this talented dancer into the life of her dreams as a professional dancer, choreographer and the CEO of her own dance company.We talk about mirror work in dance and spirituality, healing from stories that we don’t want to pass down to our daughters, and the power of embracing our bodies in all their uniqueness.(Because audio is obviously not the medium to do a dancer justice, you can catch lots of clips of Erika dancing on her Instagram, as well as an incredible full performance here and a beautiful social dance here).About Erika:Meet Erika Saucillo, a dance powerhouse born and raised in Los Angeles, California. With a lifelong passion for dance, Erika's journey spans over two decades, from Ballet Folklorico to Salsa, Bachata, and beyond. As a renowned dancer, instructor, and choreographer, Erika has taken the stage by storm, performing globally and winning numerous awards, including top spots in the World Latin Dance Cup and LA's Top Female Salsa Social Dancer. But Erika's true mission is empowering women through dance. Through her company, Goddess Grooves, she helps women unlock their inner confidence, sensuality, and strength. With a heart full of passion and a spirit that inspires, Erika's dance journey is a testament to the transformative power of movement. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurengrubaughthomas.substack.com/subscribe

For Dr. Tanmeet Sethi, everything is integrated.Joy springs from the same deep well as pain. There is no clear delineation between social change and spiritual transformation. Healing — on an individual and collective level — requires living into this wholly interconnected, interdependent reality.About Dr. Sethi:Tanmeet Sethi, MD is an Integrative and Psychedelic Medicine Physician, activist, author, and TEDx speaker who has dedicated her career to care for the most marginalized patients in Seattle’s refugee, uninsured and homeless populations as well as global communities traumatized by manmade and natural disasters as senior faculty for The Center for Mind Body Medicine. Her first book, Joy Is My Justice: Reclaim Yours Now, published in May 2023, is a radical call to claim Joy as our birthright, the deepest liberation we can know and a path to power through oppression. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington and a primary clinical investigator there on the plant medicine, psilocybin.More info on her practice and her book are at her website: https://www.tanmeetsethimd.comInstagram: @tanmeetsethimdShe has a free community on Substack: https://tanmeetsethimd.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurengrubaughthomas.substack.com/subscribe

Eréndira Jimenez Esquinca midwifes new stories into the world. Weaving together spiritual direction and financial advising – two fields that many would dismiss offhand as unrelated — Jimenez Esquinca is committed to supporting people in authentically and strategically bringing their respective spiritual and material realities into alignment. Working with faith leaders, creatives, activists and others who are ready for a different approach, they empower people to break free from constraining capitalist and colonial narratives while courageously stepping into generative, life-affirming stories. This conversation abounds with wisdom won through this Soulful Revolutionary’s long and loving labor for wholeness in herself and the world. It’s a privilege to share and I can’t wait for you to listen.About Eréndira: Eréndira (she/they) is a spiritual director, financial advisor, world-building companion, and artist. She has been engaged in Spirit work for the past 20 years and has been accompanying folks on their decolonizing, transformation, and liberation journeys for the last four years.Decolonial in both the undoing of oppressive histories (individual and shared) and the writing of new, collective, liberatory futures, they center the dance between story, practice, community as a way to assist individuals and communities in creating space for ever-evolving Selves.Her transition into wealth empowerment and financial liberation comes out of a desire to bridge the spiritual work of liberation with the material reality of learning how to hold and move resource and money. She views money as a playground for imagination, creation, wonder, getting messy, learning, and fun.They hold a Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, an M. A. in Spirituality from Bellarmine University, and continue to operate as an independent scholar/spiritual anthropologist of sorts.You can find Eréndira playing and curating at Spirit School, supporting folks in building wealth to build worlds at Portal Wealth, and holding Spirit space for a variety of humans. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurengrubaughthomas.substack.com/subscribe

Rabbi May Ye is carving a path for a new generation of Jews.Raised in a secular household, yet steeped in her paternal grandparents’ story of surviving the Holocaust, Ye was moved at an early age by the story of her grandfather’s vocal resistance to the establishment of Israel. Her political awakening was intertwined with coming into her own religious practice, and Ye went to rabbinical school in order to create communities for those Jews who are deconstructing the ethnonationalist ideology of Zionism. Ye’s can be an isolating rabbinate. There are few institutional resources for antizionist synagogues, and Ye often faces animosity from within Jewish circles. Still, the rabbi has experienced profound community with Palestinians in the shared struggle for a free Palestine, and she expresses hope that one day, there will one day be an abundance of antizionist Jewish institutions. Ultimately, she’s clear on one thing: Palestinians will set the terms of their own liberation. Her job is to be in solidarity. About Rabbi Ye:Rabbi May Ye (she/her) is a Chinese-American Jew from unceded Wabanaki land. A weaver of tradition and fashioner of new liturgy and ritual, she seeks to center and highlight the experiences of those who have been disenfranchised and marginalized from Judaism and Jewish spaces. A passionate activist, she explores how to decouple Judaism from Zionism and is an ardent supporter of Palestinian liberation.Rabbi May is a 2023 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC). She currently lives and works on unceded Duwamish and Coast Salish land. She organizes with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and is honored to sit on JVP’s national rabbinical council. She also volunteers as a movement chaplain.Learn more about Rabbi May and her work at www.rabbimay.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurengrubaughthomas.substack.com/subscribe

In her work with unhoused people and system-impacted youth, this week’s Soulful Revolutionary asks the question, “How do we find the glimmers of light in here?” In a sea of dehumanizing politics and policies, Lorraine Lam is committed to connecting — one human to another. The crisis outreach worker and case manager finds hope in the humanity of those whom society has thrown away. And she shares that hope generously in this episode, through stories of friends met on the streets who forever changed her. Lorraine (she/her) is a Chinese-Canadian settler-immigrant with an education in music, sociology and social worker. Driven by her commitment to Jesus’ life and teachings, she has been a crisis outreach worker & case manager in the Downtown East of Toronto for over 10 years, supporting people who are unhoused and precariously housed and is currently a Caseworker with Amadeusz, supporting youth who are incarcerated for firearms charges. Her work focuses on housing & homelessness, systems navigation, advocacy, harm reduction, and trauma-informed approaches to collaboration, survival, and building a more equitable and just reality for all . She was recently nominated for the City of Toronto's Access, Equity and Human Rights Award. She organizes with Christians for a Free Palestine - Toronto and Shelter Housing Justice Network, serves on the board with Building Roots, and is a contributor to Displacement City (University of Toronto Press, 2022). She loves Jurassic Park movies, singing with her gospel choir, taking naps, eating carbs indiscriminately, and exploring the city with her extroverted fur child, Miso.Follow Lorraine on Instagram: @lorrainelamchopsFollow Christians for a Free Palestine Toronto: @christiansforafreepalestinetoA Soulful Revolution is a labor of love. Paid subscribers help me devote more time and energy to this project. Thank you for your support. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurengrubaughthomas.substack.com/subscribe