September is International Underground Railroad Month. And if you're looking for the blueprint on civil disobedience converged with social justice, look no further than the UGRR itself, a movement the Black church led.

In this candid conversation, Rev. Dr. Richard Hughes shares his poignant perspective on the social justice identity of the Black Church. We ask the question too many congregations are avoiding: what happened to the church that used to hide freedom seekers in its basement and now can't say the word "injustice" from the pulpit?

Somewhere between then and now, too many of our churches have adopted capitalistic mindset. Prosperity gospel replacing liberation gospel. Comfort replacing conviction. The same institution that once provided refuge for Freedom Seekers now hesitates to name injustices.

It's ABOUT TIME we call it what it is!

What happens when the institution entrusted with the pursuit of truth becomes an instrument of suppression? What does ethical leadership look like when the policy is the problem? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Darryl B. Rice, the Richard T. Farmer Associate Professor of Management at Miami University and Associate Editor at the Journal of Managerial Psychology. An award-winning scholar whose research centers organizational justice, behavioral ethics, well-being, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, Dr. Rice brings both intellectual firepower and lived experience to a conversation that is as urgent as it is clarifying.

Dr. Rice isn't just studying ethical leadership from a distance; he is living it in real time. In April 2025, Miami University began dismantling its DEI programs and initiatives in compliance with Ohio's Senate Bill 1, the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, which effectively prohibits DEI offices and training courses at public universities. Dr. Rice, who built a record of service through DEI committees, the Across-the-Divide Conference, the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion, and the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows Program, filed a federal lawsuit against Miami University's Board of Trustees in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, arguing that the closures violated his First Amendment rights and his academic freedom as a tenured faculty member.

This episode doesn't just cover a lawsuit. It excavates the architecture of institutional power, the weaponization of legislation against protected speech, and what it costs a scholar, personally and professionally, to stand on the side of justice when the institution moves against it.

For generations, Black filmmakers have challenged the stories America reveals about itself, reclaiming narratives too often erased, distorted, or ignored. Every frame has the power to preserve memory, spark dialogue, and inspire movements that transcend the screen.

In this episode of GOT TIME with Christopher John, we talk with Donna Dabbs, founder and executive director of the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival (GCUFF), to explore how one of the nation's premier Black film festivals has become far more than a showcase for independent cinema. It has become a cultural institution where history, identity, creativity, and community converge.

Celebrating its fifteenth year, GCUFF continues to elevate filmmakers from across the African Diaspora, creating opportunities for emerging artists while connecting audiences to stories that educate, challenge, and transform. Together, we examine why authentic representation matters, how Black film functions as both historical record and cultural resistance, and why independent storytellers remain essential to preserving the richness and complexity of the Black experience.

Our conversation explores the responsibility of cultural institutions to invest in Black creative voices, the evolution of independent filmmaking, the importance of creating spaces where underrepresented stories can flourish, and the enduring relationship between cinema, social justice, and collective memory.

From documentaries that uncover forgotten histories to narrative films that imagine new futures, this episode reminds us that Black cinema is not simply entertainment. It is preservation, protest, and possibilities.

Link: Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival