Originally recorded and published on the RLC Blog on July 3, 2021.

One-hundred and seventy-four years ago, abolitionist, writer, and statesman Frederick Douglass gave a speech to the 600 members of the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society entitled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” On July 3, 2021, Christian leaders from around the country gathered virtually with Red Letter Christians to read this powerful piece together.

Read along here:

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We speak with longtime Red Letter Christian supporter and author Terry Webb about her 94 years of life, how she's grown her faith, and her new book, "Christian Citizenship Endangered in America.” A response to Trumpism and the rise of Christian nationalism shaping U.S. policy.

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• Terry on LinkedIn
• email:authorterrywebb@gmail.com
• Terry on X: @TrustingTerry
• Terry on Instagram:
• Terry’s site
• Terry’s Substack
• Terry on Facebook

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• To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org
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• Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne

In this solo show, Shane Claiborne marks Gun Violence Awareness Month by highlighting Raw Tools' unique mission to transform surrendered weapons into art and garden tools. Specifically, he focuses on their June blacksmith marathon—a powerful initiative memorializing the 40,000 American lives lost annually to gun violence while calling for urgent, commonsense gun reform.

Connect with RLC

• Help sustain the work of RLC: www.redletterchristians.org/donate/
• To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org
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• Follow Shane on Instagram: @shane.claiborne
• Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne

This week, we chat with Brad Jersak, from Saint Stephen's University, about living a nonviolent, justice-seeking Christianity that resists the “takeover mentality.” Instead, it acts as the church’s prophetic conscience, echoing Dr. King’s view of laws and heart-change as parallel tracks.

More about Brad

• Brad's site
• Saint Stephen's
• Brad on IG
• Brad on Substack

Connect with RLC

• Help sustain the work of RLC: www.redletterchristians.org/donate/
• To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org
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• Instagram: @RedLetterXians
• Follow Shane on Instagram: @shane.claiborne
• Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne

This week, we revisit the archive with Doug Pagitt of Vote Common Good. We discuss the major deployment of masked federal ICE agents to Minneapolis, amid the city’s post–George Floyd organizing. We hear about the continual need for citizen action, growing clergy solidarity, and sustaining “joy” through music and art as a humanizing response.

More about Doug

• Vote Common Good
• Common Good Podcast
• VCG on IG
• Doug's site
• Doug on IG

Connect with RLC

• Help sustain the work of RLC: www.redletterchristians.org/donate/
• To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org
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• Instagram: @RedLetterXians
• Follow Shane on Instagram: @shane.claiborne
• Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne

We talk with Dr. James Bigham about moral courage and practical responses to U.S. gun violence, now described as the leading cause of death for ages 1–19, with over 100 deaths daily. He describes collaborations with gun shops and training healthcare professionals, ​pastors, and other caregivers to address the epidemic.

More about James

• Dr. Bigham's initiative: Firearm Injury Prevention: Dr. James Bigham Leads Program for Health Care Providers - UW Family Medicine

Connect with RLC

• Help sustain the work of RLC: www.redletterchristians.org/donate/
• To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org
• Follow us on Twitter: @RedLetterXians
• Instagram: @RedLetterXians
• Follow Shane on Instagram: @shane.claiborne
• Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne

This week, we talk with political scientist and civil resistance scholar, Dr. Maria J. Stephan, co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works. We discuss how she was shaped by early community and faith organizing in Vermont, and later by the documentary A Force More Powerful and global nonviolent struggles. Stephan explains research on preventing democratic backsliding and the need for sustained engagement beyond mass protests, through tactics such as boycotts, strikes, walkouts, and noncooperation.

Connect with Maria

• Website: Maria Stephan
• Instagram: @horizonsprjt
• The Horizons Project: The Horizons Project
• Nonviolent Action Resources and Training: Nonviolent Action Resources and Training

Connect with RLC

• Help sustain the work of RLC: www.redletterchristians.org/donate/
• To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org
• Follow us on Twitter: @RedLetterXians
• Instagram: @RedLetterXians
• Follow Shane on Instagram: @shane.claiborne
• Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne

We chat with Tim Shriver—Special Olympics leader, disability rights advocate, and author—who explains how decades with Special Olympics athletes taught him to see people “from the inside out” and recognize dignity as universal, inherent, and not earned.

Connect with Tim

• Website: Tim Shriver
• Instagram: @timothyshriver
• The Dignity Index: The Dignity Index
• Need A Lift? Podcast: Need A Lift? with Tim Shriver - Podcast - Apple Podcasts
• The Special Olympics: Special Olympics

Connect with RLC

• Help sustain the work of RLC: www.redletterchristians.org/donate/
• To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org
• Follow us on Twitter: @RedLetterXians
• Instagram: @RedLetterXians
• Follow Shane on Instagram: @shane.claiborne
• Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne