S2E5 - Identidad y Lenguaje

On this episode, we are joined by Dra. Arielle Akines to discuss Afro-Latinidad in Latin America and the US. We ask the question, “How do we elevate blackness without essentializing it? How do we elevate the African heritage of Hispanics?”

Me Gritaron Negra poem by Victoria Santa Cruz (Serie Mistura de Ritmos: Mistura Afro-Peruana, Vol. 3; 2011 Music MGP)

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Have a question you want answered on the podcast? Leave us a message at 312-725-2995. Leave us a 30 second voicemail with your name, city, y pregunta and we’ll discuss it on the last episode of the season. You can also submit a question using the form on this page.

About Dra. Arielle Akines

Dra. Arielle Akines first began learning Spanish in the third grade. She has over ten years of experience teaching and tutoring Spanish at the graduate, undergraduate, and elementary school levels. Her background includes working in university language centers, working as an expert linguist researcher for Fortune 500 companies, and as a reading specialist for bilingual elementary students. She has lived in Málaga, Spain and completed her doctoral research on Afro-Latinos in Bogotá, Colombia. She was selected as a 2016 Smithsonian Museum Latino Center Fellow, to research language taxonomies and entity identification.

S2E4 - Protecting What’s Ours/Protegiendo lo Nuestro

On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Charlie Dates and Dr. Eric Rivera to discuss their approaches to black and brown church traditions. We ask, “How do we cherish our Black/Latin@ heritage in the midst of the ever-popularizing multi-ethnic church movement? How do we continue to build bridges between the black and brown community?” And, they share stories about their own journey of cultural formation as pastors.

Support the Mestizo Podcast by giving today.

Have a question you want answered on the podcast? Leave us a message at 312-725-2995. Leave us a 30 second voicemail with your name, city, y pregunta and we’ll discuss it on the last episode of the season. You can also submit a question using the form on this page.

About Our Guests

About Dr. Eric Rivera

Eric is the Lead Pastor at The Brook, a multiethnic church in Chicago. He has a Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is author of “Christ is Yours" (Lexham 2019) and a forthcoming book on how the resurrected Jesus meets us in our mess (Lexham Spring 2022). He married to his best friend Erikah in 2003 and together they are parents to three amazing kids.

About Dr. Charlie Dates

In 2011, at age 30, Dr. Charlie Edward Dates became the youngest Senior Pastor at Chicago's Progressive Baptist Church; a church celebrating a distinctive 100-year history. He earned the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech Communication and Rhetoric at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and both the Master of Divinity and PhD at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

S1E7 - Y Que Con Las Hermanas?

On this episode, we discuss the changing ethnic church from the perspective of our sisters. Elizabeth and I are joined by Angelica Barahona, a recent graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and case worker for World Relief. She also serves with her husband as pastoral leaders of a vibrant multi-ethnic church in Chicago called The Brook.  

We are also joined by Sara Gautier, lead pastor of Living Stones, a growing church in Boston.  Sara is the author of Color Me Yellow – Finding Your Voice in the Tension Between God’s Promises and Their Fullfiment, and the host of Alive Living, a podcast where she discusses the abundant life found in God.

These are the ladies, but I join in the conversation with another brother. My best friend and colleague at Moody Bible Institute, Kerwin Rodriguez joins us to help think through how women and men together create the new normal. Kerwin is Assistant professor of Pastoral Studies at Moody and the program head for the Bachelors degree in Ministry Leadership.

Have a question you want answered on the podcast? Leave us a message at 312-725-2995. Leave us a 30 second voicemail with your name, city, y pregunta and we’ll discuss it on the last episode of the season. You can also submit a question using the form on this page.