In episode 75 of the Iconocast, Joanna and Mark Van Steenwyk, co-founder of the Iconocast, take a trip down memory lane. They discuss what motivated them to start the podcast and how their thinking has changed since then. They wrestle with moving beyond an apologetic Christian witness to one that seeks connection with the subversive spirit of God.  Mark Van Steenwyk is the Executive Director at the Center for Prophetic Imagination. Mark is a writer, teacher, organizer, and spiritual director. For nearly 15 years, Mark has sown seeds of subversive spirituality throughout North America. He co-founded the Mennonite Worker in Minneapolis in 2004 with his wife Amy. Mark is the author of That Holy Anarchist, The unKingdom of God, and A Wolf at the Gate.  

the Iconocast: Mark Van Steenwyk (episode 75)

In this episode of the Iconocast Joanna interviews L. M. Bogad. L. M. Bogad is an author, performance artist/activist, professor of political performance at UC Davis, Director of the Center for Tactical Performance, and co-founder of the Clown Army.  He has performed across the USA, Europe and South America, including occupied zones and a squatted military base in Barcelona.   Bogad’s first book, Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements, analyzes the international campaigns of performance artists who run for public office as a radical prank. His new book, Tactical Performance: On the Theory and Practice of Serious Play, analyzes and critiques the use of guerrilla theatre/art for human/civil rights, social justice, labor and environmental campaigns.   Bogad’s performances have covered topics such as the Egyptian revolution, the Haymarket Square Riot, the Spanish Civil War, the FBI's COINTELPRO activities, and the Pinochet coup in Chile. His ECONOMUSIC: Keeping Score, has been performed at festivals in Helsinki, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, San Francisco, and Barcelona.  His play, COINTELSHOW: A Patriot Act was recently performed at the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Studio, in New Orleans, and in Mexico City. Bogad has led Tactical Performance workshops, helping activists create performative, nonviolent images to contest and critique power, in Cairo, Barcelona, Riga, Helsinki, Buenos Aires, Trondheim, and across the United States.

the Iconocast: L.M. Bogad (episode 74)

In episode 73 of the Iconocast Joanna interviews David Brazil and Sarah Pritchard. Together they discuss Christian discipleship founded on hospitality, in-depth bible study and the dismantling of capitalism. Sarah Pritchard is an experimental dancer and choreographer, a third generation preacher, founding member of SALTA dance collective, improvisational cook in the kitchen and cat co-parent to Alvin and Isadora. David Brazil is a pastor and translator. His third book of poetry, Holy Ghost (City Lights, 2017) was a finalist for the California Book Award. Sarah and David co-pastor the Agape Fellowship, in Oakland, California. Agape Fellowship is a Christian-interfaith community church and 'spiritual safe space' dedicated to building the spiritual foundations of liberation movements for our generation.

the Iconocast: David Brazil and Sarah Pritchard (episode 73)

In part two of her interview with Chude Allen, Joanna and Chude talk about her awakening to class consciousness, her organizing within the women's liberation movement and her thoughts on our political moment today.   Chude is a member of the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1964 Chude participated in the student movement in Atlanta, Georgia while a white exchange student at Spelman, a historically black college. After leaving the South, Chude was an organizer of the Women’s Liberation Movement, first in New York City and then in San Francisco. She is author of the 1970 classic, Free Space, A Perspective on the Small Group in Women’s Liberation. In the mid-seventies she joined Union Women’s Alliance to Gain Equality and became editor of their newspaper, UNION WAGE. She is featured in the film, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry.

the Iconocast: Chude Allen, part 2 (episode 72)

Chude Pam Allen is a member of the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. She coordinates speakers for schools and community groups and has spoken widely about her own experiences. Her writings can be found on their website, www.crmvet.org, which is considered by many veterans to be the best source for information on the Southern Freedom Movement. In 1964 Chude participated in the student movement in Atlanta, Georgia while a white exchange student at Spelman, a historically black college. That summer she was a freedom school teacher in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She is featured in Doug McAdam’s book, Freedom Summer and in the award winning film, Freedom on My Mind. After leaving the South, Chude was an organizer of the Women’s Liberation Movement, first in New York City and then in San Francisco. She taught anti-racism workshops for both women’s liberation groups and the YWCA. She is author of the 1970 classic, Free Space, A Perspective on the Small Group in Women’s Liberation and wrote the chapter on woman suffrage for the book, Reluctant Reformers: Racism and Social Reform Movements in the United States. In the mid-seventies she joined Union Women’s Alliance to Gain Equality and became editor of their newspaper, UNION WAGE. She is featured in the film, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry.

the Iconocast: Chude Allen, part 1 (episode 71)

In episode 70 Joanna interviews Beth Roy. Beth Roy was born into a Jewish family and raised in Texas where she attended a segregated high school at the time that the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education. Nurtured by parents committed to racial equality, she has built a life with a quest for justice at its center. She is an author, educator, therapist and restorative justice practitioner. She was part of founding the Practitioners Research and Scholarship Institute, a dynamically diverse group promoting writing and relationships among oft-marginalized people. In 2008, the project published its first anthology, Re-Centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice. She resides in San Francisco with her partner and two playful dogs.

the Iconocast: Beth Roy (episode 70)

In episode 69, recorded in the fall of 2017, Joanna interviews Carol Lee and Sarah Lee. Carol is second generation Chinese American of Toi San background. Carol works with PICO California growing faith communities’ institutional capacity for long-term justice work in Oakland, California. Their program creates accessible on ramps to uncover the root causes of injustice in housing, policing, and immigration policy, while cultivating communal spaces to creatively, seriously, and maximally steward their communities' power and resources for collective liberation. Sarah is a second generation Chinese American of Hokshan and En Ping descent. Sarah works as a Sanctuary Organizer with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, developing networks of community safety for immigrants through congregations and immigrant justice coalitions. Her specific focus has been uplifting the stories of formerly incarcerated immigrants and those most in danger of deportation through a project called Migrants in the Pulpit.  In 2017 they created the  “Reading is Resistance” Readathon for people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. The commitments of the readathon included: to speak and act from a deep foundation of the historical work for liberation, to imagine and create a more loving and just world, to resist cultural amnesia by reading and sharing knowledge, and to support organizations doing critical work.

the Iconocast: Carol Lee and Sarah Lee (episode 69)

In episode 68 Joanna interviews David Solnit. David is an organizer, writer and puppeteer. His activism began in high school with draft resistance organizing and hasn’t stopped since. He was part of shutting down the WTO in Seattle in 1999 and in San Francisco the day after Iraq was invaded in 2003. This past year he spent time at Standing Rock, creating art and telling the story of that struggle, as well as helped to organize art at the People’s Climate March in Washington DC in April. He currently works with 350.org as the North American Arts Organizer.  In the San Francisco Bay Area he organizes with anti-corporate capitalist, climate justice, anti-war, human rights, and environmental justice groups. He is editor of Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World and with his sister, Rebecca Solnit, he co-wrote The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle.

the Iconocast: David Solnit (episode 68)

In this episode, recorded at the Kinsler Bartimaeus Institute in February of 2017, Elaine Enns and Ched Myers reflect on the fragmentation of movements for justice since the Beyond Vietnam speech. Ched shares about the disillusionment following the 60s when justice-minded people broke into niches, focusing on one issue to the exclusion of the rest. Elaine offers the wisdom of Audre Lorde who challenged people to "do their own work" and recognize that our very bodies are intersectional and therefore our movements must be as well. Elaine Enns and Ched Myers are co-directors of Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries. Elaine recently completed a doctorate of ministry on historical responsibility and intergenerational trauma among Canadian Prairie Settler Mennonites and their relationship with Indigenous neighbors. Ched Myers has authored many books, including Binding the Strong Man and Say to This Mountain. Together Ched and Elaine reside in the Ventura River Watershed.  Opening song by Joshua Grace, with Charletta Erb on violin.

the Iconocast: Elaine Enns and Ched Myers on Audre Lorde (episode 67)

In this episode, recorded at the Kinsler Bartimaeus Institute in February of 2017, Elaine Enns, Ched Myers and Joanna Shenk offer input on the history of enslavement, the eras of reconstruction and the drafting of the Beyond Vietnam speech that Dr. King delivered on April 4, 1967, one year before he was assassinated. Many people in movement communities are familiar with the Beyond Vietnam speech, but few know about the man who drafted it, Dr. Vincent Harding. Elaine and Ched offer analysis of the history of movements for justice in the United States, encouraging us to neither overplay our current political reality or underplay the obstacles and oppression of the past. Joanna shares from her personal relationship with Dr. Vincent Harding and from his own words describing the experience of drafting the Beyond Vietnam speech and what it means for us today.  Elaine Enns and Ched Myers are co-directors of Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries. Elaine recently completed a doctorate of ministry on historical responsibility and intergenerational trauma among Canadian Prairie Settler Mennonites and their relationship with Indigenous neighbors. Ched Myers has authored Binding the Strong Man and Say to This Mountain. Together Ched and Elaine reside in the Ventura River Watershed.

the Iconocast: Elaine Enns, Ched Myers and "Beyond Vietnam"

This special episode of Iconocast Canvas features live performances from Standing with Standing Rock: A Benefit Event, which took place November 12, 2016. The fundraiser, which was emceed by Canvas hosts Nekeisha and Seth, brought together musicians, dancers and artists to support water protectors resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline in Cannonball, North Dakota. All of the proceeds, more than $2,500, went to the Standing Rock legal defense fund. The event, which took place at Fellowship of Hope Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana, was co-organized by students of Goshen College’s EcoPax Club and Students for Social Reform Clubs, and by Iconocast Canvas.  Read a full report back on the benefit here.  Intro music: “FHH 12” by FREE Hip Hop Music on Soundcloud Performers and speakers (in order of appearance)  Group song: Mimi Salvador Lucero Song: Nayo Ulloa Q&A: Mechelle Sky Walker, Water protector of the Omaha tribe from the Buffalo Clan residing in territory known as Lincoln, Nebraska. Facilitator: Mimi Salvador Lucero Spoken word: Antonius Northern Spoken word: Mimi Salvador Lucero Song: Nekeisha Alayna Alexis Song: Nayla Jimenez Rap: Abe Medellin Speakers: Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus, Katerina Friesen and Jimmy Betts Song: Seth Martin (singer) and Evra Tshisola (bass) Group song: Led by Nicole Bauman and Jason Shenk. Written by Keisha Soleil.  CreditsOrganizers (alphabetical order): Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, Naomi Gross, Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus, Mimi Salvador Lucero, Seth Martin, Chelsea Risser and Hannah Yoder. Dancers: Phil Chan and Nimoy Vaidya. Rockport campaign information: Jason Shenk. Photography: Verlin Miller. DJ: Caley “DJ Rushmor” Ortman. Location: Fellowship of Hope Mennonite Church, Elkhart, Indiana and Suella Gerber, pastor. Correction: Nekeisha sincerely apologizes for saying Mimi Salvador Lucero’s name incorrectly in the special thanks during the opening. We also regret neglecting to thank event DJ, Caley “DJ Rushmor” Ortman on the podcast.

the Iconocast Canvas: Standing with Standing Rock (episode 05)

On episode 65 of the Iconocast Joanna interviews Father Richard Smith. Father Richard Smith was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1978 and worked for several years in parishes in Washington State. Later, after receiving a Ph.D. in Ethics and Social Theory from the Graduate Theological Union, he taught Religious Studies at various San Francisco Bay Area Universities, before working as a technical writer in Silicon Valley. After his reception as an Episcopal priest in 2000, he served as a Priest Associate at St. John the Evangelist, working heavily for immigration reform in San Francisco's Mission District, a largely Latino community. In 2013, he became Vicar at St. John's and has worked to deepen his congregation's commitment to the larger community. He helped establish Mission Nightwalks, an effort by faith communities to stem both police and gang violence in their neighborhood. His congregation now opens their doors each weekday morning for homeless neighbors to sleep in a safe, dry space. And, with hostility toward immigrants increasing, St. John's has now become a Sanctuary congregation, accompanying and protecting newly arrived undocumented immigrants in San Francisco. Father Richard lives in San Francisco with his husband Rob and their son David.

the Iconocast: Father Richard Smith (episode 65)

In episode 64 Joanna interviews Zephyr Elise. Zephyr Elise is mixed indigenous artist, filmmaker, animator, and activist. They graduated from the Evergreen State College in 2012 with a B.A. in film and a specialization in queer and indigenous studies. Born in San Diego, CA they have since lived up and down both coasts, but currently call the #NoDAPL encampment at Standing Rock, ND home. In former incarnations, they have been an organizer with Idle No More- Two Spirits on Ohlone Lands, the executive media assistant for Indian Canyon Nation of Ohlones, and sat on the Two Spirit Council of Indian Canyon. They will be overseeing the Winyan (Lakota: woman) camp, a woman, children, and two spirit safe space in the Oceti Sakowin camp for the winter.

the Iconocast: Zephyr Elise (episode 64)

In episode four of Iconocast Canvas, Nekeisha and Sarah hang out at Activism Row at  Afropunk Festival in Commodore Park, Brooklyn. At the August 2016 "Power to the Party" themed event, they talked with several organizers for Black and other liberation  and anti-oppression struggles. Interviewees include Allen Kwabena Frimpong and Walter Cruz from  Black Lives Matter: NYC; Olaronke Akinmowo, founder of the  Free Black Women's Library; Taliba Obuya, national coordinator of the  Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; Emma Chu Murphy, festival-goer and doula with  Ancient Song Doula Services and Mia Anderson from the  Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network. Nekeisha and Sarah open the conversations by reflecting on their experiences at the eclectic gathering dedicated to dynamic and alternative expressions of Black music and culture.  Also mentioned:  Every Black Girl and Kleaver Cruz's  Black Joy Project.  Music: "Spanish Winter" by The Passion HiFi (Evil Twin Records) https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou

the Iconocast Canvas: Live at Afropunk (episode 04)

In episode 63 Joanna interviews Clayborne Carson.  Clayborne Carson has devoted his professional life to the study of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the movements King inspired. Since receiving his doctorate from UCLA in 1975, Dr. Carson has taught at Stanford University, where he is now professor of history and founding director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. During his undergraduate years at UCLA, Dr. Carson participated in civil rights and antiwar protests, and many of his subsequent writings reflect his experiences by stressing the importance of grassroots political activity within the African-American freedom struggle. Carson's scholarly publications have focused on African-American protest movements and political thought of the period after World War II. His other publications include In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s (1981); Malcolm X: The FBI File (1991); African American Lives: The Struggle for Freedom (2005, co-author); and a memoir, Martin's Dream: My Journey and the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013).

the Iconocast: Clayborne Carson (episode 63)

In episode 62 Joanna interviews Chris Carlsson. Chris is a writer, San Francisco historian, bicyclist, tour guide, photographer, and a book and magazine designer. He’s lived in San Francisco since 1978. He’s written two books (After the Deluge and Nowtopia) and edited six books, including: Critical Mass: Bicycling’s Defiant Celebration and Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco, 1968-78. He helped co-found Critical Mass in September 1992, and has ridden with Critical Mass rides in a dozen cities on three continents since then. He has directed Shaping San Francisco, a participatory community history project, since its inception in the mid-1990s, and continues to be co-director of the archive of San Francisco history at FoundSF.org. He also conducts award-winning bicycle history tours a dozen times a year, and hosts an ongoing Public Talks series in San Francisco.

the Iconocast: Chris Carlsson (episode 62)

In episode three of Iconocast Canvas, Nekeisha and Seth interview Roman GianArthur. Roman is a singer, composer, arranger, producer, performer and artist on Wondaland Records. He is consistently broadening the expectations of what a soul singer can do: writing musicals, composing concertos, conducting orchestras, scoring films, picking up new instruments and learning their mysteries at prodigious speed, all while offering heartfelt reflections on the social implications of art and the need for more beauty in the world around us.  Intro and outro credit:  "Me in Your Life" by The Passion HiFi (Evil Twin Records) https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou

the Iconocast Canvas: Roman GianArthur (episode 03)

In this episode Joanna interviews Sara Miles. Sara is the founder and director of the The Food Pantry and serves as director of ministry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Her books include City of God: Faith in the Streets, Jesus Freak: Feeding Healing Raising the Dead and Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion. She speaks, preaches and leads workshops around the country, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, and on National Public Radio.  Joanna is joined by fellow interviewer Suella Lehman Gerber. Suella is pastor of Fellowship of Hope Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind., and was visiting San Francisco on sabbatical.

the Iconocast: Sara Miles (episode 61)

In episode 60 Joanna interviews Ellen Dahlke and Rick Ayers about education and liberation. Ellen is a former high school English teacher and currently coordinates the outside end of a GED program with radical leanings that was founded and is led by incarcerated men for incarcerated men. Rick Ayers is an assistant professor of education at the University of San Francisco in the Urban Education and Social Justice cohort. He is author of A Teacher’s Guide to Studs Terkel’s Working, and the author of An Empty Seat in Class: Teaching and Learning after the Death of a Student. He has also co-authored with his brother Bill Ayers, Teaching the Taboo: Courage and Imagination in the Classroom.

the Iconocast: Ellen Dahlke & Rick Ayers

In episode two of Iconocast: Canvas, Nekeisha and Seth interview sculptor, painter and poet Jake Webster. Born and raised in Greenville, Miss. during the 40s, Jake's roots as an artist reach back to his childhood and extend into the present. Jake was a painter for more than a decade before adding direct carving to his skills in 1974. A resident of Elkhart, Ind. for 21 years, he often uses local materials, including wood from fallen logs in the area and excess limestone from quarries. Recycled materials is a core part of his work, with used nails, bones and scrap metal figuring prominently in his sculptures, and articles like paper, rags and plastic wrappers appearing in his paintings. Jake's artistic pursuits have taken him as close to home as South Bend and Indianapolis, Ind. and as far away as Italy, Greece and France. He invites those who view his work to ask themselves two questions: "What in the hell is he doing?" and, "How do I make my life better from this day forward?" You can find out more about Jake and his work at www.artpostblog.com/jakewebster/
Music for Cavnas 002: ​​"FHH 27" by FREE Hip Hop Beats at soundcloud.com/freebeatshiphop/

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