Becoming Brave

Foreword INDIES 2020 Book of the Year Award (BRONZE Winner for Religion)Reconciliation is not true reconciliation without justice!In Becoming Brave, Brenda Salter McNeil calls us out of passivity and into action. Looking through the lens of the biblical narrative of Esther, McNeil challenges us to be everyday activists who become courageous enough to break the silence and work together with others to repair broken systems of injustice."Part confession, part biblical reflection, part call to storm the gates, Becoming Brave declares that the Christian call to do justice cannot and shall no longer be guided, shaped, and defanged by sensibilities more loyal to white people's comfort than to God. A must-read."--Lisa Sharon Harper, founder and president, Freedom Road"There is no one who understands more clearly what is necessary to move white evangelicals forward beyond their racial captivity than Brenda Salter McNeil, and there is no more important book that must find its way into the hands of students, pastors, Christian activists, and all those who understand the urgency of this moment than Becoming Brave."--Willie James Jennings, professor, Yale Divinity School; author of After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging"Real prophets lovingly criticize and truthfully energize. McNeil does both with clarity and rare vulnerability. This book will move your heart and compel your feet to move as well, with others, in response to God's call to do justice."--Jennifer Harvey, author of Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America"Through a combination of personal reflection, cultural awareness, and biblical exegesis of the book of Esther, Dr. McNeil provides a roadmap for leaders to become and to be brave."--Bishop Claude Alexander, senior pastor, The Park Church, Charlotte, North Carolina"This book is light in our darkness and an urgent, prophetic wake-up call to a church that has lost its reconciling credibility."--Inés Velásquez-McBryde, pastor, speaker, and reconciler; chaplain, Fuller Theological Seminary"There is not a more credible, seasoned, and dynamic voice in the country that could speak to us about leadership and reconciliation than Brenda Salter McNeil. I cannot recommend Becoming Brave strongly enough."--Daniel Hill, pastor; author of White Awake