• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Lisa Sharon Harper

  • About Lisa
  • Fortune
    • #BlackFortuneMonth
    • Fortune Resources
    • Media
  • Media
  • Endorsements
  • Books & Articles
  • Speaking & Events
    • Media Requests
    • Book an Event
    • Event Schedule
    • Information for Event Hosts
    • Speaking & Videos
  • Blog
  • Contact Me
    • Media Requests

Speaking

Lisa speaks to diverse audiences around the world on issues of faith, power and politics. Followers are as likely to find Lisa speaking at a justice conference in Australia, New Zealand or Brazil, a Sunday service for a mega-church in Baltimore or a church plant in South Bend, Indiana, a theological consortium in Chicago, a women’s conference in Kansas or a justice protest in Washington, DC. With a profound mix of intellectual rigor, powerful story-telling and searing wit Lisa leads listeners through a transformational experience that deepens their love for God and their commitment to a just world.

Videos


Talk Descriptions


HOW RACE BROKE THE WORLD–AND HOW TO REPAIR IT ALL

Core Scripture: 2 Samuel 21:1-14
What if now is the time to dream–in the middle of the mess, in the middle of the deepest division that our nation (and the church) has experienced since the Civil War. What if now is exactly the time to prepare for peace and justice to kiss? God’s vision is still possible, but only if we trust God and go deeper. Wade into deep waters with Lisa Sharon Harper as she guides us through the story of race in America through the framework of her family story and considers three practices that could repair all that race broke in the world.

THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF YOUR FAMILY STORY

The most consequential divide in our nation is the narrative gap. Stories shape worldview. Worldview shapes both politics and policy. Therefore stories shape the world.

Competing narratives are vying for the soul of America. To heal our nation—and the church—we must shrink the gap between our narratives. What if your family story has the power to help heal the world?

Lisa Sharon Harper, author of the celebrated epic memoir, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family And The World—And How To Repair It All, researched and wrote the stories of 10 generations of her family. In the process, she traced the origins and impacts of racial hierarchy in the US. Join us as Lisa demonstrates the subversive power of family narrative. And consider how your own family history might help reveal and heal the world.

FOUR WORDS THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING

Core Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31
Drawing from her celebrated book, The Very Good Gospel, Lisa Sharon Harper talks the Gospel, race and how God intended us to live together. Mining Genesis 1 Harper sheds light on four simple words that change everything.

THE CALL TO BELOVED COMMUNITY

Core Scripture: Psalm 85

How do we respond to a history of racism and become the Beloved Community described in Psalm 85?

RACE AND POLITICS IN THE U.S.

Core Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27
Come and consider how race and bias impact public policy and how faith can flip the script.

THE INTERSECTIONAL ORIGINS OF RACE AND GENDER IN THE U.S.

The first race laws crafted in the English colonies were also the first gender laws written on North American colonial soil. This lecture will uncover the legal roots of white patriarchy in the U.S.. Harper will illuminate the real-life consequences of the laws for people of African descent, particularly Black and mixed race women, and Harper will explore the theological implications of the American constructs of race and gender.

HOW TO REPAIR WHAT RACE BROKE IN THE WORLD

What will propel us towards Shalom and a generation of abundance? This lecture is based on Lisa Sharon Harper’s upcoming book Fortune.

THE VERY GOOD GOSPEL FOR WOMEN

In an era of me-too, church-too and separation of black and brown mothers from their children by mass detention and mass incarceration, what is the very good news for women? What transformative work might God have yet to do for and through our silenced voices and traded bodies? Come along as Lisa Sharon Harper takes us back to the beginning with deep exploration of Genesis 1-3 and considers its profound implications on the lives and calling of women right now.

FAITH ROOTED ORGANIZING TRAINING

Faith-Rooted Organizing draws from the roots of our traditions to help faith communities engage the larger movement for justice in our world. In this workshop Lisa Sharon Harper will  equip participants to engage the issues at play in their towns and cities by examining the response of Nehemiah to his colonized context.

Learn About the Faith- Rooted Organizing Training for Businesses/Academia and Nonprofits.

TV/Radio


NPR: The Takeaway (with Randall Balmer)

Listen Here

NPR: The Takeaway

Listen Here

MPR: #SilenceisNotSpiritual (with Rachel Held Evans)
Listen Here
MPR: Christian Women Against Trump

Listen Here

Most popular podcast episode ever with Jen Hatmaker: Hit #5 on iTunes. Beat Oprah that day.

Listen Here

PBS Religion and Ethics Weekly

Listen Here

Fox News: Left Right and Christ

Listen Here

Fox News: Immigration

Listen Here

Fox News: Religious Liberty

Listen Here

Roland Martin: TV One: My Brother’s Keeper

Listen Here

The Call to Pause: Faith Leaders/Congressional Press Conference

Listen Here

0 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Footer

Join me at my Kitchen Table with Special Guest @Ka Join me at my Kitchen Table with Special Guest @Kaitlin Curtice tomorrow morning, 11am ET on Sub📚! We’ll be talking about Kaitlin’s beautiful new book, Everything Is A Story! 

#kitchentableconversations
From the destruction of The White House to the dis From the destruction of The White House to the disappearance of neighbors and community members to the loss of Medical care, Education funding and business, Americans are absorbing profound levels of loss. 

Let’s talk about it. And let’s glean a few strategies for coping and resilience in an era of daily gashes to our weary souls. 

“Kitchen Table Conversations with Lisa Sharon Harper,” THIS Friday on Sub📚, 4pm ET / 1pm PT.
Rev. @pastahj described the terror they’re dealing Rev. @pastahj described the terror they’re dealing with in Chicago during our Kitchen Table Conversation. Now, every time I hear pundits call it a “crackdown” I cringe. Language matters. This is not a “crackdown.” It is terrorism against Americans by America. 

#nonviolentresistance #resist #donotconsent 

Read more at Sub📚 link 🔗 in bio and stories.
What a day?!?! #nokingsphilly What a day?!?! #nokingsphilly
Show up for your family. Show up for your neighbo Show up for your family.

Show up for your neighbors. 

Show up for your ancestors.

Show up for yourself. 

Show up for the future.

Show up!

Find a march near you at nokings.org. 

#nokings #changeiscoming #freedom #freedomiscoming
This cracks me up now! 🤣🤣🤣 It’s true! Josh McDowel This cracks me up now! 🤣🤣🤣 It’s true! Josh McDowell gave a talk at several Christmas Conferences in a row about Chlamydia! “Who wants that?!” 

Watch my full Kitchen Table Conversation with @jenhatmaker at 🔗 in my bio and stories! 

#purity #joshmcdowell #purityculture
This connection crystallized for me in the middle This connection crystallized for me in the middle of this conversation. 

Like many former evangelicals feel betrayed by their community’s support for White Christian Nationalism, many Americans are feeling betrayed by ways our leaders have betrayed democracy. 

Think:
*Current GOP betrayal of democracy to protect pedophiles named in Epstein files, military on streets, and open plotting to steal elections. 
*Biden and many Dem’s betrayal of democracy by resourcing Gen0*side in Gaza. 

Stay tuned for some writing on this as I dig deeper. 

Watch full Kitchen Table Conversation with @jenhatmaker about her fabulous new memoir, Awake, at links in bio and stories!

#kitchentableconversations #betrayal #democracy #evangelicals
I absolutely love how @jenhatmaker responded to my I absolutely love how @jenhatmaker responded to my question here. 

Watch her response and full Kitchen Table Conversation at link in bio and in stories!

#kitchentableconversations #jenhatmaker #awake #purityculture
Fabulous Kitchen Table Conversation with my friend Fabulous Kitchen Table Conversation with my friend, @jenhatmaker, today. Omg. I finished reading her new book, Awake, and jumped into this convo full of her words. 

Here I’m reading from the turning point in her story. Literally occurs at the exact halfway point in the book and it’s the one section that’s explicitly about race. 

Think about that. An entire life of ministry. But the minute Jen spoke out against white supremacy, she lost half her base of white evangelical women.

Watch the rest at the link in my bio and my stories.

#awake #kitchentableconversations
Meet us in the Sub*Stacks (at)lisasharonharper and Meet us in the Sub*Stacks (at)lisasharonharper and (at)jenhatmaker!

Link in my bio and stories!
This is how Chicago pastor, Jonathan @pastahj Broo This is how Chicago pastor, Jonathan @pastahj Brooks @lawndalecommunitychurch, responded when I asked him: “How has your experience of the ICE invasion in Chicago changed how you pastor your church?”

#kitchentableconversations
“This is not law enforcement.” - Testimony from ev “This is not law enforcement.” - Testimony from evangelical Chicago pastor Jonathan @pastahj Brooks of @lawndalecommunitychurch.

Watch the full Kitchen Table Conversation on Sub📚 at link in bio and stories.
This hit me like a brick. Imagine walking down the This hit me like a brick. Imagine walking down the street and thinking any car that passes by can be the one that stops and snatches you from your life—forever. ANY car. ANY person. @Jonathan Brooks is right. This is terrorism.

Watch my whole conversation with @pastahj of @lawndalecommunitychurch on Chicago’s West Side at the Sub📚 link in my bio or stories. 

#kitchentableconversations Lessons on Pastoring Through F@.scist Terrain.
Mark your calendars! My friend, @Jen Hatmaker , wi Mark your calendars! My friend, @Jen Hatmaker , will join me at the Kitchen Table on MONDAY at 3pm ET / 12pm PT for a convo about her new book, Awake, and the new life that came once she learned to walk through our world (and her life) with eyes wide open. Do👏🏽not👏🏽miss👏🏽this. 

Join us on Sub📚

#awake #book #kitchentableconversations
“I joined the faith leaders’ formation, and we wal “I joined the faith leaders’ formation, and we walked. Locked arm in arm, each step was an actual prayer. We approached the park and fanned out to flank one full block. Militia men stood opposite us, carrying AR-15s to block us from entering the park.

We faced off with the opposition for two hours, singing every Freedom Song we could remember. ‘This Little Light of Mine’ was our favorite. This dainty Sunday school song expanded in the space between us, matching firepower with moral power. In the middle of the singing I looked in the eyes of my counterpart. His eyes hard, his stance at the ready, I called to him. He ignored me. Filled with the truth of the presence of God in the present moment, I called to him: ‘I love you.’

He looked at me, stunned.

‘I know,’ he said.

I rejoined our collective declaration: This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine! … 

… During the rise of the Third Reich, there was a window when nonviolence had a chance to win in Germany. There came a time when Jewish and international non-violence only protected and prolonged the Reich’s capacity for violence. In those nascent years, in the face of fascist takeover, the only people group with the ability to mount effective non-violent resistance was the Germans themselves. Only they possessed the social and political power to stand up en masse and say “No.” En masse, they could have laid down their arms. En masse, they could have challenged the direction of their nation. They could have marched and gotten in the way. But not enough did. Too many obeyed fear, not faith. Thus, the only way to stop the slaughter became war.

In the Trump era, White Americans, especially White Christians, possess the same social and political power to present their bodies as living sacrifices. They are best positioned to engage nonviolent resistance in the struggle to stop the march of fascism in the U.S. and around the world. …”

Read more at link in bio and stories.
This Friday, 4pm ET, join me at my Kitchen Table i This Friday, 4pm ET, join me at my Kitchen Table in conversation with the pastor of Chicago’s Lawndale Christian Community Church, @pastahj !

PastahJ is the pastor of Chicago’s fabulous Mayor Brandon Johnson. His parishioners have been targeted and have shown up in sacred resistance against dehumanization. 

Join us (at)lisasharonharper on Sub📚 as we mine the lessons he is learning about how to shepherd through fascist terrain. 

#kitchentableconversations #chicago
POV. Chicago. #freedom Remixed with @rampuri.a A POV. Chicago.

#freedom

Remixed with @rampuri.a Animal Channel: An eagle attacked a lion cub and regretted it.
In case you missed it. In my latest Kitchen Tabl In case you missed it. 

In my latest Kitchen Table Conversation we talked Christian Public ethics in the age of shutdowns and raids. It was a powerful conversation. 

Correction: The Venezuelan population of Chicago has increased significantly in Chicago since 2022. That said, to claim all Venezuelans are gang members is crazy. Especially, since most who came here were fleeing the violence of gangs. 

To watch the full convo, click the link in my bio or stories (IG). FB folks head over to (at)lisasharonharper on Sub📚.
Yes. The value of the #shutdown IS greater than th Yes. The value of the #shutdown IS greater than the cost. Why? Because without it up to 24 million people will lose their healthcare, hospitals in under resourced areas across the U.S. will close, and America’s health system will implode. 

It is worth it. Stand firm and win. 

Watch the rest of this week’s conversation at link in my bio or stories (IG). FB folks watch (at)lisasharonharper on Sub📚. 

#kitchentableconversations
In this clip, @sharonsaysso shares what gives her In this clip, @sharonsaysso shares what gives her hope right now—the possibility of the impossible in circumstances that seem insurmountable.

I cosign ✍🏽

Watch the full video at link in my bio and stories (IG). FB folks click in (at)lisasharonharper on Sub📚.

#kitchentableconversations #hope
Follow on Instagram

The Very Good Gospel on Audible

https://lisasharonharper.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/M4291_VeryGood_2.mp4

 

Purchase audiobook

After Footer

Subscribe to Freedom Road

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2026 Lisa Sharon Harper ~ Privacy Policy