We paint adopters as heroes, but in reality, there is nothing heroic about taking somebody else's kid. There are so many ways to support such families!

Today, Matthew Anthony joins us on the show to explore transnational/racial adoption. Matthew Anthony, formerly known as Matthew Charles, is a Black transnational/racial adoptee, a survivor of a cult, writer, poet, author of You Can Not Burn The Sun (2020), and host of little did u know - a podcast that seeks to reveal the precarity of transnational/racial adoption and dream of an Abolitionist future by centering Adoptees and Professionals. He currently lives in Baltimore and is eagerly plotting his escape from this capitalist hellhole.

In the session, Mathew shares his rough experience as a transnational/racial adoptee in a white evangelical family, the legality of adoption, his poem about Moses & how it’s relevant to every adoptee's life, as well as how to save a black child's life. Besides, we delve into creating a safe space for our future descendants through art and raising the adoptees' voices no matter how many relationships we lose! 

Timestamps:

[00:57] About Mathew Anthony
[03:47] What it means to be a transnational/transracial adoptee in the US
[09:17] The legality of the adoption
[17:52] Matthew’s caregivers & why they didn’t feel the need to protect him
[25:06] Matthew’s poem on Moses & how it relates to his life as an adoptee
[36:17] Difference between white & black art
[40:08] Creating a safe space for all marginalized kids & future descendants
[53:43] Ethiopia closing adoption & protecting their children
[54:50] Anthony’s most shocking moment in life as an adoptee that shifted his
perspective on everything
[01:00:00] Jo's story on losing most of her relationships for defending adoptees

Let’s Connect!

To access more of Matthew's writing, become a free or paid subscriber at
https://creativekindred.substack.com/

Matthias Roberts is a queer psychotherapist, podcaster and author of Beyond Shame: Creating a Healthy Sex Life on Your Own Terms and co-hosts Selfie alongside fellow therapist Kristen Howerton. He holds two master's degrees, one in Theology and Culture and the one in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.

Matthias writes and speaks nationwide about the intersections between gender, sexuality, mental health, and theology. His newest book, Holy Runaways will release Fall 2023

In the show today, we talked about navigating life through the shame that comes with accepting our sexuality. 

Topic Discussed 

2:47 About the book, "Beyond Shame."

12:35 The effect of splitting sexual identities to gain acceptance.

25:59 Compromise doesn't always solve issues.

34:24 Dealing with not being accepted.

49:38 Mathias's new book, "Holy Runaways."

If this has added value to you please consider partnering with us by joining Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/joluehmann

Patty Krawec is an Anishinaabe and Ukrainian writer and speaker from Lac Seul First Nation. She serves on the board of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Center and is active with the Strong Water Singers. She is the cohost of the popular Medicine for the Resistance podcast and host of the online book club Ambe: A Year of Indigenous Reading. Her work has been published in Sojourners and Canadian Living. Krawec is a member of Chippawa Presbyterian Church and lives in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In the show today, Jo and Patty explore what it means to become kin. They talk about returning to ancestral lands and what that actually means. The American story is all about displacement, so what does it mean to all coexist together? Listen to this episode for exploration on that and so much more with Patty.

In This Episode

• 4:58 - How to be good kin to each other
• 7:13 - Three different perspectives on kinship
• 15:10 - Unforgetting history
• 28:17 - The first step towards becoming kin
• 35:38 - Books vs the lived experience
• 45:45 - Retaining connection to ancestral lands

Connect with Patty

Rhea Humann is a certified herbalist and small business owner based in Portland, OR. They own and operate an online apothecary called the Persistent Pestle where they craft herbal remedies for everyday ailments and take consultation clients who work one-on-one with them to create holistic health kits that are tailor-made to each person’s unique situation. They are passionate about science-based herbal medicine and spreading well-studied information in practical, hands-on ways.  They also have a Patreon called Of The Hearth where she teaches about earth-based spirituality and other alternative healing modalities. 

Jo and Rhea talk about the healing practices that are commonly demonized by the evangelical church. This episode is about finding joy, health, and spirituality on your own terms. Jo and Rhea each share how they blended the spirituality of their ancestors with the Christian traditions they grew up practicing. 

Kat Armas is a Cuban American writer and podcaster from Miami, FL. She holds a dual MDiv and MAT from Fuller Theological Seminary where she was awarded the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing and is currently pursuing a ThM at Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Her first book, Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength, sits at the intersection of women, decolonialism, the Bible, and Cuban identity. She also explores these topics and more on her podcast, The Protagonistas, which centers the voices of Black, Indigenous, and other women of color in theological spaces.

Kat is currently living in Nashville with her spouse and new baby while working on her second book, Sacred Belonging: A 40-day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture.

Jo and Kat talk about Abuelita faith, and muse about their common roots as Latin American women in the USA. Listen to connect with a faith that can’t be read about in a book, a faith that is rooted deeply in identity and ancestry.

In This Episode

• 3:19 - Connecting with Abuelita faith to live authentically instead of performing
• 14:38 - Intellectual wisdom vs embodied wisdom
• 18:57 - Taking comfort in the fact that your soul will always return to its true home
• 25:52 - The sacred act of survival
• 39:07 - Embracing your imperfection and knowing that you are infinitely loved

Robyn has always been a reluctant leader knowing that collaboration and togetherness are a way forward, but society doesn’t always value this. Robyn grew up in the piney woods of Longview, TX where they were born in the mid-70s, and then moved to San Antonio, TX for several years where they attended junior high and high school. Robyn was involved in Texas baptist churches during young adulthood and sensed a calling to be more involved in the work and life of the church, but because of the theology of the Southern Baptist Church, they were denied time and time again. In response to the exclusionary reaction they encountered, they began reading theology during this time and became mesmerized by all that they were reading.

After suffering a brain aneurysm at the age of 16 the summer before their senior year in high school and surviving two full craniotomies as an emergency intervention, Robyn finished high school on time and headed off to college in West Texas on a music scholarship. After falling in love with the big questions of life and lofty ideas and never putting down theology books, Robyn gave up their music scholarship to study philosophy and theology, transferred to Hardin-Simmons University, and became a student at Logsdon School of Theology. There they found kindred spirits with two faculty members and began their journey to becoming a theologian and ethicist.

In This Episode

• 2:49 - What is supremacy culture and why does it need to be composted?
• 7:22 - Expanding language to express the full extent of supremacy culture
• 8:46 - Why do we need to compost supremacy culture as opposed to destroying it?
• 20:54 - Learning from nature on how to build equitable systems in society
• 30:25 - The true spirit of togetherness and nourishing relationships
• 36:28 - Activism through becoming embodied

Today we have a really special episode. Jo is sharing some of the conversations she has with her children every day. It’s important to listen to children because they are one of the people groups that we listen to the least. Children are incredibly wise, and there is so much that can be gained from taking time to hear what they have to say.

So on the episode today, Jo features conversations with her three oldest children, Antonella, Emiliana, and Maximilian

. And we end with the affirmations that they do as a family on a daily basis.

Jo answers questions from listeners on season 1 of The Living Room Podcast.