Episode 5: Dr. Julian Watkins on oppression, health care + justice
Dr. Watkins caught our notice in 2020 when he was announced as LGBTQ+ Nation’s “Hero of the Year.” He has a captivating gracefulness when talking about his work and also about church and religious implications in our times.
He is a public health professional and clinician deeply concerned about the mass trauma inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He firmly believes that communities will need new and creative pathways to healing to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. He also believes that to truly make ourselves whole, we must also address the age-old crisis of white supremacist delusion and systemic racism in meaningful ways.
Dr. Julian’s Bio:
Dr. Julian Watkins is the Acting Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. A physician, public servant, Culture of Health Leader and Climate Health Equity Fellow
interested in pubic health innovation, environmental justice, community engagement and expanding the discourse in public health
Board member of the Catskills Agrarian Alliance, a collective of farms focused on land stewardship, community organizing, and mutual aid. Partner at BEVERLY’S, a lower Manhattan based event space and international art institution. Also creator of The People's Project, a multimedia art project.
My work focuses on creating space for dialogue focused on community building, consciousness raising, systems change and the collective healing necessary to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the trauma of centuries of oppression.
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS:
David Moore is a University of California Santa Barbara alum and leads Santa Barbara’s Beloved Community Church, and also Jesus Collective, an online community which exists to foster wholeness and equity by healing relationships and cultural divides, honoring the dignity of all peoples, and protecting the biodiversity of our planet, through actively listening, understanding, partnering, and serving. He is the author of Making America Great Again: Fairy Tale? Horror Story? Dream Come True? Learn more at www.davidnmoore.com
Kerry Connelly, (she / her) MDiv, CCLC is the author of Good White Racist? Confronting Your Role in Racial Injustice and Wait, Is This Racist? A Guide to Becoming an Antiracist Church. Kerry holds her Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, where she is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Ministry. She is a Certified Coach with additional certifications in DISC personality styles, conflict resolution (Cornell University), + she is a NYC Leadership Fellow. Passionate about all things spiritual, she is also trained in a number of intuitive energy healing modalities, including traditional Usui Reiki and Angel Reiki. When she is not consulting with predominantly White churches to help them deconstruct White pseudosupremacy in their daily operations, she is working 1:1 with clients to help them connect with their own higher guidance and to live deeply intuitive lives. You can learn more about Kerry at www.kerryconnelly.com.
