REBIRTH OF A NATION | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

Like many well-intentioned white people, Goza once believed that he could support Black America’s struggle for equality without supporting reparations. Reparations, he thought, were altogether irrelevant to the real work of racial justice. 

 This is a book about why he was wrong. In fact, any effort to heal our nation’s wounds will fail without reparations. 

 In this book, Goza exposes lesser-known aspects of racism in American history and how Black people have consistently been depicted as responsible for their own oppression to justify slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration and gross inequality. Goza’s iconoclastic and incisive account exposes how revered figures like Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln embedded white supremacy deep into our nation’s consciousness—and how Ronald Reagan manipulated this ideology so that society cheered as he advanced a set of policies that wounded our nation and intensified Black America’s suffering. 

But REBIRTH OF A NATION is not merely about accountability. It is also about hope. A reparations process is not a utopian dream; Goza offers a practical path toward closing the racial wealth gap. Rebirth of a Nation shows readers how they can join the reparative process, working toward the creation of a more perfect union.

Joel Goza is joining us on the Busboys stage alongside Bishop LaTrelle M. Easterling to discuss why reparations are necessary to heal America’s racial wounds and live up to our democratic ideals. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Goza will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of REBIRTH OF A NATION will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed. 

We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books

 Joel Edward Goza is a writer, speaker, and community advocate who serves as a professor of ethics and the director of academic partnerships at the HBCU Simmons College of Kentucky. Before focusing on writing and teaching, Joel worked in urban redevelopment and community activism for over a decade in Houston’s Fifth Ward. He is also the author of America’s Unholy Ghosts: The Racist Roots of Our Faith and Politics, and contributes to The Hill, Salon, and Religion News Service. You can learn more at www.joeledwardgoza.com

Bishop LaTrelle M. Easterling is the episcopal servant and leader of the Baltimore-Washington Conference in the Northeastern Jurisdiction, the oldest and most diverse annual conference in The United Methodist Church. She is the first woman to lead this historic conference. Bishop Easterling was appointed to this office in September 2016, following her election to the episcopacy that July. 

Beginning September 1, 2024, Bishop Easterling will serve as resident bishop of the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Area, which includes the Baltimore-Washington Conference and the Peninsula-Delaware Conference.

On September 1, 2021, Bishop Easterling was assigned to serve as the interim bishop of the Peninsula-Delaware Conference, while serving the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

Prior to being elected, Bishop Easterling served as Dean of the Cabinet of the New England Conference and as a superintendent, leading 57 congregations in the Boston Hope District.

She was ordained a Deacon in 1995 and an Elder in 1997 and was pastor of Union UMC in Boston’s historic South End, Pearl Street UMC in Brockton, Mass., and Old West Church, UM, in Boston.

Easterling is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. The child of Mary and Walter Miller, she grew up attending University UMC, under the leadership of Rev. George Rice and then Rev. Harry A. Coleman. As an active United Methodist, Easterling sang in numerous choirs, served as a youth group leader and Sunday school teacher. Upon moving to Denver, Colorado, she joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where she learned the art of preaching and the importance of advocacy and justice ministries.

A strong proponent of education, Easterling received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a Law degree from Indiana University School of Law. She graduated summa cum laude in 2004 with a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology.

Prior to entering the ministry, she worked as a human resources manager and director, and as a prosecuting attorney. 

A delegate to the General and Jurisdictional Conference in 2012 and 2016, Easterling serves on a number of boards and agencies, including the Committee for the National Plan for Hispanic and Latino Ministries, The Council of Bishop’s Immigration Task Force, the Boards of Directors for Wesley Theological and American University, the Board of Child Care and The Jane Robinson Bancroft Foundation. Easterling also serves as the President of the Northeast Jurisdiction Multi-Ethnic Center, the Anna Howard Shaw Board of Boston University School of Theology, and Boston University School of Theology Dean’s Advisory Council. Upon arriving in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, she founded The Seeds of Security ministry, or SOS, which benefits people in crisis who are seeking to leave abusive relationships.

Easterling is a much sought-after speaker and preacher, poet, and published author. She has received numerous awards and recognitions, most recently receiving the 2017 Rainbow Push Trombone Award for Faith in Action, presented by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

She is married to the Rev. Marion Easterling Jr., pastor of Wesley Grove UMC in Hanover, Md., and the former pastor of Parkway UMC in Milton, Mass. They have two grown sons, Garret and Miles.

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