Marcia Ledford Author

08/01/2022

New on the blog!

https://www.politicaltheologymatters.com/hawaii-healthset-soulset-mindset-heartset/

12/17/2021

We have come too far to be turned back now. Congress has the power to deliver and we expect them to. No excuses will be accepted. This is the year to include permanent protections for immigrants in the reconciliation budget package.

12/08/2021

The Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN), run by the Office of Government Relations, is a grassroots network of Episcopalians across the country dedicated to carrying out the Baptismal Covenant call to strive for justice and peace through the active ministry of public policy advocacy.

EPPN advocates for stronger legislative protections against gender-based violence. EPPN invites Episcopalians to show support for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, which would, among other things, improve the response to violence against Indigenous women, including Alaska-Native tribes.



https://www.episcopalrelief.org/what-we-do/integrated-approach/16-days-of-activism-toolkit/action-7-engage-with-the-episcopal-public-policy-network/

09/22/2021

Thank you to the office of for meeting with us to discuss our priorities for care, climate, and citizenship in the plans! This is a generational moment for progressive legislation!

09/22/2021

Thursday night, from Isle Royale National Park - crazy lights not soon forgotten

prints of this image available: https://goo.gl/pCb89h

09/22/2021

09/22/2021

I'm in DC with a delegation from Michigan United to advocate for pathways to citizenship.

https://www.facebook.com/MichiganPeopleCmpg/videos/306856127868295/

09/18/2021

A Detroit art mural calls attention to the plight of 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

09/17/2021

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! This month we recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans. Check out the https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/ website for more information about virtual events happening in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

09/17/2021

As a Christian, I care about immigration reform because my faith calls me to help people on the margins as described in the Old Testament: the widows, orphans, strangers, and the poor.

09/14/2021

“WATCH: This is our moment. Congress must with a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers & essential workers. https://t.co/84cWcsd9G5”

09/09/2021

Marcia Ledford Author and I are at it again with Part 2 of our 3 part series aimed at analyzing the clobber passage used to harm LGBTQIA peeps. It’s time for us to be set FREE!!! 🤘🏽🙌🏽 🏳️‍🌈



https://bit.ly/3C10koL

08/29/2021

Calling all writers!

First half of the post is in the pictures. Below is just the guidelines.

Submission guidelines:

Writers

Please submit your unpublished works on social justice, advocacy, or living with hope from the Christian perspective, etc. with a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 5,000 words. Please email an attachment with your submission as a Word Doc. The document should be labeled with your NAME and the TITLE of your work. Please format your Word Document with 12-point Times New Roman and double spaced (and please remove spaces between paragraphs). Send your submission to [email protected] with LITERARY JOURNAL SUBMISSION as the subject.

Photos/illustrations should either be your own or in the public domain. Please place any images in the document where you would like them to appear. We will read through each article and edit as needed with spelling, grammar, etc., but please be sure to send a polished piece of writing. By submitting, you agree to our editing your piece as we deem necessary.

You are welcome to submit multiple pieces. However, only one will be accepted for the journal at a time.

Please also include a short bio and headshot to be included in the journal. Your bio should be 200 words or less.

Please attach your works cited, bio, and headshot in the same Word Document as your essay.

This is open across the United States.

Artists

We are also accepting artwork. It is recommended that you include a bit of writing with your artwork as well–your creative process, and/or the meaning behind the piece, etc.

Payment

At the moment, St. Ives is unable to pay writers. Writers and artists will be given one free copy of the journal as well as a chance to purchase additional copies at the wholesale price in order to resell them on their own. (This is common practice, but not entirely necessary) Again, depending on the success of this journal, this may change in the future!

Deadline

Submissions are due by November 1st, 2021 for an Advent release (November 28th).

Peace and blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford, Esq.
Political Theology Matters

07/28/2021

Here is a clip from the Here.together podcast where I give some insight into my experience as a Civil Rights Attorney during the 80s in Detroit. To hear more, visit PTM’s media page: https://www.politicaltheologymatters.com/media/

07/27/2021

06/29/2021

On this episode of the Black Sheep Christian podcast, I talk to host Ashley Rutledge about the LGBTQ community and acceptance in the church. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lgbtq-and-acceptance-in-the-church/id1518665520?i=1000526673363

06/27/2021

Ari Berman is, without question, one of the leading journalists documenting voter suppression in the United States today. He covers voting rights at Mothers Jones and is the author of Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, which chronicles the history of voter

06/27/2021

The Governor has declared a state of emergency for Wayne County.

06/25/2021

People who want to criticize, humiliate, or demean the LGBT community often use two passages from Leviticus. We must recognize our 21st century context that understands what sexual orientation is and how same-sex couples bond as strongly as heterosexual couples do and form loving, lifelong partnerships and even raise children together.
https://www.politicaltheologymatters.com/leviticus-loving-gay-relationships/

06/20/2021

I had the honor of emceeing a press conference featuring stories from Rosa and Maria, Kimberly, and Stuart, about their pain and trauma from being separated from their fathers due to deportation.

Call on your federal officials to include provisions in the infrastructure spending package to include viable pathways to citizenship and reunification of families separated by deportation.

06/19/2021

Thank you for having me, Michigan People's Campaign

06/15/2021

Below is one of my favorite Psalms to remind you how wonderfully and marvelously God has made you. Traditionally we pause at the asterisk, and I encourage you to do so. Pausing slows us down, and the psalm becomes more prayer-like.

1 O God, you have searched me out and known me: *

you know my sitting down and my rising up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places, *

and you are acquainted with all of my ways.

3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *

but you, O God, know it altogether.

4 You press upon me behind and before, *

and lay your hand upon me.

5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *

it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

6 Where can I go then from your Spirit; *

where can I flee from your presence?

7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *

if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.

8 If I take the wings of the morning *

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

9 Even there your hand will lead me, *

and your right hand hold me fast.

10 If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, *

and the light around me turn to night,”

11 Darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day; *

darkness and light to you are both alike.

12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; *

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *

your works are wonderful, and I know it well.

14 My body was not hidden from you, *

while I was being made in secret

and woven in the depths of the earth.

15 Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;

all of them were written in your book; *

they were fashioned day by day,

when as yet there was none of them.

16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God; *

how great is the sum of them!

17 If I were to count them, they would be more in number

than the sand; *

to count them all, my life span would need to

be like yours.

22 Search me out, O God, and know my heart; *

try me and know my restless thoughts.

23 Look well whether there be any wickedness in me, *

and lead me in the way that is everlasting.



Blessings on your journey.

06/08/2021

Let’s talk about faith and being queer.  A lot of people tend to have an “aversion” to faith due to past experiences. So where does the LGBT community fit into “the church” today? On today’s episode of the Q***r Profits Podcast, Marcia Ledford shares a different perspective of faith a...

06/02/2021

This time Donald Trump's followers swallowed his "big lie" of a rigged presidential election before they stormed the Capitol.

06/02/2021

This hasn't been a great month for the First Amendment. It hasn't been a great year or decade either, to be honest. As authoritarianism swept...

05/31/2021

Here is the breakdown of anti-LGBTQ legislation:

❕ 7 anti-trans sports bans in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Montana, and West Virginia

❗️ 4 religious refusal bills, including in Arkansas, Montana, and South Dakota

❕ 2 anti-LGBTQ education bills in Tennessee and Montana

❗️ 1 anti-trans medical care ban bill in Arkansas

❕ 1 sham “hate crimes” bill in Arkansas

❗️ 1 anti-all comers bill in North Dakota

❕ 1 anti-trans birth certificate bill in Montana

With seventeen bills now signed into law, states have enacted more anti-LGBTQ laws this year than in the last three years combined (anti-LGBTQ bills enacted in previous years include 2 bills in 2018, 7 bills in 2019, and 4 bills in 2020).
More than 250 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures in 2021, including:

❌ At least 35 bills that would prohibit transgender youth from being able to access best-practice, age-appropriate, gender-affirming medical care

❌ At least 69 bills that would prohibit transgender youth (and in some cases college students) from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity

❌ At least 43 bills that would allow people to assert a religious belief as justification for failing to abide by the law or provide services to people of whom they disapprove

❌ At least 15 bills that would prohibit transgender people from having access to restrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity

This crisis cannot be ignored and necessitates concrete action from all those with the ability to speak out.

*Research from
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

05/29/2021

Anti-CRT pushback is an emotional defense against unwanted change, not an intellectual disagreement.

05/11/2021

'Whenever domination is present love is lacking. Loving parents, be they single or coupled, gay or straight, headed by females or males, are more likely to raise healthy, happy children with sound self-esteem. In future feminist movement we need to work harder to show parents the ways ending sexism positively changes family life. Feminist movement is pro-family. Ending patriarchal domination of children, by men or women, is the only way to make the family a place where children can be safe, where they can be free, where they can know love' -bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics

To those who have lost their mothers,
To those who dont have good relationships with their mothers and or families, Sending love to you 🖤

'TO THE MOTHERS' 🖤
Mother and Child by ⁠ (Artist)

(Note: All posts are by admin Honey Williams , bell does not use the internet. This is a fan page est way back in 2008, when fb did not allow the titles of fb pages to be in lowercase and once over the size limit it can not be changed)

05/11/2021

A photographer, a Civil Rights Lawyer, and an Episcopal Priest walk into a bar…

This week’s show is no joke, though. Our guest, the Reverend Dr. Marcia Ledford, Esquire (Marcia Ledford Author) IS a Civil Rights lawyer, a photographer, and an Episcopal Priest. Stay tuned for a great conversation that encompasses journeys both personal and cultural, the third rails of politics and religion, and where all those things come together in Dr. Marcia’s ongoing work for social justice. Link to whole episode in the comments below.

04/21/2021

Our elected officials need to hear from us because we hear the voice of the shepherd — the shepherd that models protecting the vulnerable from dangerous ideologies like the “America First” Caucus, or more aptly, the “White People First and Only Caucus.”

The shepherd models protecting the vulnerable from dangerous ideologies like the America First Caucus, or more aptly, the “White People First and Only Caucus.”

04/20/2021

In 2021, we only care about one thing: Brunch. OK, so, two things. Vaccines, and then brunch, because we're coming out of our cage, feeling just fine, please pass the egg benny and chilled rosé wine. See? We're really losing it and the only solution is more brunch (and cowbell). While this list has...

04/20/2021

After refusing to apologize for posting a homophobic slur on social media over the weekend, Ann Arbor Council Member Jeff Hayner now says he’s sorry....

04/18/2021

The celebrations continue!

04/17/2021

O God, your Son remained with his disciples after his resurrection,
teaching them to love all people as neighbors.
As his disciples in this age,
we offer our prayers on behalf of the universe
in which we are privileged to live
and our neighbors with whom we share it.

04/16/2021

“Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.” ― Theodore Roosevelt