White Christian Nationalism vs The Black Church | A One-on-One Special with Kristian A. Smith

In Part 1, Donovan sits down with Kristian A. Smith—pastor, founder of The Faith Community, and host of Holy Smokes: Cigars & Spirituality—for a raw conversation about growing up in the church, surviving queer erasure, and what it means to interrogate faith without abandoning God. They talk through church trauma, the pressure to perform masculinity, how questioning biblical authority can be an act of liberation, and why Christian nationalism is the latest iteration of white supremacy, even inside Black churches. The episode ends right before the conversation turns to real-world political consequences, setting up Part 2’s deeper reckoning with power, punishment, and the future of the Black church.