Fellow Comrades —

Extremists for Love is my first book project and is currently under contract with Wipf and Stock Publishers (Eugene, OR). This project was born out of necessity. In late 2022/early 2023, I was on the search for a text that could act as a racial justice primer for my congregation; a resource that not only introduced individual figures, but movements, theologies, and ideas. However, after scouring all my go-to publishers and book sellers for such a text, I couldn’t find one that fit the bill. Everything was either too technical and academic, or too elementary and superficial; a dissertation or an opinion piece.

Far too often, good academic writing is only accessible by, well, academics, while accessible writing lacks a foundation of good scholarship. Both are often the case regarding works of theology and church resources, and both pastors and the church suffer because of it. The goal of this particular book is to thread that needle; academic in quality, but accessible in presentation. It’s an attempt to deepen—and at times, problematize—common understandings of some (like MLK, Malcolm X and The Black Panther Party) while also introducing more “obscure” figures to many for the first time (like Bayard Rustin, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Ella Baker).

At the end of the day, my hope is that this book is useful for the church; for believers, pastors, and leaders across the Christian tradition. We have an obligation to address America’s original sin in our communities; to make use of our pulpits, our small groups and our conversations. If this book can help even one church do that, then it will have been worth writing.

In liberating love,

J.T.