Meet Marcia Dinkins, Founder and Executive Director of Black Women Rising and creator of the Black Appalachian Coalition. Based in Ottawa Hills, OH, Marcia is elevating Black voices to help drive positive change. In Appalachia, where Black stories are particularly invisible in the narrative of poverty in the region, Marcia is engaging the Black community to tell their stories and advocate for solutions to regional issues like air pollution and healthcare access. Marcia is also Executive Director of Ohioans for Sustainable Change (formerly Ohio Interfaith Power and Light), Bishop and Presiding Bishop of Forever Changed Ministries and the Daughters of Naomi Women’s Ministries, and Presiding Bishop of the Women’s International Ministries and Fellowship.
What faith(s), if any, do you practice? How does your tradition and/or spiritual practice inspire or influence you as an innovator?
I am a non-denominational Christian. I believe in the entire Word of God or as I say, full gospel. My spiritual practices of prayer, love, and hope inspire me. I believe putting these things into practice is a form of justice, liberation, deep healing, and the foundation for deep relationships. These practices, especially at times such as this, are what give me breath.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on several things. I just launched a children’s book entitled “This is My Black.” It’s about my granddaughter, who was bullied because of her albinism, and showing her the different ways to love herself and to see herself in so many wonderful things that have been created. I am working on finishing up my doctoral degree, building up my non-profit, and working on three different workshops that involve healing for women, healing through our narratives and breaking the negative soul stories.
At my organization, we are working to combat fossil fuels, stop the expansion of petrochemical companies, improve air quality and climate and environmental justice in Black and marginalized communities. A lot of the work is rooted in strategic storytelling, narrative strategy, and amplifying the voices of those directly impacted by climate and environmental injustice. We have launched the Freedom to Breathe Campaign. We also are hosting a six-month lunch & learn series on the health harms from legacy pollution, with the message that Health is a Human Right. This will also be scaled to a national campaign on Health as Human Right, looking at the Clean Air Act on the federal level.
Lastly, I have been working with movement leaders on how to build healing centered-relationship through a trauma-informed lens in addition to working with clergy on building in trauma-informed approaches to ministry.
What can we find you doing when you’re not working?
You will find me working on papers as I am wrapping up my doctoral program or watching HGTV and eating ice cream. You will also find me picking on my oldest son or journaling or reading my Bible. Right now, my life is a little shy of boring, but when I finish this degree, you will find me celebrating, running around and—if I learn to—maybe a cartwheel.
What is piquing your curiosity these days?
Joy is peeking my curiosity, and the question of how do we stay in a place of joy. I am curious about the ways in which we can re-write narratives so that they speak and breathe life into others and offer spaces for collecting healing. I am also curious about the Church and why it seems so lethargic and complicit in the space of justice and what my role is in helping the Church/Faith become a movement. I am curious about my anger these days, how to let that anger flow into love and joy because anger is telling me something needs to tended to or mended. As such, this makes me curious about myself and what my body needs and is telling me. As each day goes by, I sit with a curiosity as I ask myself, “Are you listening to you?”
What is something you’d like help on?
The truth is I need help on how to let help, help me. I do not know how to ask for help. That is so difficult. Because I have so many people reaching out to me from ministry to family to work, I have been the helper, and when it gets rough, I pull my way through. Well now, I need help knowing that it is ok not to be ok, someone to just remind me that all is well and that I do have permission to stop, reminding me that it is ok to not give all of me to everything and everybody while I remain dehydrated. I need help sometimes with my own heart because of all the heaviness I/we carry within our humanity. This applies both personally and professionally. My heart hurts for what is happening these days, and I find myself always standing in spaces of overwhelm, over-responsibility and fighting from a place of exhaustion, burn out, and grief for what I see and hear in the stories and lived experiences of others.
What is something you can offer others in the innoFaith network?
I am a trainer in restorative practices and trauma-informed approaches, and a strong facilitator. I can serve as a thought partner and/or a resource for building your dreams from inception to completion. I can offer help with organizing and building your organization. I have trained clergy on how to recognize domestic violence and help with putting together safety plans. I can also offer words of hope, kindness, and joy and a supportive shoulder when someone just needs to talk.
To connect with Marcia, you can find her via Email.
Meet an innoFaither is our series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people. Find the full series at www.innofaith.org/meet-an-innofaither.