A Room of One's Own is thrilled to welcome Camille Hernandez, Alicia T. Crosby, and Taj M Smith for a conversation on Black queerness, finding safety and community, and the Black queer imagination. This discussion is grounded in Camille's new book The Hero and the Whore: Reclaiming Healing and Liberation Through the Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible.

With a blend of storytelling, cultural analysis, and trauma-informed care, The Hero and the Whore invites readers to reconsider their assumptions about victims of sexual exploitation and respond with compassionate understanding that will bring us all to the wholeness God desires.

Camille Hernandez is a writer, public theologian, and trauma-informed education specialist. In all her avenues, she uses care-centered leadership models to help survivors know their voice, be nourished in community, and develop self-compassion practices in order to birth new liberated realities into existence. Her debut book is entitled The Hero and the Whore: Reclaiming Healing and Liberation through Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible. It debuts as the number one new release in the sociology of abuse.

Alicia T. Crosby (she/her) is a writer & justice educator whose work intentionally interrogates and explores the connections between systemic, interpersonal, and spiritual harm and healing. Alicia's writing credits include contributions for the NYT Bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal, The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, Blavity, the Human Rights Campaign, The Windy City Times, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and Sojourners.

This churchy Black, Queer, super Taurus from NYC enjoys napping, cutting up in her group chats, and kicking with her love Alexis in Durham, NC. You can connect with Alicia on all platforms via @AliciaTCrosby or at www.aliciatcrosby.com.

Taj M. Smith (he/him) is a coach, writer, speaker, and transgender educator. His work explores the spaces where spirituality, justice, and identity overlap. He is a Black transgender man who is deeply curious about the ways faith and identity interact to produce hopeful futures. He has a creative passion for music and literature, particularly sci-fi and fantasy. Taj’s written work appears in Sojourners, Huffington Post, and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin. His own transition story was published in Austin Hartke’s book Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians. He holds a BA in Politics from UC Santa Cruz and an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School.
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In 2023, Taj founded Rooted Respite, a virtual burnout support community serving activists, DEI practitioners, faith-based changemakers, and others committed to creating a more equitable world. Learn more at www.rootedrespite.com.

The Hero and the Whore: An Evening with CAMILLE HERNANDEZ, ALICIA T. CROSBY, and TAJ M. SMITH