Twitter can be a primary source for your memes before they stale and eventually make their way to Facebook. Every once in a while, it can be a source of enlightenment, too. Between the tons of different communities you can connect to, there’s always something to learn or a new perspective to consider from someone tweeting from halfway across the world or the other side of your zip code.
With over 317 million active accounts, it can be hard to know who to follow or how to pick out the gems from people who just retweet celebrities. In honor of Black History Month, we’ve highlighted a few leaders you need to be following in the space of justice, racial reconciliation and faith.
Brittany Packnett
Brittany Packnett is a vice president for Teach for America, a co-founder of Campaign Zero (a grassroots movement focused on finding policy solutions to police brutality), an educator, a speaker. What doesn’t she do, really? With 57,700 followers, she’s out here educating the masses about politics, justice and keeping your eyes on Christ through it all.
Christena Cleveland
Christena Cleveland blogs about justice, reconciliation and the history of the Church. She is the associate professor of the practice of reconciliation at Duke Divinity School and the author of Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces That Keep Us Apart. She’s also a leading voice in applying practical theology to the most nuanced debates in our society.
Marc Lamont Hill
Marc Lamont Hill is an academic and an author. You may also have seen him as a commentator on CNN. He is a professor of African American studies at Morehouse and is a leading intellectual voice in discourse surrounding American life and politics.
DeRay McKesson
DeRay is a civil rights activist, an educator and a co-founder of the Campaign Zero movement. He’s been part of the Black Lives Matter movement since its inception and tweets about the latest in justice news.
Drew G.I. Hart
Drew Hart is an author, a speaker and a professor at Messiah College. His book, Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism challenges people to consider systemic racism and a response from a Christian, theology-based perspective.
Vann R. Newkirk II
Vann’s faith isn’t central to his professional career as a writer for The Atlantic and you won’t see him tweeting about it often yet his writing is essential.
Trillia Newbell
Trillia is a writer on faith, family and diversity. She currently is the director of community outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and tweets encouraging words, as well as observational insights on justice issues.
Jackie Hill Perry
Jackie is a writer and speaker. Her spoken-word poems have reached over a million people on Youtube and her Twitter feed continues to urge people on toward the Gospel while providing a few laughs, too.
Propaganda
Prop is a spoken word artist and musician from Los Angeles on the Humblebeast label known for his advocacy work and heart for justice. He’s a wordsmith in the truest sense bending language to bring new perspective to his listeners. Several of his spoken word poems on Youtube have been viewed over thousands of times.
