Becoming Brave

Becoming Brave is a must read for everyone and anyone who desires to constructively work toward healing the racial divide in America. Her exegesis of the Old Testament book of Esther is spot on. Her application of her exegesis in calling us to be brave is true to the text and affirming of those willing to stand up speak up and act up for a Biblical path forward. Her own evolution in coming to a place of speaking g the truth and refusing to coddle truth to make it palatable to a White audience is beautiful.

In this new work, Dr Brenda Salter McNeil has given us a unique opportunity to look inside her personal journey of discovery. Becoming Brave is not just the title, it’s the reality of her life. She, like so many of us, was focused on her work and felt that her words and actions were revealing her heart. Unfortunately sometimes we aren’t fully communicating what we truly believe in the deepest places.
Not only does she, bravely, share her personal journey, but she takes the familiar story of Esther and reveals truths many of us missed for lack of knowledge of the context of the narrative.
While I do not teach currently, in the traditional sense of the word, I will and have already referenced this book in all the circles in which I have influence. Thank you for this opportunity of inclusion.

I’m not even sure how to give feedback on this book. what i can say is WOW.
Brenda Salter McNeil writes with passion and urgency that now is the time for the Church to step up and help with racial justice and reconciliation.. She is tired of trying to be nice to White people getting them to understand what has been happening to African Americans in our country.
I reaized as an almost 68 yr old White woman once again, all the privledges I have received throughout my life from education, to health care , to living in middle class America as a given. I have read numerous books this summer about race and what we have done so comppletely unjustly to our Black brothers and sisters. I am lamenting and grieving.
What can I possibly do living in a forest with not many people around? I am praying and asking God to showo me how to be brave.
Dr McNeil is known for her passion for racial reconciliation but now, using the book of Esther in the Bible, urges us to act- the time is now.
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I underllined in this book. I Have learned, I have been convicted and I have been inspired.
We, the White people, DO NOT HAVE THE ANSWERS, but we can join with our Black Family and ask what can we do? how can we join you?
I cannot recommend this book enough because it has challenged me like no other.
I want to be brave just like Doc Brenda. I want to get out of my comfort zone and listen and act.
For who knows if we are allive “for such a time as this” to join in this fight for justice and reconciliation for all mankind?
I was given an advance copy of this book.

"I will pierce the darkness of racism and injustice with the leader whom I will influence and nurture and encourage in their practice of what I believe reconciliation really means: repairing broken systems together."
Dr. McNeil's book takes the framework of the book of Esther and shows how Esther herself was the first seeker of justice in the Bible. The narrative presented is important, convicting, and very real. In today's racial climate, we see the same stories happening again and again in the U.S., and Dr. McNeil looks toward real solutions to this ongoing problem with racial justice. Solutions that don't just rely on a yearly highlight of diversity or a multicultural meal.
"I will stand in truth, and I will no longer dumb down the truth to help White people feel less guilty. To do so is to be complicit in sanitizing the truth, and I refuse to be complicit in that any longer."

If you are a Christian, I repeat that this is important work that must be done in the church. We can no longer hide behind centering whiteness, we need to step out in the truth. White people, myself included, cannot cloister ourselves in our protective bubble, we need to enter into the work of reconciliation. This is not easy work, and we need to take the words of Esther to heart: "If I perish, I perish." This book should set its readers on fire to push for real, lasting change in our country. The church must be a participant in restructuring the power equations.

"It is deeply disturbing that so many Christians think that racial reconciliation is some kind of liberal, politically motivated social agenda that has nothing to do with their faith as followers of Jesus Christ. It is also an indictment of the church that so many Christians don't know that the gospel includes reconciliation across racial, gender, ethnic, social, and cultural barriers. Our call to discipleship is an invitation to follow Jesus int a new community."

I highly recommend this book to fellow Christians looking for guidance to get to the difficult work of the pursuit of racial justice. This cannot happen alone, and Dr. McNeil gives the encouragement and tools needed to enter with a heart of courage.

I first heard about racial reconciliation several years ago at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA. One of those voices was Dr. McNeil. A short while afterward I began my own personal journey to uncover the reasons beneath the racial divide in our country, and I have taken in history and information from many sources recommended to me through others. I benefited mightily from them, and it is now my privilege to offer a recommendation to those who read this review. You should buy and read this book! Dr. McNeil offers up her personal experience in the arena of racial reconciliation while also tracing a road to what it looks like to be a reconciler through the Biblical story of Esther. The book is an easy and concise read; she cuts to the heart of things in each chapter making very important concepts easy to grasp. Most importantly, I can say definitively that this book has challenged and changed me. What the remainder of this journey looks like for me I have yet to find out. But, I came away with a great many things that will be valuable to me as I travel.

Becoming Brave is a must read! It is a timely reflection on what reconciliation is and why the non-white church should take the lead. Brenda Salter McNeil writes about her own journey to understanding more fully what reconciliation truly entails. She writes about the need to call things what they are. She writes honestly about the pain of assimilation culture and of racism within systems. For far too long the White church has expected people of color to make their pain palatable for us. But no more! I firmly believe true reconciliation within the Church will come when BIPOC decides to take the lead. The Black church does not need to make white evangelicals comfortable. They need to speak, move, and stand in the Word, holding Truth – as uncomfortable and hard as is it for us white folk to take – as the beacon to a more just society.

McNeil is a wise and trustworthy guide to those who realize reconciliation is Kingdom work. For people disenfranchised with the silence and complicity of the Church, McNeil’s book in a lantern in our current evangelical darkness.

This book is a MUST READ! Dr. Brenda Salter-McNeil beautifully weaves the story of Esther with her own life experiences and challenges us to act bravely to pursue God's justice in the world. Dr. Brenda Salter-McNeil writes in a way that enables readers to relate with and engage while challenging us to not remain silent or complicit. My 15 year old daughter also loved this book and has recommended it to others as well! If Christians and the church are going to be relevant in our society, we must heed this prophetic call to speak up about the injustices around us and work for systems that recognize ALL people are created in God's image. I have been personally challenged to take concrete steps to work toward justice. I hope that others will join me in reading this book and act with courage!

You probably haven't heard Esther's story explained like this before! Through the lens of this ancient, activist, Biblical queen, Dr. Brenda shows us how to courageously move forward with God's heart for justice. Sharing pieces of her story and highlighting people she has learned from, the author encourages the reader grow into their own story of reconciliation and learn from the tales of those, like Esther, who have bravely gone before us.

I highlighted a ridiculously large amount of this book and will definitely be reading it again and referencing those highlights. It was a helpful, engaging, and motivational read for me.

While it's not a direct commentary on the book of Esther, it does shed a lot of light onto the context and story of the book. Showing us how Esther navigated reconciliation and justice work for her people. If you have been feeling a push towards social justice and racial reconciliation but you aren't sure where to start, or if you've been doing the work for years and want some encouragement- this is the motivational read you are looking for! We highly recommend this book!

This book was truly amazing. A book you truly don't want to put down. If you are really concerned about racial reconciliation in the church in America, It is imperative that you read this book, and read it more than once. Using the book of Esther in the Bible, Pastor McNeil shows us how God cares about reconciliation, including the church. This is a must read book that will challenge and cause you to think tremendously. An absolute mind blowing book

I wanted to read this book after listening to Rev. Dr. McNeil speak as part of a virtual panel with Lisa Sharon Harper, Jemar Tisby, and LaTasha Morrison. She was the panelist with whom I was least familiar, but whose contribution I most enjoyed. Becoming Brave is essentially a book-long expansion of what she shared during that panel. Using the book of Esther as the framework, she describes her journey from fighting for diversity and inclusion in the church, to fighting against injustice and systemic racism. It's challenging and hopeful, without ignoring the very real obstacles that everyone doing anti-racism work faces. That we cannot have true reconciliation without justice and reparations may seem obvious to some and yet it is an idea that so many in the church deny both implicitly and explicitly. I appreciated Rev. Dr. McNeil's honesty and vulnerability as she confronted her own erroneous assumptions and modes of work as she calls the reader to do the same.

This book reads like one of the authors famous talks or sermons that people travel and pay good money to hear. She fleshes out the story of Esther from the Bible to show how each of us may be called to racial justice. Equal parts challenge and encouragement, the author pulls no punches in her exhortation. She uses personal stories, information from experts, and other Bible stories to complete the picture, and she is brutally honest about her own struggles. I often struggle to finish non-fiction books and prefer to read fiction, but this book was compelling right to the very end. The book is educational and inspirational and just a really good read.

I do not think anyone can argue that in these unprecedented times in the United States amid a global pandemic, horrendous governmental leadership with no regard for the imago Dei in all, and racial tensions that seem like we've taken a trip back to the civil rights movement, WE NEED TO BECOME BRAVE.

This book is a deep dive into a story that many Christians are familiar with but from a different perspective. She doesn't give us the "everything will be alright" platitudes. She tells us the truth. Standing up might just cost you something but she reminds us why being brave and standing on the right side of justice still is a worthy stance for the Christian.

In this book, our global Godmother in all things racial reconciliation lovingly takes our hand and shows us her journey and reminds us that in most of our lives like in hers, we don't have to go out looking to do this work, the work will find us. Yet, how we respond is the key and this book will give all who read it the moxie driven by understanding of scripture to STAND UP, STAND OUT and BE BRAVE.

Putting words and thoughts into practise may be the hardest thing... however reading someone's words and being completely open to opportunities is what most makes digesting this book and putting it out into the world the most vulnerable. This book is a great tool to open minds and explore what is possible.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Brenda Salter McNeil and Brazos Press for providing me with an ecopy of this publication which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.