James W. (Jim) Perkinson is a long-time activist and educator who has lived for 35 years as a settler on Three Fires land in inner city Detroit.  He is currently teaching as Professor of Social Ethics at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary and lecturing in Intercultural Communication Studies at the University of Oakland (Michigan). He holds a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Chicago, is the author of five books on theology/spirituality and two poetry chap books. He has also written extensively in both academic and popular journals on questions of race, class and colonialism in connection with religion and urban culture.  He is in demand as a speaker on a wide variety of topics related to his interests and a recognized artist on the spoken-word poetry scene in the inner city.

Praise for His work

Praise for Political Spirituality in an Age of Eco-Apocalypse: “Political Spirituality in an Age of Eco-Apocalypse is a celebration of life. Perkinson warns that if thoughtful, proactive measures ranging from policy shifts to full-scale ontological about-faces are not sought, then our apocalyptic fears will most certainly materialize. The book outlines how a turn toward indigeneity and the cultural sensibilities of those on the margins of social worlds and scientific research might stave off destruction.” (Monica R. Miller, author of Religion and Hip Hop; Lehigh University, USA)

Praise for Political Spirituality in a Century of Water Wars: “This is a timely study of a problem that will only increase in urgency in the coming years – the growing water crisis. Perkinson addresses with clarity and power the roots of the crisis in climate change and social injustice. He describes as well how a responsible engagement with the crisis requires a spiritually grounded engagement with systemic injustice and with technological structures of environmentally sustainable water use. His focus is the crisis in Detroit, yet the implications of his analysis are global in scope. A compelling call to action grounded in honesty, gratitude and respect!” (Sharon D. Welch, Meadville Lombard Theological School, USA)

Praise for Shamanism, Racism, and Hip-Hop Culture: “Perkinson’s book is a performance. This is a book by a poet-theologian. It is an example of how to do things not only with words but also with ideas and concepts; an example, in other words, of how to imaginatively perform theology and religious studies. What the book performs is a critical engagement with the world of race, racism and modernity. As such, it offers an example not of inverted snobbery (as we might expect given a certain reading of its authors ‘race’) but rather of what solidarity with the victims of racialized modernity might look like when practiced and attested by a white man struggling for racial justice. It is not necessary to agree with Perkinson’s use of, among others, categories such as ‘shamanism’ and ‘witchcraft’ in order to see the power of his prophetic argument and the summons it proposes for us to walk humbly, love mercy and do justly. The book is intelligently written, powerfully argued and verges on being what one might call a counter-genre, a genre in which the poetic, the prophetic and the theological are co-mingled in a special way so as to form a comprehensive hermeneutical challenge to our usual modes of thinking and writing.” (Edward P. Antonio, Associate Professor of Theology and Social Theory, Iliff School of Theology)