Illustration by Justine Lecouffe

Maryam Molkara was a devout Muslim and a transgender woman from Iran. She endured many injustices because of her gender identity, including imprisonment and physical assault. One day in 1987, she walked into Ayatollah Khomeini’s office to ask for the religious and legal right to live as a woman. She got it (after being beaten by his guards), and Iran today still has more rights for transgender people than other neighboring countries thanks to her courage. You can read the full profile of Maryam from the book as a free sample here.

Illustration by Sr. X

Bayard Rustin is the Civil Rights hero most people don't know about. He was a key advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and helped convince Dr. King to fully embrace non-violent resistance as an ideology. Bayard was the chief organizer of the March on Washington in 1963 where Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. However, Bayard was also a gay man in an era when that was considered a liability (not to mention a crime), so he had to stay in the background. Bayard credited his Quaker faith for his activism and his firm conviction that all people are equal and part of one human family. You can read the full profile of Bayard from the book as a free sample here.

Illustration by Jared Wright

Rabbi Regina Jonas was the first woman ordained as a Rabbi, but her story was almost lost to history because her ordination took place in 1935 in Berlin, Germany, and, tragically, she was killed at Auschwitz. Regina wrote her thesis on whether or not women could be rabbis according to sacred Jewish texts and religious laws, and helped set up a secret synagogue at the concentration camp where the Nazis took her in 1942. Regina’s papers were discovered after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and her story is being rediscovered today.

Illustration by Rebecca Solow

Cindy Wang Brandt is an author and speaker known for her work helping parents who are “raising children unfundamentalist.” She grew up in Taiwan and converted to evangelicalism as an elementary student and knows how damaging it can be to view children and parenting through the lens of original sin, which often leads to authoritarian parenting and damaged relationships and shamed children. She recently got fired from her job at an evangelical college in Taiwan because of her outspoken advocacy for the full rights of LGBTQ people, but with a transgender sibling, she is more than willing to pay this price for her advocacy. You can read Cindy’s full profile from the book as a free sample here.

Illustration by Breena Nuñez

Gustavo Gutiérrez is a Catholic priest from Lima, Peru. Gustavo’s first church as a young priest was in a desperately poor area of Lima. Gustavo struggled to preach what he’d been taught to preach when his congregation didn’t even have enough food for their children. He began to study the causes of poverty, especially in South America with the history of colonization. He realized that people cause poverty, which also means that people have the power to change the systems that cause it. Gustavo believes that God especially loves the poor and reminds us that Jesus, who was born to a poor family living under oppression, preached an upside-down kingdom where the last will be first, and those on the margins will be gathered to the center.

Illustration by Chief Ladybird

Kaitlin Curtice is an author, speaker whose words are often both prophetic and poetic. She is an enrolled member of the Potawatomi Citizen Band and speaks about being Native and also having grown up in the Christian church. The Potawatomi origin story of how Turtle Island (the term for North America used by many Native people) came to be helped her understand the Christian origin story and why origin stories matter.

Kaitlin found that as she began to talk about the ways in which the Christian church had harmed Native people in the past and present, Christians were often uncomfortable and wished she would be quiet. But Kaitlin continues to speak up. She has a gift for reminding people that it’s okay to be uncomfortable and that ultimately, we all belong. You can read the full profile of Kaitlin from the book as a free sample here.

Illustration by Gillian Gamble

Rachel Held Evans was a beloved author and speaker who gave many people hope that it was okay to question faith and God. She loved the Jesus story and spoke up when church leaders were excluding people she knew Jesus would have included. One of Rachel’s favorite Bible stories was the story of Jacob wrestling with an angel, who turned out to be God. She loved this model from the Bible that part of being human is wrestling with God. Questions are more than okay.

“I don’t know all of the answers,” she said. “It’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to be angry even. But I do know that the essence of the Divine is love. In the midst of your questions, you are fully loved right now, just as you are.” You can read Rachel’s full profile from the book as a free sample here.

Illustration by Carla Madrigal

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese monk, a teacher and a peace activist. His students call him Thay, which means teacher. He became a monk at 16, inspired by the joy and serenity of Buddha. Buddhism teaches that people can overcome suffering by developing inner peace. Thay believed that Buddhist practices could also help end suffering in society, and he developed the idea of engaged Buddhism during the Vietnam War. The government of Vietnam was angry that Thay refused to take sides in the war and exiled him. He moved to France and began helping the refugees who fled Vietnam. He started a monastery there to teach others Buddhist practices. Life brings suffering, but Thay says that when we respond to suffering with compassion by bringing relief and hope, we, too can “be a Buddha.” You can read the full profile of Thay from the book as a free sample here.

Illustration by Rommy Torrico

Jacqui Lewis pastors Middle Collegiate Church, a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic church in New York City. Rev. Jacqui cares about us having a better world where immigrants, refugees, Indigenous people, people of color, and LGBTQ people are treated fairly. Love is what matters most. Jacqui tells her congregation often that everything in the Bible comes down to love. “Love. Period,” she says. “Everything else is commentary.”

Rev. Jacqui also believes that joy is an essential part of life because we need joy to help fuel us in loving ourselves and others. She always remembers something her mother whispered in her ear when she took her first communion at age seven: “God will always love you, and God will never leave you.” You can read Rev. Jacqui’s full profile from the book as a free sample here.