After Dominique's first book Rethinking Incarceration rocked my world and propelled me to action. I now correspond regularly with a man on death row in my state. I am actively working towards ending the death penalty in my state.

I was all set to read his next necessary challenge for those who strive to follow Christ. Subversive Witness was more powerful than I expected because not only is it chock-full of wise words from leaders and influencers, research and history, but this book, this prophetic call for church-goers is grounded in something we all share: the words of Scripture. The Word of God comes alive as Dominique opens the Bible and provides meaning, context, and a refreshing (and also nonwhite) perspective on how many people in the Bible chose to leverage their privilege for the sake of kingdom work.

This book has made me want to slow down, reread each Biblical story, grab my commentary and Biblical dictionary and listen to the Word that God is speaking to me through this book and His word. The reflection questions have been a particularly helpful place and space for me to organize my thoughts, reflect and respond wholeheartedly. I look forward to beginning a book discussion group to continue to share these excellent questions with friends and neighbors who are eager for meaningful conversation.

Dominique opens a vision for life in each's own skin, in each's own social location, a vision for a life that honors God and loves others tangibly. There is a way that takes all its resources and leverages them for a life of thriving for the individual and for the community. Another world, besides the conflated American Dream/Christian Nationalist/Propsertiy Gospel is possible, is necessary, and is happening! The biographies he tells of paint the picture of being a subversive witness.

I think all Americans who claim to follow Christ (or claim Christianity) should engage with Dominique's interpretation of scripture and what that means for their lives. I am sure they will, like me, be surprisingly freed. Freed.

"A few of the anti-gospel tables we will have to overturn - not an exhaustive list - as subversive witnesses include rugged individualism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. A freer life, an abundant life in Christ is awaiting us when we cast down these idols and embrace the collective liberation the gospel affords."

“What keeps good people silent and complicit when they know their neighbor is being dehumanized, oppressed, exploited, and/or massacred?” (25)

This isn’t a question that is meant to overwhelm or make others feel stuck in grief.
When things are falling apart, hate and hurt rage, there is hope—not the frilly or opiate kind, but the kind that Bruggemann writes, “hope is subversive, for it limits the grandiose pretension of the present, daring to announce that the present to which we have all made commitments is now called into question.” Gilliard’s book illustrates this. Subversive Witness calls those who claim allegiance to Christ to model what it means to leverage their privilege to embody hope, lament, and power through actions that pushback on the evil systems of the empire.

The book notably examines how privilege keeps us from hearing the truth about history and creating equitable and just possibilities. “Unbridled privilege emboldens an a la carte faith that masquerades as Christianity.”

𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 provides encouragement to those who are looking for ways to deepen their discipleship practices and who are willing to wrestle with what it means to follow a revolutionary Jewish God-man from the Nazareth ghetto.

I actually was not sure what to expect. As someone who feels like they know biblical narratives pretty well, Gilliard has a way of pointing to aspects we longtime readers often overlook or minimize. He has a gift for breaking open that which we may have been hardened to and allowing the precious possibilities to spill out.

It is insightful, practical and provides encouragement to those who are looking for ways to deepen their discipleship practices and who are willing to wrestle with what it means to follow a revolutionary Jewish God-man from the Nazareth ghetto.

One of the Best Books of 2021. In Subversive Witness, author Dominique DuBois Gilliard illuminates the stories of important biblical characters to show that Christians have the ability and responsibility to administer, use and sometimes to give up privileges to advance the Kingdom of God and to help the people around us. From the daughter of Pharaohs Esther, Moses, Paul, Silas, Jesus, and Zacchaeus - the author shows how the Holy Spirit leads the people of God to be stewards of our privileges. This book is a MUST READ!

Having read Dominique DuBois Gilliard's book Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores I was expecting a very insightful and challenging book when I was going to read Subversive Witness. I was not disappointed. He fleshes out in the stories of Biblical characters how they were subversive witnesses in their time and place.

Throughout this book Dominique details for us how these Biblical characters used their privilege to honor God and their neighbors fro their positions of privilege. I believe the following quote best sums up what is addressed in Dominique's book:

"Having privilege is not a sin, though privilege emerges from sin. What is sinful is exploiting privilege for our own advantage and turning a blind eye to the suffering of our neighbors in order to sustain it. Scripture repeatedly acknowledges privilege and provides insight into how privilege insidiously functions today. Learning to unmask privilege can be painful work, but the cure for the pain is in the pain. By candidly addressing privilege, we create a unique opportunity for the body of Christ to turn away from sin and reorient ourselves toward God and neighbor through the spiritual disciplines of remembrance, confession, lament, and repentance." p. 84

Dominique Gilliard looks at Pharaoh’s Daughter, Esther, Moses, Paul and Silas, Jesus, and Zacchaeus and how they turned their privilege upside-down and addressed the suffering of their neighbors rather than exploiting it to their own advantage. This is the Kingdom of God displayed in flesh and proximity "on earth as it is in heaven."

This is a book that pastor's, elder's, deacons, and lay persons should read to understand how the Church can be an incarnate and subversive witness in today's world as we were intended to be. A Christ's ecclesia we need to understand the proper use of "privilege and its power". To leverage our privilege to address "systemic sin", "stand in solidarity", "birth liberation", bring about "systemic change", "proclaim the good news", and to "foster social transformation."

I am thankful for Dominique's faithful presence in the way he lives out his faith and his gift of writing and without reserve highly recommend this book.

In his new book, Subversive Witness, Dominique Gilliard tackles the sometimes touchy subject of privilege by diving into Biblical examples of people who had privilege and what they did with it. By examining the stories of Pharoah’s daughter, Esther, Zacchaeus, Paul and Silas, and others including Jesus himself, I’ve been challenged to think about my own privileges and how they have been granted to me not to exploit for my own or my family’s benefit, but to leverage for the flourishing of others, particularly those who do not have the same privileges. Besides the Biblical context and history that I always find so helpful when learning about Bible stories and passages, I also enjoyed how Dominique pulled from other theologians, pastors, authors, and thinkers to flesh out implications in today’s world. And for anyone who questions the existence of “white privilege,” the data-rich and historical-fact-full first chapter breaks down the reality in a thorough yet succinct way. As with other calls to stewardship and action, the challenge is in the personal application, to listen and discern exactly how I am being called to participate, but I found the present-day real-people stories sprinkled throughout to be encouraging and inspirational. The following quote from the book that helps me to take the idea of privilege out of culture wars and CRT debates and into the Biblical mandate that comes with following Jesus: “What we have been entrusted with us not just for us. We are blessed to be a blessing, to reinvest in our communities, and to contribute to communal flourishing.”

Dominique Gilliard's new offering to Christian prophetic literature is a refreshing and timely treat as a Black pastor intent on highlighting the affect of race and power that impacts the daily lives of my members and local parish. Dominique lays bare the various realities of "privilege" we all must examine courageously across race, class, and gender. If we are serious about living out our mandate to love our neighbor and influence a more just society, then this is an indispensable work for church leadership development for all of us.

Rev. Richard A. Honeywell, Sr. Pastor.
City of Freedom Baptist Church
Brooklyn, N.Y.

“Choosing to speak out against evil will always cost us something, and staying silent as oppression abounds will fatally seal the fate of our neighbors. While many have been taught to understand silence as neutrality or simply staying above the fray, silence amid oppression legitimates the status quo and only leads to more suffering, injustice, and death. In fact, Dr Martin Luther King Jr wrote, ‘He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.’” — Dominique Gilliard, Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call To Leverage Privilege

Dominique Gilliard‘s #SubversiveWitness speaks to leveraging privilege, speaking up and speaking out; and it uses examples from the Bible to show the moments that made all the difference. He also has built a video series for it that allows for group discussions about how to talk through and work into leveraging these moments in our own lives.

But his book is not about the Bible; it’s about justice and equity and using our big and small moments to create change for the marginalized—for those Jesus spent his earthly days talking to, eating meals with, lifting up. And while it’s only been the last several years where I’ve chosen not to be silent anymore—this still is so relevant to where I am in this moment of my anti-racism life.

Subversive Witness is a good call for anyone looking for ways they can find those moments to leverage privilege. But it’s also a great opportunity for churches to wrestle with their own silence—especially the deafening silence we have seen in these last several years.

This book is by far the most comprehensive and well organized book I have ever read on the role of believers pursuing justice. So many Christians have been asking, "What's next?", and Dominique provides some very clear and practical answers to that question. Dominique masterfully highlights key biblical figures and the way they utilized all the resources afforded to them to promote the well being of others. As readers engage with these familiar accounts in new and challenging ways, I think they will have their eyes opened to just how much is possible when we shift our focus from ourselves to the world around us. There is eye-opening history and statistics as well as personal stories of what it means to practically leverage our privilege today. Subversive Witness is a convicting yet inspiring invitation to join God in doing the restorative work that has always been essential to the Gospel, even if we in the church haven't always communicated that clearly. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This book was packed with incredible information, thoughtful provoking, and impressive resources. I appreciate Dominique's look at how to leverage privilege from an overall biblical perspective. The theological guidance was a fresh look at how individuals in scripture were able to leverage their privilege (whether they knew it or not) because of their obedience to God, and why we ought to do the same. I truly appreciate the way the author wrote this book, the reflection questions at the end, and the resources cited throughout. I will certainly be using this in the courses I teach as a professor.