What We Do

The Wisdom & The Work is a podcast that emphasizes the value of privileging the wisdom of Black, Indigenous, People of Color and challenging white people to step up and do the work, in order to move towards racial justice. It is true that BIPOC and white people both hold wisdom and both have work, albeit different, to do. However, this podcast makes it clear that those who have been harmed most by structural racism – BIPOC – are compelled to build the skill, knowledge and will commensurate with a vision for a just society. Similarly, those who have benefited most from structural racism – white people – hold such power that they must lead in doing the work to dismantle it. 

The Wisdom & The Work offers listeners pithy and profound truths that emerge from lifetimes of lived experience and decades of work on the part of racial justice practitioners. There are brief illustrations, short stories, mini discourses, spoken word and homilies as methods of instruction and inspiration. You are invited to hear from activists, scholars and “scholactivists” who have dedicated themselves to racial justice. You will share knowledge and know-how, raise questions and concerns, and issue calls to action so that The Wisdom & The Work is more than a learning experience. It is affirmation and encouragement for those committed to the fight for racial justice. It is for the edification and motivation of those who are seeking to do their part in the fight for racial justice. It serves to confront and challenge those who have conceded the lie of white supremacy and remain complicit in the racial injustices that continually plague our land.

Who We Are


  • is a leadership coach, organizational and cultural change agent, facilitator, counselor and public speaker. All of his work is grounded in an equity lens and motivated by a desire to achieve justice. Sterling’s more than 25 years of experience have equipped him with the knowledge and skills in idea development, project management, personal development and goal clarification, and formal and extemporaneous speaking.

    Having been in Christian ministry since 1996, Sterling also brings a pastoral orientation to this work, and is inclined toward deep listening, holding empathy and meeting people where they are. Sterling has worked with leaders whose diversity spans all lines of identity and across multiple sectors in the nonprofit world. Speaking and lecture opportunities take him across the country and abroad. Along with Kathleen Crabbs, Sterling is a Co-Founder and Principal with CounterPart Consulting, LLC and Associate with OpenSource Leadership Strategies. Through both entities, he and his colleagues work with client-partners to help them apply an explicit racial equity lens to their work. He is a consultant with Auburn Seminary (New York, NY) where he works with leaders of moral courage on multiple justice -centered projects. He is also the Lead Founder of BREATHE: A Whole Black Experience, which makes space for black people to freely discuss their racialized experiences, grapple with the impact of those experiences and affirm themselves and one another. Sterling holds a Master of Divinity from the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a BA in Economics from Davidson College, certificates in business strategy and economics from the London School of Economics, and the Doctor of Ministry Degree in Global Leadership from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University. Sterling serves on the board of the African American Heritage House at Chautauqua Institution in New York, the vision of which is to contribute to a more vibrant Chautauqua community and enrich the Chautauqua (CHQ) community through the inclusion of African American history, culture, and the contributions of African Americans intellectuals. He also serves on the board of Neighborhood Seminary whose mission is to seamlessly integrate theological and spiritual education for head, heart, and hands, so that lay people can fully participate in God's mission in the world. Sterling lives in Durham with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter Joia.


  • is the founder and creator of Our Bible App and Bemba Press. Find out more at ourbibleapp.com.

    Crystal Cheatham (she/hers) received her MFA from Antioch University. She is an LGBTQ+ rights activist with a focus on religious liberty. Since 2011 Crystal has worked simultaneously as a ghostwriter and queer rights activist with groups such as Soulforce and the Attic Youth Center. As an entrepreneur Crystal is the founder of two projects: Follow the Red Balloon and The IDentity Kit, both of which provided resources for marginalized communities of faith. As an outspoken activist she has written for The Huffington Post on the intersections of faith and sexual identity, a faith and spirituality column for the Philadelphia Gay Newspaper, sat on the steering committee of the HRC as the Faith & Spirituality chair, and partnered with Equality PA to influence clergy to support non-discrimination legislation. She is the host of Lord Have Mercy, a podcast about God, sex and the bible, and has been featured in TeenVogue, Autostraddle, and LGBTQNation amongst others. Contact Crystal at Crystal@ourbibleapp.com.