UCC Media Justice Ministry is proud to announce the Rev. Dr. D. Amina B. Butts as our inaugural Media Justice Fellow. Made possible with initial support from the Potomac Association of the UCC, this new fellowship builds expertise in media justice issues and content creation among seminary students, faith-based activists, and content creators serving the Potomac Association.
Dr. Butts is a preacher, teacher, administrator, author, and human rights defender active within the United Church of Christ’s Potomac Association. She is the author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Story of a Black Woman Preacher (2022), and her 2005 dissertation examined Covenant Baptist UCC’s journey toward intentional inclusion.
Ordained in both the A.M.E. Church and First Baptist Church of Deanwood in Washington, D.C., she has served congregations across the DMV and the country, and has worked as an Army Chaplain Candidate, hospital and prison chaplain, and director of an HIV community-based program. In 2014, she founded a global ministry working to free queer and trans people in East Africa and the Diaspora and to serve abused and neglected children in Uganda.
As a queer, both-gender loving, cis woman and human rights defender, Dr. Butts brings a depth of lived experience and pastoral wisdom to the intersection of faith and media justice.
“I am excited about embarking on this journey that continues the work of embodying the beloved community through faith and media justice.”
Cheryl A. Leanza, UCC Media Justice’s policy advisor said, “We are so delighted to welcome Dr. Butts as our inaugural fellow. We are looking forward to her work bringing together her ministry and illustrating the power of media justice.”
Over her six-month fellowship, Dr. Butts will develop content and activities serving her own ministry goals, local issues in the Potomac Association, and media justice more broadly.