The Hope for Something Different featuring Lisa Butler

A feminist before she knew what feminism was Lisa Butler grew up wondering why she and her mother were members of a strict Pentecostal church on the south side of Chicago, one that stripped women of their freedom and asked them to give up their power to the pulpit.

Lisa was a smart and motivated student with dreams for her future but had to put them on hold when she got pregnant at 16. Now a licensed clinical social worker with a special interest in the physical and emotional effects of chronic stress that black women experience living in dangerous neighborhoods, she works in private practice and has also mentored teen moms in Chicago to help them think critically and help better care for themselves.

In this episode, Lisa shares her views on oppression, how a lack of basic resources like jobs, quality healthcare, and education have perpetuated the cycle of poverty, and the work she’s doing on What’s Left Behind, her documentary highlighting the moms and families of murdered young people lost to gun violence in Chicago.