Pastor::Public Theologian::Food Justice Activist::Writer.

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Note: See Rev. Y's bio on the 

Welcome Page.

Some people call me Pastor. Most people call me “Y.” I love telling people about the origin of my name.  My parents named me “Y”vette and made a declaration that the “Y” is not silent. They believed that God was calling me to be a prophetic voice. Now that’s a prophetic word, because as a pastor, public theologian, and food justice scholar and activist, I am not quiet when it comes to calling out the injustices, amplifying my voice - and taking my faith publicly.

My life’s work is about helping people move from brokenness to wholeness. I left a lucrative position as a regional vice president of marketing and communications in the non-profit world to answer my calling into ordained ministry. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University with a Master of Theological Studies in 2013 and in 2022, I earned a Doctor of Ministry in Land, Food and Faith Formation at Memphis Theological Seminary. 

I am a fellow of the 2018-2020 inaugural cohort of the Vanderbilt Divinity School's Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative.  I am also a 2017 fellow of Princeton Theological Seminary's prestigious Black Theology and Leadership Institute, a 2021 Engle Preaching Fellow and a 2022 cohort member of the Women's Leadership Program - Iron Sharpening Iron. I am passionate about faith and advocacy.  

 Land. It's always about the land. That's why I pursued and earned a Doctor of Ministry in Land, Food and Faith at Memphis Theological Seminary. As an innovative ecclesial disruptor and a pursuer of justice, I am actively engaged in ministry in the margins, and I seek to disrupt the systems and structures that promote marginalization, poverty, food injustice and famines. My heightened awareness of food justice began during my time at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.    

While I was serving as a resident community chaplain, I began focusing my attention on the struggles and impact that the misuse of land causes for impoverished communities. With the help of undergraduate students, I created and led a “Harvest for Our Communities,” food project to intentionally draw attention to the food injustices that resulted in food apartheid and barren land, making it unable to produce crops.  This project helped to crystallize, for me, a vision that God had set before me many years earlier: restoring the land in a way that is redemptive and that helps to bring God’s Kin-dom on earth as it is Heaven. 

In my formative years, I spent many summers on my grandparents’ land, heir property, in East Texas, with ownership that dates to the mid-1800s.  For years, I've pondered how this heir property originally began with God deeding the land to God’s people for sustenance, thriving life and sustainable goods. I've been exploring the effects of what happens when people abuse this sacred gift that God bestowed to us, and how the wielding of power, deeds and land titles have disrupted the health and wholeness of God’s people. In some areas, the Promised Land of milk and honey has been tarnished and misrepresented as the Poverty-Stricken Land of malaise and hurt. 

During this same time at SMU, I began to develop and write a comprehensive Bible study on the Old Testament Hebrew story of Ruth  to fulfill requirements for Board of Ordained Ministry. As that study grew and evolved into the book, Being Ruth: Pressing Through Life’s Struggles with Fearless Faith, my appreciation and fascination for land deepened as I researched and explored the relationship of faith and famine in the sacred text. From the origins of the creation story in Genesis, agriculture has been at the core of our faith. Land has always been sacred, and its intended use has unfortunately been maligned by people in charge of systems and structures who perhaps don’t understand the social responsibility and stewardship of taking care of the land. When land is treated as a disposable commodity rather than heir property gifted to God’s children, then injustices are ripe for the picking. In many ways, this attention to land has always been foundational in my ministry. More specifically, who are the vulnerable among us living in neighborhoods without access to healthy and culturally diet specific foods? Why is food apartheid (food deserts) more prevalent in black and brown communities? And how does the church respond to this injustice?

Born and raised in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, I fell in love with writing when I was six. That led me to being a budding junior “investigative reporter,” and to pursue my BA in Journalism and English Literature from the University of North Texas. After a successful career in journalism working in print, radio and television, I shifted gears to serve in the non-profit world where I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the people with whom I came in contact. From my work as a public relations specialist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC to my work as regional vice president of communications and marketing for the South Central Affiliate of the American Heart Association, I’ve enjoyed utilizing my God-given gift of writing and editing to make meaningful contributions and to help positively transform the lives of others. 

My poetry, creative non-fiction, historical fiction and academic works are published in anthologies, journals, books and magazines, including Kente Cloth, Tex!, Langdon Review of Arts in Texas, Texas Short Stories, The Thing Itself, Resipiscence and Review & Expositor. 

I am a firm believer that God can and will heal our brokenness. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s Masterpiece. He has created us so we can do good things.” I am hopeful that God will continue to allow me to do the “good thing” of helping everyday people, like you and me, put our words to paper, and produce work that will truly be a balm for the masses. 

What sets me apart from being just a "copyeditor," is my background, education and theological training in God's word. I read for grammar, flow, and attention to the accuracy of God's word. This means that I will double-check the Scriptures, listen for your "flow," stay true to your voice, and make sure that what you "preach" comes across with the same power in your book. It's like having another minister of the Gospel working alongside you.   

In July of 2017, I released Being Ruth: Pressing Through Life's Struggles with Fearless Faith.  

Is your book next? Let's connect: yvette@yvetteblair.com