"In this book, Marcia Lane-McGee and Shannon Wimp Schmidt speak frankly about their experiences as Black women in the Church and invite Catholic women from all walks of life to look at the feasts and seasons of the liturgical year through the lens of Black Catholic culture"--
Marcia Lane-McGee is the cohost of the Plaid Skirts and Basic Black podcast and a family teacher at Mooseheart Child City and School. She is a founding member, executive board member, and secretary of Catholics United for Black Lives and an executive board member and the vice president of New Wave Feminists.
Lane-McGee attended Benedictine University, where she studied English language and literature and minored in Spanish. She earned a national certification in Catholic youth ministry from the Center for Ministry Development and was certified in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace from the University of South Florida MUMA College of Businesses. Lane-McGee previously served as coordinator of youth ministry for the Diocese of Joliet and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and as a community resource coordinator for Youth Guidance. She has been a guest on CatholicTV's This is the Day and SiriusXM's The Katie McGrady Show. Her work has been featured in Common Horizons magazine and The Catholic Herald UK.
She lives in the Chicago, Illinois, area.
Shannon Wimp Schmidt is the content director of the ecumenical youth ministry collaboration TENx10, coauthor of Fat Luther, Slim Pickin's: A Black Catholic Celebration of Faith, Tradition, and Diversity, cohost of the Plaid Skirts and Basic Black podcast, and a founding member of Catholics United for Black Lives.
Schmidt earned a bachelor's degree in theology and Italian from the University of Notre Dame and a master's degree in pastoral studies from Catholic Theological Union. She has more than a decade of experience in youth and pastoral ministry and has served in various capacities, including director of OCIA, adult faith formation coordinator, diversity educator, interfaith ministry leader, and theology teacher.
Schmidt is a regular contributor to FemCatholic and U.S. Catholic magazine. Her work has been featured in the Catholic Standard, in the National Catholic Reporter, and on CatholicTV's This Is the Day.
Schmidt lives with her husband and their four children in the Chicago, Illinois, area.
Kathryn Whitaker is the author of the award-winning book Live Big, Love Bigger. She's a sixth-generation Texan who was raised as an evangelical Protestant and then converted to Catholicism on the eve of her wedding.
On social media, Whitaker shares her honest take on family life, prematurity and living the Gospel, all while drinking Dr Pepper and cheering on the Texas Aggies. She has appeared in USA Today and Publishers Weekly, and on NBC, EWTN, Ave Maria Radio, and Catholic TV. She and Rachel Bulman are the co-hosts of Strong Voices, a weekly show on The Catholic Channel on SiriusXM.
Whitaker and her husband, Scott, live with their six children in Austin, Texas.