Sierra is a reporter in the Fall 2024 Sojourners Journalism Cohort. Learn more about the program.
Sierra is freelance journalist and the editorial fellow at The 74. She has an extensive portfolio of work focused on education, politics, race, Christianity and their intersections. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Washington Post, New York Magazine and the Huffington Post among others.
Sierra previously worked at National Public Radio as an investigations intern through the Ida B. Wells Society. During her time at NPR, she conducted research on financial technology companies and contributed reporting for an investigative series on the Paycheck Protection Program.
Sierra is a graduate of Florida A&M University, where she studied broadcast journalism and served as an editor for the university newspaper and writer for the school’s magazine. During her time on campus, she interned with The American Prospect magazine as a fact-checker and reporter.
In 2023 she also worked with veteran journalist Anya Kamenetz in developing a long-form series on the history of the environmental justice movement, spotlighting the work of youth climate activists in Louisiana, Mississippi and New York City in confronting environmental racism.
When Sierra isn’t writing, she’s the producer and host of her podcast “Sit Still With Sierra” where her and guests discuss Christianity, womanhood, and culture.
Posts By This Author
How Tim Walz Worked With Faith and Justice Organizers in Minnesota
Gov. Tim Walz signs into law a sweeping package of police accountability measures Thursday, July 23, 2020, making Minnesota the latest state that adopted changes to law enforcement in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd. (Glen Stubbe/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM via Reuters)
As Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz continue to campaign across the country, pastors and organizers in Minnesota are reflecting on their work with the governor, saying that he has displayed an authentic willingness to collaborate with faith and community leaders over his tenure.
When Christian Colleges Fire ‘Woke’ Professors, Who Will Stop Them?
Sam Joeckel, an English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida, is seen at his North Palm Beach home on Feb. 21, 2023. Joeckel’s contract with the Christian university has been terminated early after a parent complained about a racial justice unit he taught in one of his courses. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS via Alamy)
Professor Sam Joeckel’s 21-year tenure at Palm Beach Atlantic University ended after a single complaint from a parent who stated that Joeckel was indoctrinating his students. What started out as a typical day in February soon became a nightmare for Joeckel as the dean and provost of the university waited for him outside his classroom to inform him his teaching contract wouldn’t be renewed.
The Revival White Christians Are Missing
June 7, 2020 - Washington, D.C. "Jesus was lynched" sign at a protest for the death of George Floyd. Credit: Reuters/Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA.
Despite the many revival services and conferences held every year across the country, it seems white Christians in the U.S. have yet to be radically transformed when it comes to justice advocacy. I’m not looking to label others’ revival experiences as “true” or “false.” Instead, I’m hoping that Christians in general — but white Christians specifically — learn to expand their understanding of what a revival entails. After the harm and reprimand I experienced in the white evangelical church for my dedication to social justice, I have returned to the Black church tradition in which I was raised. Being in this space has affirmed my belief that worshiping Christ and fighting for a more just world go hand in hand.
Ultimately, I think there are times when revival spreads to the streets for weeks on end but because it doesn’t happen within the four walls of a church where there is ambient lighting and bottomless coffee, we don’t recognize it.