Min. Rahiel Tesfamariam

Biography

Rahiel Tesfamariam is an award-winning activist, journalist, theologian, and speaker. A former Washington Post columnist, she is the founder of Urban Cusp, a cutting-edge online community highlighting faith, social change, culture, and global awareness. 

Rahiel is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Divinity School, where she was the inaugural William Sloane Coffin, Jr. Scholar for Peace and Justice. At age 23, she served as the youngest editor-in-chief in the history of The Washington Informer newspaper. She has over two decades of organizing experience with national and international social justice organizations. Amidst the Ferguson Uprising, Rahiel led #NotOneDime, a national economic boycott. For years, she worked in Africa, organizing with Pan-African movements across the continent.

Rahiel has traveled the world on various delegations and humanitarian projects. She has spoken at prestigious universities and historic churches throughout the nation. As a generational voice, Rahiel has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Ebony, Elle, and on BET and Revolt TV. Essence magazine named her one of the nation’s “New Civil Rights Leaders.” Rahiel’s first book, Imagine Freedom: Transforming Pain into Political and Spiritual Power, is now available wherever books are sold.