Grawemeyer celebration to feature an exploration of religion and race in America with panel of nationally recognized former Grawemeyer Award recipients

As part of the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Grawemeyer Awards, the Black Church Studies program of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary will present “Race, Faith & Community,” an exploration of religion and race in America with presentations by two Grawemeyer Award in Religion winners and two prominent activists. The programs will take place on Oct. 12 and 13, 2015. Detailed information and an event schedule is available here.

Speakers include Dr. Leslie D. Callahan, Pastor, St. Paul’s Baptist Church (Philadelphia); Chris Doucot, Founder, The Hartford Catholic Worker; Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor, Yale Divinity School; DeRay McKesson, Educator/School Administrator; and Dr. Barbara D. Savage, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Leslie D. Callan is Senior pastor at Saint Paul Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and a scholar of religious history in the United States, particularly independent African American Christianity and Pentecostal studies. Learn more here.

Christopher Doucot co-founded the Hartford Catholic Worker community in the north end of Hartford in 1993. The Hartford Catholic Worker facilitates the building of community that transcends generational, gender, racial, geographical, and class barriers. It also houses homeless persons, feeds hungry persons, works with children to keep them in school and out of gangs, and resists violence. Learn more here.

Rev. Dr. Willie Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University Divinity School. He received the 2015 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race. Learn more here.

DeRay McKesson was an educator and school administrator in Minneapolis when Michael Brown was killed by Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. McKesson joined the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and became one of several leaders who are contesting the over-policing of African Americans, police brutality, and state violence. Learn more here.

Dr. Barbara D. Savage is Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Savage won the 2012 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for her book Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion, which analyzes the complex interplay between black churches and politics in the twentieth century. Learn more here.

 


 

The public is invited to take part in all of the Grawemeyer Awards 30th Anniversary Celebration events, which continue into mid-November and include conversations with, and presentations by, former Grawemeyer Award winners in education, religion, psychology, music and political science. The events address diverse topics, including “The Death and Life of the American School System,” “Mysteries of Human Memory” and “Insights into Corruption.” The events are free and open to the public.