The Impact of 20th Century African American Social Justice Voices on the Life and Ministry of Local Christian Churches

Dr. David C. Forbes and Dr. Cathy Smith Gilliard

This cohort is built around review of the lives, scholarship and work of selected Twentieth Century social justice drum majors or voices; and examination of what impact, if any, these exemplars have had on the life and ministries of selected local congregations.  Students will plumb the lives and literature of Katie Cannon, James, Cone, W.E.B. Dubois, James A. Forbes, Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, Peter Gomes, William Augustus Jones, Leontyne Kelly, Martin Luther Kings, Jr., C. Eric Lincoln, Benjamin Mays, Ella Mitchell, Henry Mitchell, Samuel Proctor, Gardner C. Taylor, Emily Towns, Wyatt Tee Walker, Sandy Ray, Booker T. Washington, James Washington, Jeremiah Wright, and others.  Students will design congregationally based studies to test in what ways the exposure of pastors to the work of these writers has impacted social justice in the parish.