Jul 31, 2020
In this episode of Louisiana NOW, we look back at the final anti-racism module presented to the Louisiana Conference from Project Curate — a non-profit that works with religious and community organizations to support collaborative responses to intersectional issues of inequality and injustice.
The Blackness 101 module helped us
explore racial categorizing as a tool of power from the perspective
of the black experience. We discussed essential conversation
markers and how anti-blackness is a form atonement. We began to
recognize the systems of oppression, our complicity in them, and
ways of finding freedom.
We are joined by Brandi Holmes who
focuses her work on various black liberation struggles, but
especially the struggles of black girls and women. She is a noted
social activist, community organizer, and strategist, dedicated to
policy and criminal justice reform.
Also joining us is Dr. Biko Mandela
Gray, a professor of Religion at Syracuse University, and a
community advocate. Dr. Gray’s research interests operate at
the intersection of religion, embodiment, and subjectivity—all of
which cohere around a central question: if we took our bodies
seriously, how might we think about our relationship to ourselves,
others, and the world?
And our third guest is Rev. Dr. Cleve
Tinsley, co-managing director of Project Curate. Dr. Tinsley is a
scholar of religion and Black Studies. He earned his MA and PhD in
religion from Rice University. Dr. Tinsley is a Baptist minister
who holds a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Princeton
Theological Seminary. He has extensive experience as an
organizer, institution-builder, manager, and consultant for
churches and community organizations.
These webinars were aimed at
imagining, striving for, and living in a better world wherein
justice, mercy, humility, and love are not just aspirations,
but assumptions within our community ethics.
To view the webinars, please head
here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBe0wzmsJw1wOIIbkZS4vMoQXSHlCJB8v