When Richard Allen established the African Methodist Episcopal Church–the first religious denomination established by African Americans in the United States–he set in motion an organization that would play a critical role in driving the spiritual, social and educational advancement for millions of followers—both in the United States and around the world.
Continue reading Richard Allen and the AME Church, Part 2: Legacy
During the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reportedly carried a copy of a book entitled Jesus and the Disinherited with him. The author of the book was Howard Thurman, a theologian, pastor and professor, who, by some accounts, would become a mentor to several leaders of the non-violent civil rights movement. Inspired by the Gospels, Jesus and the Disinherited offers four basic principles to the marginalized and underprivileged, to prevail in their struggle against injustice and oppression, to realize their rightful place as full human beings with rights endowed not by man but by God. Continue reading Howard Thurman: Jesus and the Disinherited
After the killings of two black men at the hands of white police officers in July, and the subsequent murders of several law enforcement officers, there has been much discussion about the social injustices many African Americans and others have experienced in the United States for decades, if not centuries. Continue reading Spiritual Foundations of Non-violent Resistance