Lecture to Explore Role of Black Church in Activism, from Civil War to Ferguson

(USC Press, 2014), will give a lecture at the College of the Holy Cross titled, "From the Civil War to Ferguson: The Role of the Black Church as a Training Ground for Activism,” Monday, Jan. 26, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library. The lecture, presented by the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, is free and open to the public.

The black church has historically been the training ground for black activism. Pastors have routinely used the pulpit to call for acts of civil disobedience, from joining the Union Army to help free their enslaved brothers to sisters to participating in a march in New York or Ferguson or Boston against police brutality. In her lecture, Whitehead will explore the role of the black church in the context of American history, the recent events in Ferguson and New York, and the African American experience.

Whitehead is a historian who works in the black documentary tradition, specifically focusing on studying the different ways that people use to document their stories (through diaries, letters, editorials, and oral interviews). Her research and publications address the complex relationships between enslaved and freeborn 19th century black women, and investigates the ways in which race, class, and gender coalesce in American classrooms, political environments, and social arenas. She is an assistant professor of communication and African and African American studies at Loyola University Maryland; the founding executive director of The Emilie Frances Davis Center for Education, Research, and Culture; a K-12 master teacher in African American history; and, a three-time New York Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker.

Learn more and watch lectures online at www.holycross.edu/mcfarlandcenter.

About the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture: Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College's commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope. The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.