“The significance of the religion of Jesus to people who stand with their backs against the wall has always seemed crucial to me.”

-Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited, 1949

Howard Thurman (1899-1981) was a mystic, theologian, preacher, pastor, educator, and writer. Many people believe that Thurman was a civil rights activist, he was not. He was a spiritual activist whose presence loomed large over the civil rights movement. Howard Thurman’s slim volume, Jesus and the Disinherited, provided a spiritual blueprint for many activists who embraced nonviolence as a tactic, philosophy, and lifestyle. Activists including Alice Walker, Diane Nash, James Farmer, and Martin Luther King, Jr. all looked to Thurman’s book as they embraced a “love-ethic” to overcome the fear, hatred, and deception that shaped and defined racism in the U.S.

During Black History Month 2021, we invite you to read Jesus and the Disinherited with us. It is our hope that the book will help you to understand the teachings that molded the thinking and actions of so many heroines and heroes we celebrate during that special month. We not only want you to read with us, but we also invite you to join us for conversations on the book with board member, Dr. Tejai Beulah, assistant professor History, Ethics, and Black Church and African Diaspora Studies at Methodist Theological School in Ohio.

These conversations will take place virtually on Saturday, February 27 (10am-12pm ET) and Sunday, February 28 (1pm-3pm ET).

Registration link for Sunday:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lf-uprTgoG9w_k2-IOizgkWRw4bc7SxQ-