Ferguson activist at the seminary

“I will not submit to be charged with praying, nor do I accept the righteousness of the some 60 charges laid against those participating in the Moral Monday protests during Ferguson October,” said Reverend Osagyefo Sekou, pleading not guilty last December at Ferguson. “The only signs of Assault, Disorderly Conduct and Disturbance of the Peace I saw that morning clearly came from the garrison of riot police protecting the state citadel from a group of singing,2015 11 10 black rage praying, peaceful clergy, seminarians and members of the community.”
He will speak at a conference organized by The Center for Black Church Studies at Princeton Seminary, “Black Prophetic Rage in the Age of Ferguson,” on Tuesday, November 10th at 7 pm in the Theron Room at the Princeton Seminary Library. Yolanda Pierce directs the center. The roster also includes Dr. Brittney Cooper, Ph.D. and Minister Janisha Gabriel, MA, responders, and Candice Benbow, MA, M.Div., Moderator. Yolanda Pierce directs the center.

Methodists Respond to Ferguson

In response to Ferguson, the Greater New Jersey Conference will hold a “Just in Time” Prayer and Reflection for Justice and Peace, on Sunday, December 7, 5 PM, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1985 Pennington Rd. Ewing. Contact welcome@magnoliaroadumc.org or 609-388-8852
The keynote speaker will be Rev. Gilbert H.Caldwell, civil rights activist. Huffington Post blogger, and retired Methodist minister. A former public defender, De’Travius A. Bethea, will also speak. Reverend Vanessa M. Wilson JD, chair of the conference’s Commission on Religion and Race, will facilitate.
The conference initiated the Conversations about Race Series as a safe forum for clergy and laity to discuss issues of race, ethnicity and culture, as well as gain tools to equip participants to build bridges for full and equal participation of racial and
ethnic people in the total life of the United Methodist Church.
“Just in Time” indicates that the session is being convened as an immediate response to a recent event. In this case, it is the Ferguson, MO grand jury finding of no indictment of Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting and killing of an unarmed
teenager, Michael Brown. This session is designed to be informational, educational and inspirational, as we examine the situation in Ferguson; as well as, the bigger context of race, religion and American law.