St. Peter’s to simulcast racial justice conference Jan. 21-23
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes will be one of the live downlink sites across the nation to partner with Trinity Institute of Trinity Wall Street, New York, where a national conference, Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice, will take place Jan. 21 to 23.
Nationally recognized, interracial speakers at this ecumenical conference will explore society’s most pressing problems surrounding racial reconciliation, including structural racism, mass incarceration, and the need for policy changes in the justice system.
“This year’s conference is for anyone who is interested in an action-oriented theological perspective on racial justice,” said Robert Owens Scott, director of the institute. “If we are to begin this conference with the end in mind, we must realize that while personal prejudice hurts and diminishes human beings, the real enemies are the systems that keep privilege and oppression in place.”
Among the speakers will be National Public Radio host and correspondent Michele Norris; actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith; Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof; sociology professor and author of “Racism without Racists” Eduardo Bonilla-Silva; and the first African-American presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, whose family history includes slaves and sharecroppers in North Carolina and Alabama.
“Come with open ears; then leave with a greater capacity to return to your community and create change,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Ross, rector of St. Peter’s. The church will offer the webcast in its parish hall for the entirety of the three-day event. An internet link will be available for those watching in Lewes to pose questions or comments to speakers and panelists.
Registration is free, and a copy of “Trinity News,” a full-color magazine with stories about and columns by speakers, will be given to those who register in advance by emailing jross@stpeterslewes.org. Registrants are asked to indicate which days they plan to attend. Lunch will be offered at a nominal cost on Friday and Saturday.
Other speakers and panelists at the conference will include Emilie Townes, a leader in theological education and dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School; Victor Rios, associate professor at the University of California - Santa Barbara, whose book “Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys” analyzes how juvenile crime policies and criminalization affect the everyday lives of urban youth; Kelly Brown Douglas, director of the religion department at Baltimore’s Goucher College; and Gary Dorrien, professor of social ethics at Union Theological Seminary and professor of religion at Columbia University, New York City.
There will be performances by Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Netsayi, who has made numerous live appearances on BBC Radio and performed at the London Jazz Festival, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican Centre; and Melanie DeMore, a vocal activist who has made an impact on audiences through her compositions, solo performances and choral conducting.
Speaker presentations will be augmented by discussion groups at St. Peter’s, guided by local leaders, including those from the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice. The schedule of major presentations is as follows:
Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m., Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael B. Curry and at 8 p.m. the keynote address by Michele Norris, “Eavesdropping on America’s Conversation on Race.”
Jan. 22 at 9 a.m., “What Is Race, Anyway?” by Nicholas Kristof, with a panel discussion.
2 p.m. “A People’s History of Race” by Emilie Townes, with a panel discussion.
Jan. 23 at 9 a.m., “Soul Searching in a Culture of Control” by Victor Rios and Kelly Brown Douglas, followed by discussion and questions from downlink sites.
2 p.m., “Listen for a Change” featuring Anna Deavere Smith, author of “Race in America: Accepting Difference, Standing Shoulder to Shoulder.”
3:30 p.m., “What We Can Do Together - Policies and Practices” by the Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, rector of Trinity Wall Street, with a conversation among panelists about places where progress is being made and change is emerging.
