The foremost scholar of African-American Unitarian Universalist history speaks in the historic sanctuary of First Unitarian Church of Baltimore as part of a national tour in preparation for the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the 1965 events in Selma, Alabama.
Selma represented a turning point for our nation, including its Unitarian Universalists. Answering Martin Luther King Jr.'s call to action, they shifted from passing earnest resolutions about racial justice to putting their lives on the...
The foremost scholar of African-American Unitarian Universalist history speaks in the historic sanctuary of First Unitarian Church of Baltimore as part of a national tour in preparation for the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the 1965 events in Selma, Alabama.
Selma represented a turning point for our nation, including its Unitarian Universalists. Answering Martin Luther King Jr.'s call to action, they shifted from passing earnest resolutions about racial justice to putting their lives on the line for the cause. Morrison-Reed traces the long history of race relations among the Unitarians and the Universalists leading up to 1965, exploring events and practices of the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century. He reveals the disparity between their espoused values on race and their values in practice.
And yet, in 1965 their activism in Selma involving hundreds of ministers and the violent deaths of Unitarian Universalists Rev. James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo at last put them in authentic relationship with their proclaimed beliefs. With rigorous scholarship and unflinching frankness, The Selma Awakening provides a new way of understanding Unitarian Universalist engagement with race and offers an indispensable new resource.
