This Decisive Hour: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Theological Vision in a “Colorblind” Age with Michelle Alexander

The inaugural Fordham Theology 1000 First-Year Experience Lecture features a conversation with Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, and Dr. Bryan Massingale, James and Nancy Buckman Chair of Applied Christian Ethics at Fordham and author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church. Sponsored by the Fordham theology department with generous support from Fordham’s chief diversity officer, Rafael Zapata, the event will provide a shared intellectual experience for all students enrolled in Theology 1000: Faith and Critical Reason. In 2018-2019, all sections of the course are reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” a classic and timely work of theological reasoning, social critique, and prophetic witness. The conversation between Alexander and Massingale will bring our students together to reflect on the ongoing relevance of King’s challenge to church and society, and to explore the role that theological discourses and spiritual practices might play in confronting racial injustice and violence.

The conversation will be simulcast from Leonard Theater to Keating First Lecture Hall at Rose Hill and to McNally Amphitheatre and the Lowenstein 12th Floor Lounge at Lincoln Center. Guests at all four locations will have the opportunity to relay questions to our speakers.