Monday, November 18, 2024, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., EST

Amid a season of change and uncertainty, please join us for our fall series of the Pathways For Tomorrow Initiative of the Lilly Endowment, Inc., for a free 1.5 hour offering open to the public via the Zoom portal.

For questions, please contact Dr. Karen L. Owens at kowens@hoodseminary.edu

To Register on Eventbrite, Click Here

FACILITATORS:

About the Facilitators

Rev. Traci Blackmon

Rev. Traci Blackmon is the CEO & Founder of HopeBuilds, LLC, a newly launched consultancy for communities, corporations, and congregations eager to build the just and equitable world they imagine. She also serves as theologian in residence for Eden Theological Seminary and Chaplain for the Central Region of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. As an ordained minister, public theologian, and registered nurse, Rev. Blackmon’s life’s work focuses on communal resistance to systemic injustice.

She served as a local church pastor in both the African Methodist Episcopal

Church and the United Church of Christ prior to accepting a call to serve as Associate General Minister and Vice-President of the United Church of Christ for eight years. Her messages of hope and healing have been received by national and international audiences, including the White House, the Carter Center, the Pontifical Council of the Vatican.

A lead revivalist, along with Bishop William Barber, Rev. Dr. James Forbes, and

Sister Simone Campbell for the national tour with The Poor People’s Campaign: A Call for Moral Revival, Rev. Blackmon is a featured voice at national and international conferences, as well as in print and news media publications. She is a featured voice in Bill Gates’ PBS Special: The Black Church, The National Geographic’s Special with Katie Couric: America Inside Out: Rewriting American History, and a soon to be released documentary on the 10th Anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown, Jr.

Appointed to the Ferguson Commission by Governor Jay Nixon and to the

President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships by

President Barack Obama. She also serves as a trustee on the boards of The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Americans United for Separation of Church & State, and the World Parliament of Religions. She is also lead plaintiff in Rev. Traci D. Blackmon vs. The State of Missouri challenging Missouri’s near-total abortion ban and other reproductive health restrictions that violate the state constitution.

A native of Birmingham, AL, Rev. Blackmon is a Distinguished Alumnus of

Birmingham-Southern College where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She earned a Master of Divinity Degree from Eden Theological Seminary and was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Ministry from the same.

“Pastor T,” as she is affectionately called, is the recipient of several awards and honors, including the White House Volunteer Service Award, the St. Louis County NAACP Rosa Parks Award; The Urban League of St. Louis Woman in Leadership Award; and the National Planned Parenthood Faith Leader Award. She also coauthored The White Privilege Curriculum for the United Church of Christ.

Her guiding scripture is Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who will I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me.”

Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., Ph.D.

Visiting Scholar, Departments of Religion

& African and African Diaspora Studies

Columbia University

80 Claremont Avenue

New York, NY 10027

Professor Emeritus

New York Theological Seminary

New York, NY

Former President

Payne Theological Seminary

Wilberforce, OH

Former Distinguished Senior Fellow

The Democracy Collaborative

Washington, DC

website: oberyhendricksphd.com