BRATTLEBORO — On Jan. 22 and 23, St. Michael's Episcopal Church will be a partner site when a group of activists, scholars, authors, artists, and experts on racial inequality come together to hold conversations on the racial issues of our time, including structural racism, mass incarceration, and policy change. The event will take place at Trinity Institute's 45th National Theological Conference, “Listen for a Change: Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice.”
Conference participation is open to anyone interested in a practical, theological perspective on racial equality and is ideal for community members looking for ideas from experts and activists.
The live conference will be held at Trinity Church (Broadway at Wall Street in New York City). As a partner site, St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro will offer all aspects of the conference in real time, via webcast - where participants can submit questions for speakers by email during the live Q & A. Keynote speakers for this year's conference include:
• Nicholas Kristof, columnist for The New York Times since 2001 and blogger at On the Ground.
• Anna Deavere Smith ( “The West Wing” and “Nurse Jackie”), professor at New York University and founding director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.
• Michael Curry, bishop of North Carolina since 2000 and presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the first African-American to do so.
• Emilie Townes, distinguished scholar and leader in theological education and Dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School.
• Michele Norris, journalist and former host of NPR's flagship afternoon news program, “All Things Considered.”
• Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department at Duke University.
• Victor Rios, PhD, author, speaker, and Associate Professor in the Sociology Department at UC-Santa Barbara.
• Kelly Brown Douglas, Professor and Director of the Religion Department at Goucher College in Baltimore, Md.
• Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University.