On October 26, Dr. Lerita Brown, one of the leading scholars on Howard Thurman, will join the Beatitudes Center to reflect on Thurman’s life and her latest book, What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman.
To register, visit www.beatitudescenter.org.
Howard Thurman (1899-1981) is one of the most important theologians, mystics, civil rights leaders, and spiritual teachers in U.S. history. He was a friend of Gandhi, who told him that perhaps the only way nonviolence would break open into the world would be through African-Americans. Thurman then went on to teach and mentor Martin Luther King, Jr., who called Thurman “the architect of the civil rights movement.”
Thurman served as dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University from 1932 to 1944; led a six month delegation of African Americans to India, where they met Gandhi from 1935-1936; and then served as dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, where he also taught theology from 1953-1965. He died in 1981 in San Francisco. The author of 20 books on theology and religion, Thurman’s most famous work is Jesus and the Disinherited, which had a huge impact on Dr. King and all the civil rights leaders and remains one of the great books of theology.
“Don’t ask what the world needs,” Thurman famously wrote. “Ask what makes you come alive. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
In this time of division, hatred, violence, racism, and war, Howard Thurman can be a mentor for each one of us, as he unpacks the teachings of his friends Gandhi and King.
During her presentation, Dr. Brown will reflect on the life and work of Thurman as a young contemplative who became a prominent theologian and spiritual leader who advocated “sacred activism,” work that uses contemplative and mystical experience as a path to peace, purpose, and empowerment for positive social change.
Dr. Brown is professor Emerita of Psychology at Agnes Scott College, a spiritual director, retreat leader, and speaker. She earned her BA from UC Santa Cruz and PhD from Harvard University. She appears in the documentaries, Back Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story, and The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song. Her book, When the Heart Speaks, Listen—Discovering Inner Wisdom was published in 2019.
Lerita is a most grateful heart (29 years) and kidney (19 years) transplant recipient! Please visit www.leritacolemanbrown.com and come bask in the wisdom and light of Howard Thurman—and Lerita Brown.
To register, visit www.beatitudescenter.org.
The program will begin 11am Pacific/ 12pm Mountain/ 1pm Central/ 2pm Eastern time. You will receive the zoom link a few days beforehand, so be on the lookout, and a recording link afterwards. Scholarships are available.
Cancellation policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at: beatitudescentermb@gmail.com