Charis and Agnes Scott College welcome Dr. Régine M. Jean-Charles in conversation with Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes for a discussion of Martin Luther King and the Trumpet of Conscience Today. Martin Luther King and The Trumpet of Conscience Today wrestles with the parts of King’s vision that have historically been the most uncomfortable for white Americans.

The lectures that comprise “The Trumpet of Conscience” are a powerful critique of the triple American evils of racism, the scourge of poverty, and the horrors of war. In light of today’s urgent social issues, Régine Michelle Jean-Charles offers a faith-based, justice-centered response to economic inequality, the refugee crisis, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo, while asking questions similar to those King posed in his speeches: “If I do not stop to help families separated at the border what will happen to them?”; “If I do not stop to help those suffering as a result of income inequality, what will happen to them?” “If I do not stop to help survivors of rape and sexual abuse what will happen to them?”

Dr. Régine M. Jean-Charles is a Black feminist literary scholar and cultural critic who works at the intersection of race, gender, and justice. She is the author of Conflict Bodies: The Politics of Rape Representation in the Francophone Imaginary (Ohio State University Press, 2014), as well as the forthcoming Looking for Other Worlds: Black Feminism, Literary Ethics, and Haitian Fiction (University of Virginia Press). She is also a regular contributor to media outlets like The Boston Globe, Ms. Magazine, WGBH, America Magazine, and Cognoscenti, where she has weighed in on topics including #metoo, higher education, and issues affecting the Haitian diaspora.

Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes is a clinical psychologist, public theologian, and ecumenical minister whose work focuses upon healing the legacies of racial and gender oppression. A professor of practical theology and pastoral care at Columbia Theological Seminary, Dr. Chanequa is the author of I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation, Too Heavy a Yoke: Black Women and the Burden of Strength, as well as nearly two dozen journal articles and book chapters in theology and psychology.

Regine O. Jackson, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) will offer introductory remarks. She is the Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives Faculty Coordinator for SUMMIT - Global Learning Kathy Ashe '68 and Lawrence Ashe Associate Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies.

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Martin Luther King and the Trumpet of Conscience Today: Dr. Régine M. Jean-Charles in conversation with Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes