Parks-King Lecture: Emilie Townes on ‘just and resilient communities’

Emilie Townes, former faculty member and administrator at YDS and now dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, delivered the Parks-King Lecture at YDS on Tuesday night, calling for “just and resilient communities” that overcome the scars of discrimination.

“If we think about the call to proclaim the dignity of all people as a strength rather than a virtue,” Townes declared, “then we can draw comfort from this proclamation and the ability to tap into hope and righteous agency.”

Dr. Townes is a pioneering scholar in womanist theology and has pursued research in womanist perspectives on issues such as health care, economic justice, poetry, and literary theory. She is the author of Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil (Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2006), as well as other books including Breaking the Fine Rain of Death: African American Health Issues and a Womanist Ethic of Care (Continuum, 2001), In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness (Abingdon Press, 1995) and Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope (Scholars Press, 1993). For a biography and CV, see: http://divinity.vanderbilt.edu/people/bio/emiliem-townes.

Established in 1983 in honor of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Parks-King Lecture is dedicated to bringing the contributions of African American scholars, social theorists, pastors, and social activists to YDS and the wider New Haven community.

February 23, 2016