Personally Speaking to explore ‘Race, Religion and the Pulpit’

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

During the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the cities of the Northeast, Midwest and West, the local black church was essential in the making and reshaping of urban areas. In Detroit, one church and one minister in particular demonstrated this power of the pulpit.

In “Race, Religion and the Pulpit: Rev. Robert L. Bradby and the Making of Urban Detroit,” author Julia Marie Robinson explores how Bradby and his church became the catalyst for economic empowerment, community building and the formation of an urban African American working class in Detroit. The book makes a distinctive contribution to the understanding of the intellectual and political histories of religion in black urban life in cities like Detroit. It also raises questions about the intersections of race, religion and migration in urban areas today.

Robinson is associate professor of African American religions and religions of the African diaspora in the Department of Religious Studies. She is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a member of the Presbytery of Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Join the Personally Speaking conversation with Robinson at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, at UNC Charlotte Center City.

Personally Speaking is the author/researcher series presented by UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, J. Murrey Atkins Library and UNC Charlotte Center City. This event is open to the public without charge, but RSVPs are requested. Register here.  Information will be sent later about accessing complimentary parking in the lot directly across Brevard Street from UNC Charlotte Center City.