Becoming the Beloved Community



Devin Allen
First Gordon Parks Foundation Fellow and featured in the HBO Max Documentary,
A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks
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Dr. Chippewa Thomas
Professor, Director Office of Faculty Engagement and Professor of Counseling Education

Dr. Ernest L. Gibson, III
Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor, English
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My Ly
News Editor, The Auburn Plainsman

Chris Molinski
Director of Education, Engagement & Learning Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University

Dr. Virginia Sánchez Sánchez
Assistant Professor, Communication
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Rev. Dr. John Wells Warren
(Retired)

Dr. Joan Harrell
Founder, Becoming the Beloved Community

Dr. Robert P. Jones
Author, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity
(Book Signing)

Elijah Gaddis
Assistant Professor, History

Linda Gibson-Young
Professor, Nursing and Outreach Coordinator for School of Nursing

Abdul-Khaliq Murtadha
Assistant Professor, Theatre and Dance
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Rev. Dr. Clifford Jones
Pastor, Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church

Dr. Elizabeth Benson
Associate Professor, Theatre & Dance

Whitney Lee
Auburn University Black Graduate and Professional Student Association


In commemoration of the 54th anniversary of the assassination
of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr
Funded by The Henry Luce Foundation Vanderbilt University Divinity School Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative
"Where Do We Go from Here: Race, Representation, and Community?"
Monday, April 4, 2022
10:00 until 12:00 pm
Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art
901 South College Street
Auburn, AL 38649
Historical and Current Objects Trigger Trauma
Panelists: Dr. Robert P. Jones, author, White Too Long the Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity; My Ly, News Editor, The Auburn Plainsman; Dr. Chippewa Thomas, Professor, Director Office of Faculty Engagement and Professor of Counseling Education; Dr. Linda Gibson-Young, Professor, Nursing and Outreach Coordinator for School of Nursing; Dr. Virginia Sanchez, Assistant Professor, Communication; and Dr. Elijah Gaddis, Assistant Professor, History
A free lunch will be provided.
1:30 pm-3:30 pm
Screening: HBO Documentary, A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks
An in-person conversation with Devin Allen, the award-winning photographer featured in A Choice of Weapons for his brilliant work in street photography capturing protests for social justice and carrying on the legacy of Gordon Parks (https://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/).
The documentary is one hour and twenty-nine minutes long.
A reception will follow the screening and community conversation at The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
"The Mountaintop, Christianity, White Supremacy,
and Community"
Tuesday, April 5th
5:30 pm until 8:00 pm
Telfair Peet Theatre
350 West Samford Avenue
Auburn, AL 36849
Keynote Speaker, Robert P. Jones, PhD, author, White Too Long The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity
Tribute: Mrs. Coretta Scott King's legacy as the wife of Dr. King, a civil rights leader, author, and noted singer who integrated music in her civil and human rights work.
Presentations: Children, Youth, and College Students in the Civil Rights Movement
The U.S. Black Church continues to be pivotal to the Civil and Human Rights Movement
Excerpts from The Mountaintop, the play written by Katori Hall will be performed. Hall depicts the 24-hours of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr's life in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel before he was assassinated. Abdul-Khaliq Murtadha, a member of both the Actor's Equity Association and SAGAFTRA, and Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance at Auburn University will portray Dr. King. The Mountaintop premiered in 2009 in London, England at the Theatre503.
The audience will engage in dialogue with Jones, Murtadha, Elizabeth Benson, and Joan Harrell, founder of Becoming the Beloved to hear personal stories, and actively listen to how we as individuals and collectively can intentionally do the hard work of looking each other in the eye, and patiently talk to one another, no matter what our cultural, spiritual, secular, and social identities are so that we can build trusting communal relationships to help us actually Become the Beloved the Community.
A reception, book sales, and book signing will follow: Robert P. Jones, author, White Too Long The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity