“The Beloved Community” is a term the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., popularized when he
addressed Civil Rights supporters at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956 by declaring
ending segregation was not the only goal but rather "the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption,
the end is the creation of the beloved community.”
When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr sounded the clarion call for the Beloved Community --
segregated Black and White Churches in the Deep South played an integral role in the Civil Rights
Movement, impacting the social-economic-political landscape of the nation and especially the
culture of the state of the Alabama and the rest of the Deep South.
The religious and cultural landscape of the Deep South was never exclusive to ‘Black Christians and
White Christians' but unfortunately not all cultures and faith communities were equally recognized
in the public domain. Today in the 21st century, the cultural and religious demographics in the state
of Alabama and the United States are changing.
This is a digital space to share our narratives, our stories about our history/herstory and how we
are intentionally "Becoming" the Beloved Community.
Dr. Joan R. Harrell
On May 25, 2020, the world witnessed George Floyd, a handcuffed African American man, cry out in pain because a white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 43 seconds.
A high school junior, 17-year old, Darnella Frazier, saw police doing something she felt she had to document with her smart phone and posted the video of George Floyd's fatal arrest on Facebook. Children, youth, and adults from all levels of society around the world, heard Floyd, cry out, "I can't breathe." He died. His death sent a clarion call across the United States and around the world; sounding the moral compass alarm, and waking local, national, and international neighbors to critically exam how Black people in particular are murdered because their bodies are racialized and marginalized.
On June 23rd, the communities of Auburn University, Lee, and Macon counties answered the worldwide call to action for all members of humanity and gathered in a virtual dialogue; to take a critical look at how we are treating each other in the year 2020, as we yet, strive to Become the Beloved Community in the Midst of Racism, Inequality and COVID-19. Click to watch
Thank you for intentionally collaborating to Become the Beloved Community, Thursday, September 12, 2019.
Please click here to read the latest correspondence and complete the Becoming the Beloved Community Neighbor Query.
The Rev Dr. Otis Moss III, Senior Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, teaches and practices the theory of the Beloved Community within the lived experience.
Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr, Breeden Scholar in Residence, Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities and Cofounder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinator Committee (SNCC). LaFayette talked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr hours before King was assassinated.
Sarah Collins Rudolph, the rarely talked about, "fifth little girl" who survived the tragic bombing of the 16th Baptist Church in Birmingham. Sarah was 12-years old when she was blinded by the blast that killed her sister 14-year old Addie Mae Collins, her friends also 14 years of age, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley and 11-year old Denise McNair.
Diversity in Design:
“We have an obligation
to do as much as we can”
Auburn, Alabama, standing in
local solidarity with over 700
Families Belong Together events across
the United States.
Showing Pride in
'The Loveliest Village on the Plains'
what is the
Beloved Community?
Becoming the Beloved Community