Each semester, EDS at Union selects a theme and a book as a guiding focus for a semester-long discussion on justice issues critical for faith communities. This Fall 2020, our focus will be on the Voting Rights Act and the counterrevolution that has since limited the VRA’s scope and force.
The EDS at Union Community Read will be Ari Berman’s award-winning book Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America. In Give Us the Ballot, Berman outlines the important role faith leaders played throughout the passage of the Voting Rights Act and in the ongoing struggle to secure the ballot since. Students and faith leaders across the Episcopal Church must understand this history and their role in writing the next chapter of this struggle.
In addition to the community read, EDS at Union intends to transition our Facebook Live conversations toward a focus on “The Just Vote“. This broad theme will encompass a range of topics including the state of voting rights in the U.S. today as well as issues of importance in the upcoming election. Below you will find our upcoming The Just Vote conversations and a recording of our past events.
The Just Vote with Rev. Greg Lewis
The Just Vote with Rev. Patrick Cheng
The Just Vote with Traci Blackmon | 10/28/2020 at 2:15pm EST
The Just Vote with Jonah Pesner | 10/29/2020 at 1:00pm EST
The Just Vote with Rashad Robinson | 8/19/2020 at 4:15pm EST
The Just Vote with Robert P. Jones | 9/3/2020 at 2:15pm EST
The Just Vote Community Read Lecture
Give Us The Ballot Community Read Lecture | 10/14/2020 at 6:30pm EST
in partnership with Trinity Church Wall Street
Dean Kelly Brown Douglas, who also serves as the Theologian in Residence at Trinity Wall Street, will moderate a series of conversations titled, Woman’s Suffrage: Race, Gender and Power. As we recognize the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote, this series will look back on the topic of Women’s Suffrage, with a particular focus on the role of women of color.
A separate registration is required for each event. Click here to learn more and register.
Thursday, October 8
Dean Douglas will speak with Elaine Weiss, author of The Women’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote on Thursday, October 8. The Woman’s Hour won the American Bar Association’s highest honor, The Silver Gavel Award for a book furthering the American public’s understanding of law.
Tuesday, October 13
Dean Douglas will speak with Dr. Martha Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at The Johns Hopkins University, on Tuesday, October 13. Jones is a legal and cultural historian whose work examines how black Americans have shaped the story of American democracy and is the author of the forthcoming book, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All
Tuesday, October 20
Dean Douglas will speak with Brent Staples, a writer on the New York Times Editorial Board writer since 1990, on Tuesday, October 20. Staples won the Pulitzer Prize for writing on race and racism in America and is author of the NYT opinion piece How the Suffrage Movement Betrayed Black Women”.