Grad Contrasts Black, White Christianity

Westmont graduate Reggie Williams returns to campus to lecture about “Decolonizing the African-American Mind: The Liberative Role of Faith in Christ in African-American Culture,” Wednesday, April 9, at 3:30 p.m. in Kerrwood Hall’s Hieronymus Lounge. There will be an informal dinner and discussion following the free lecture.

The talk, sponsored by the Westmont Religious Studies Department and Intercultural Programs, examines the formation of African-American Christianity, stemming from opposition to slavery and the majority white Christian tradition. Williams says that blacks held onto their faith in spite of the Christian representation of their captors.

“The worldview that diminishes black worth and social contributions was present in the Civil Rights movement and is with us today in various manifestations,” Williams says.

Williams will also address the recent controversy with Senator Barack Obama and his pastor Jeremiah Wright in the context of understanding African-American culture and Christianity.

Williams graduated from Westmont in 1995 and is a doctoral candidate studying Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. His academic interests center on the theme of social justice.