Social Change and Black Mysticism: Prophetic Voices of Thurman & Wilson

Thursdays, April 24 - May 15, 2025
7:00 - 8:30 p.m. ET
This program takes place online via Zoom meeting.
Registrants can receive access to the recordings afterward if live sessions are missed.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This short course explores the interplay of Howard Thurman and August Wilson as prophetic voices. The course will focus on four Wilson plays, accompanied by examinations of Thurman’s spiritual foundation for social change. These August Wilson plays were chosen because in each there is a transforming power of transcendent forces.

Howard Thurman (1899-1981) was an author, philosopher, theologian and teacher who examined the spiritual dimensions of social change. His teachings helped to empower the great civil rights activists of the 20th century. Thurman never marched in demonstrations, nor did he speak at rallies, yet his articulated wisdom and intellectual heft gave spiritual strength to great leaders, each of whom cite the impact of his prophetic voice. Ever the shaman, his intellectual protégées included: Martin Luther King, James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, Vernon Jordan, Pauli Murray, Samuel DeWitt Procter, James Cone, Angela Davis, James Baldwin, and countless others.

Since the 1984 performances of his play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom stunned Broadway audiences, August Wilson became the most important American playwright of the preceding 50 years, and then beyond. Although his celebrated life as a man of letters was brief (he died in 2005 at the age of 60), his decade-by-decade ten play cycle of 20th century Black America eclipsed the careers of other giants of the American theater, including: Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill. Wilson never limited the spiritual lives of his characters to traditional Christianity. In fact, he questioned how the enslaved could conceivably worship the same God as the enslaver. Thus, he reached back and called upon the ancient African myths, legends and traditions as his characters take their journey to liberation. This spiritual world he made transcended the here, the now, the merely pedestrian and mined the world of dreams, visions, and the joy of hope.

Course Outline:

• April 4, 2024 – Gem of the Ocean (the 1900’s)
• May 1, 2024 – Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (the 1910’s)
• May 8, 2024 – The Piano Lesson (the 1930’s)
• May 15, 2024 – King Hedley (the 1980’s)

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This program is ideal for clergy, lay leaders, seminarians, educators, and anyone passionate about the intersection of spirituality, social justice, and the arts. Whether you are exploring Howard Thurman’s spiritual foundation for social change, delving into August Wilson’s transformative storytelling, or seeking inspiration from prophetic voices, this course offers profound insights. Perfect for those engaged in church leadership, theological study, cultural scholarship, or community activism, it fosters meaningful dialogue on the transcendent forces that shape liberation and hope.

This event is brought to you by the department of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary.
Contact us ([email protected]) if the cost to participate is a barrier for you.

Riley Temple earned his JD degree from Georgetown in 1974 and a master's in theological studies, cum laude, from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2014.  He served two-terms as the executive board president of the Whitman-Walker Clinic for HIV/AIDS, overseeing the construction of clinics and homes, including the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center. He also served on the Board of the Human Rights Campaign. Elected to Lafayette’s Board of Trustees in 1994, Temple served as its Secretary and Vice Chair, becoming the first openly gay Trustee and Board Officer. He was granted emeritus status in 2008, and in 2009, and Lafayette awarded him a Doctor of Laws degree, Honoris Causa. Temple is the author of Aunt Ester’s Children Redeemed: Journeys to Freedom in August Wilson’s Ten Plays of Twentieth-Century Black America. He preaches, lectures, writes essays, and teaches theology of secular literature at Virginia Theological and Wesley Seminaries, and is the collection specialist for the African American Episcopal Historical Collection. 

Host or Publisher Virginia Theological Seminary