Religious Affairs Committee

Overview
The vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race. In light of the recent national response to the continuing deaths of unarmed black persons at the hands of police officers it is only natural that the NAACP would fill a gap in the overall public discourse. 

Religious Affairs Committee Events

Black Activist Theology Discussion

March 11, 2021 at 7PM EST
Watch on fb Live www.facebook.com/MSCNAACP
Guest Panelists
  • Rev. Tony Lee Pastor, Community of Hope A.M.E. Church
  • Rev. Dr. Delores H. Carpenter, Retired Professor, Howard University School of Divinity
  • Bishop Douglas Miles, Koinonia Baptist Church
  • Bishop John R. Bryant, Retired Bishop, AME Church
  • Bishop Cornelius Showell, First Apostolic Faith Church
  • Rev. Dr. Frances Murphy Draper, Freedom Temple A.M.E. Zion Church
  • Rev. Anthony Hunt, Pastor, Epworth Chapel​

Crossroads of Race & Religion Webinar

August 12, 2020
Overview
The NAACP has a long and rich history of working within and through the faith community. Times such as this should be no different. This proposed project will continue to the work of engaging a variety of voices impacting the progress and advancement of people of color. A part of that work involves the need to inform the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and to seek its elimination. 

Under the leadership of President Willie Flowers, the MSC has an intentional mission of expanding its reach into the diverse and various faith denominations in our communities. We've opened the door for and invited persons of different religions and faiths to come to the table for an open and honest discussion about the crossroads of race and religion in our nation and our state. It is our hope that through this engagement members of the different faith communities will come to see the value of the NAACP and its work in our communities. It is also our hope that it will inspire broader conversations on the need for us all to speak to the issues of race that continue to have a negative impact on people of color in the State of MD.

This history of the mistreatment and abuse of African Americans in this country is nothing new to any of its citizens. Also not new is the complicit behaviors of many of those faith communities supposedly dedicated to the cause of justice and fairness.

This webinar was a fully engaged conversation on the ways in which our faith community have responded in the past and solutions for addressing these concerns moving forward. Questions about the individual interfaith teachings on issues of justice were shared by our guest panelists. Dialogue was open and honest and moderated by the State Conference Religious Affairs Committee Chairperson, Reverend K. A. Slayton, Sr. 

When it comes to issue of race in America and the devastating impact on people of color, particularly African Americans, it is clear that the broader faith community has been, if nothing else, complicit. With the recent death of George Floyd, the entire nation has turned its attention to the long history of systemic and institutional racism in this country again African Americans. As corporations and non profit entities across America seek to find ways to bring about a sense of reckoning it is incumbent that the faith community do so as well. This discussion is a start to uncovering ways that Interfaith organizations in Maryland can lead the way in bringing about change.
Guest Panelists
  • Rev. Dr. K. A. Slayton, Sr., Protestant Christian, Religious Affairs Chairperson for the NAACP Maryland State Conference (Moderator)
  • Rabbi Daniel C. Burg, Beth Am Synagogue
  • Henry Gregory, Baltimore Homa Community
  • Sherita Thomas, Interim Director for the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Baltimore
  • Dr. Geri Lynn Peak, B'hai faith
Religious Affairs Committee Chairperson: TBD