'Left of Black': Episode #15 featuring Pastor Carl Kenney and Zelda Lockhart

Left of Black #15—January 4, 2011
w/Mark Anthony Neal

Host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined by Pastor Carl Kenney in a discussion of sex and sexuality in the Black Church, the emergence of the "Prosperity Gospel" and the Bishop Eddie Long controversy. Neal is joined by novelist Zelda Lockhart, who has been using her writing in support of HIV advocacy in Black communities. The episode was filmed on location at the Beyu Caffe in Durham, NC

Pastor Carl Kenney is the founding Pastor of Compassion Ministries in Durham, NC and former pastor at Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, NC, Kenney is also the author of Preacha Man and the just published sequel Backslide.

Zelda Lockhart is the author of the recently published Fifth Born II: The One Hundredth Turtle, a sequel to her first novel Fifth Born and Cold Running Creek. As the 2010 Piedmont Laureate, Lockhart has been instrumental in raising HIV/AIDS awareness in Black communities.

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Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.

"Left of Black' LIVE at the Beyu Caffe on Monday December 13th

Join LEFT OF BLACK Host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal for a live taping of Left of Black, Monday December 13, 2010 at 7:00pm, featuring author and activist, Zelda Lockhart, composer T.J. Anderson, Queer media activist and writer Alexis Pauline Gumbs and pastor and novelist Carl Kenney.

Zelda Lockhart is the author of the recently published Fifth Born II: The One Hundredth Turtle, a sequel to her first novel Fifth Born and Cold Running Creek. As the 2010 Piedmont Laureate, Lockhart has been instrumental in raising HIV/AIDS awareness in Black communities.

T.J. Anderson is one of the leading composers of his generation. Born in 1928 Anderson received a Ph.D in Composition from the University of Iowa. After serving as Chairman of the Department of Music at Tufts University for eight years, Thomas Jefferson Anderson became Austin Fletcher Professor of Music and in 1990 became Austin Fletcher Professor of Music Emeritus. He now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he devotes full time to writing music.

A Self-Described "Queer Black Trouble Maker" Alexis Pauline Gumbs holds a Ph.D. from Duke University and is the founder of Broken Beautiuful Press. Gumbs is also editor of the blog Eternal Summer of the Black Feminist Mind.

Pastor Carl Kenney is the founding Pastor of Compassion Ministries in Durham, NC and former pastor at Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, NC, Kenney is also the author of Preacha Man and the just published sequel Backslide.

Beyu Caffe
335 West Main Street
Durham, NC 27701-3215
(919) 683-1058

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Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.

Panel tackles 'Faith in Public Space'

from The Herald-Sun

Panel Tackles 'Faith in Public Space'
By Cliff Bellamy

DURHAM -- How can Christians who consider themselves politically progressive make their case in a religion that includes people of varying views? Can Facebook and other social network tools help them spread the message? How can the church's message be revamped to reach those disillusioned with the church?

The questions were part of a wide-ranging discussion on "The Role of Faith in Public Space," held Sunday at Watts Street Baptist Church. The discussion commemorated the eighth anniversary of Compassion Ministries of Durham. The Rev. Carl W. Kenney, pastor of Compassion Ministries, and a local columnist, moderated the discussion and question-and-answer session afterward.

One common thread in the discussion was that progressives often are reluctant to voice their views -- on the role of women in the church, the treatment of gays and other issues -- in the context of the church. "Those of us who identify ourselves as progressive are in some ways captive to our middle-class ethics," said panelist Chanequa Walker-Barnes, who teaches at the Shaw University Divinity School. That ethic dictates that you should not cause conflict or make others uncomfortable. Progressive Christians must become "comfortable with being uncomfortable," she said.

Mark Anthony Neal, panelist and professor of Black Popular Culture at Duke University, referring to the views put forth in so-called mega churches, said he could not accept any view that dehumanizes another person, "and that's what homophobia does." He said that the "elite black ministers" need to be challenged on their views toward sexuality and the treatment of gays.

Tim Tyson, author of "Blood Done Sign My Name" and research scholar at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies, said in his research he had learned about the very progressive side of his family that he never knew about. "We have to be bold," Tyson said of progressives, because "our adversaries are well organized."

He praised the North Carolina NAACP and its president, the Rev. William Barber, for leading the opposition to school re-segregation, particularly in Wake County, as an example of prophetic action in the world. "That has been one of the very exciting things to me," he said. (Tyson was among those arrested for trespassing for allegedly disrupting a meeting of the Wake school board over the issue of school district lines.)

The African-American church became the safe haven, particularly during the time leading up to the Civil Rights Act, where black progressives could discuss their views, said Neal. "There is no place where black progressive thought" can be discussed "except the black church," Neal said.

He said that "spiritual progressives need to rebrand themselves" and embrace some of the tools of technology. "The reality is that social media gives us access to people we did not have 20 years ago," he said.

At the end of the discussion, Kenney offered his thoughts on the difficulty of being Christian but having progressive political views. "One of the sad realities is that when people ask me what I do, I'm more comfortable with saying I'm a writer," Kenney said. He referred to the Florida pastor who recently wanted to publicly burn the Quran, and said it is hard to be connected to an institution that might tolerate that kind of action.

Panel Discussion: The Role of Faith in Public Space

Please join Compassion Ministries of Durham as we celebrate our 8th anniversary with a panel discussion and worship service.

It takes place on Sunday, Sept. 12th with panel at 2:30 PM and worship at 4:00 PM at the Watts St. Baptist Church.

Panelist are: Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes and Dr. Tim Tyson. The sermon will come from Rev. Sterling Freeman, pastor of the First Missionary Baptist Church, Smithfield, NC

Carl