March 12, 2018 • 5:30-8:30pm
Temple Israel • 1376 East Massey Road
5:30pm Gathering Reception
6:30pm Worship led by Rabbi Micah Greenstein, Rev. Traci Blackmon, guest preacher
7:10pm Living the Legacy Today Panel sponsored by Yale Divinity School
ABOUT OUR GUEST PREACHER:

The Rev. Traci Blackmon is the Executive Minister of Justice & Witness Ministries of The United Church of Christ and Senior Pastor of Christ The King United Church of Christ in Florissant, MO. Initially ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Blackmon served in various ministry capacities for nine years prior to becoming ordained in the United Church of Christ and installed as the first woman and 18th pastor in the 159-year history of Christ The King United Church of Christ.

As pastor, Rev. Blackmon leads Christ The King in an expanded understanding of church as a sacred launching pad of community engagement and change. A featured voice with many regional, national, and international media outlets and a frequent contributor to print publications, Rev. Blackmon's communal leadership and work in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown, Jr., in Ferguson, MO, has gained her both national and international recognition and audiences from the White House to the Vatican.
Living the Legacy Today Panel
Fifty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., progress on civil rights often seems stalled, and the “dream” of the late civil rights leader as distant as ever. How can people of faith and good conscience make this anniversary more than “just a commemoration?” How can people from different backgrounds and origins unite around a moral center that strives for justice addressing the issues of poverty and race?

Recently, the museum released The Poverty Report: Memphis Since MLK which exposes some hard facts about childhood poverty and income disparity despite educational gains in the African American community. The MLK50 Faith Leaders will respond to the report's findings.

Join faith leaders, activists, academics, and the Moral Mondays community of Memphis for this vital conversation moderated by Jonathan Judaken , Professor, Rhodes College. This panel is sponsored by the Yale Divinity School.
PANELISTS :
  • Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister of Justice & Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ 
  • Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley, Senior Pastor Emeritus, Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta
  • Rabbi Katie Bauman, Associate Rabbi of Temple Israel in Memphis
  • Rev. Dr. Eboni Marshall Turman, Assistant Professor of Theology and African American Religion, Yale University Divinity School