A special service entitled, “The Color of Justice” will take place on Oct. 21 at 10:15 a.m.
The public is invited to join a Unitarian Universalist service, “The Color of Justice,” that will celebrate W.E.B. DuBois’s prophetic voice for a peaceful new world order. The service will be on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 10:15 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill, located at 401 Kings Highway North.
Martin Luther King said that DuBois, who was born 150 years ago, was an “intellectual giant,” and “one of the most remarkable men of our time.” King called attention to DuBois’ wide-ranging work as a scholar, teacher, pioneer sociologist and historian of black life, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, co-founder of the NAACP and a peace leader who cared for all humanity and took pride in being black. One of his published works was “The Philadelphia Negro” (1899), the first sociological case study of a community in the U.S.
Guest speaker at the service will be Dr. Tony Monteiro, W.E.B. DuBois scholar and well-known Philadelphia activist. UUCCH members Rosemary White and Rutgers Professor Mahdi Ibn-Zyad are planning the service. Ibn-Zyad says, ”DuBois had a vision for world peace and racial equality that is critical today, with the rise of white supremacy and xenophobia. Working with the Saturday Free School of Philadelphia-Year of DuBois Project, we are excited to present his ideas and help to realize that vision for racial equality.”
The Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble of Camden, National and International Ambassadors and Keepers of the Culture, will provide special music. The service will also include a tribute to the late Rev. Homer Jack, who was a UU Minister with a long history of international work with the UN and an active Social Justice career, providing leadership in many areas of nuclear disarmament and racial equality. Also highlighted will be Laura Matilda Towne, a Northern medical doctor and antebellum educator of just-freed ex-slaves, adults and children, who was also a member of the Philadelphia Unitarian Church.