Activism serves as the conduit for the many progressive social changes experienced by Arkansans over the decades. From the race massacre over 100 years ago in Elaine, Arkansas to the bold efforts of students to integrate schools, activists have been at the forefront of meaningful social change. In this mobile institute we will explore “Activism: Past, Present, and Future” giving a critical eye to the work of activists in the region. Dr. Allan Boesak an activist-scholar instrumental in the South African fight against Apartheid will deliver the keynote address. Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. will address participants on clergy activism. A panel of distinguished local leaders: Rev. Dr. Stacy Spencer, Ms. Ailey Pope, Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch and Dr. Earle Fisher will be moderated by Attorney Jonathan Allen.

Please note that the keynote with Dr. Boesak will be recorded at 10am Central on March 18, and replayed at 6pm Central.

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View the keynote with Dr. Boesak that was recorded on March 18, 2021 (10am Central). A replay will also be broadcast on the Public Theology and Racial Justice Facebook page.

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Our leaders in the conversation

Prof. Allan Aubrey Boesak

Prof. Allan Aubrey Boesak, second youngest of eight children was born in Kakamas, Northern Cape. He grew up in Somerset West, attended Danie Ackermann Primary School and graduated from Gordon High School in 1962 at the age of 16.

He studied Theology at the Theological Seminary of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, was ordained in Immanuel Dutch Reformed Mission Church in Paarl in 1968 at age 22. In 1970 he started advanced studies at the Theological University at Kampen in the Netherlands, and was awarded the Doctor’s degree in Theology in June 1976. A week after the Soweto Uprisings, he returned to South Africa to become Chaplain to students at the University of the Western Cape, Peninsula Technicon, and Bellville Teachers College, and then minister at Bellville DRMC.

Dr. Boesak served the church in various ecumenical positions, including as Moderator of his church, Senior Vice President of the South African Council of Churches, and President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Under his leadership the WARC declared apartheid a sin and a heresy and suspended the two white Dutch Reformed churches in South Africa for their moral and theological justification of the apartheid system. Over the years, Dr. Boesak became a world renowned liberation theologian and a coveted speaker at world events, beginning as key note speaker at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Vancouver, Canada in 1983, and most recently gave the keynote address at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA in 2015. In October 2017 Yale University Divinity School hosted him as the Lyman Beecher Lecturer, its most prestigious lectureship series.

Dr. Boesak’s involvement in public life and South Africa’s freedom struggle began in 1976 when he began to play a leading role in resistance politics in the South Africa. In 1983 he called for the formation of the United Democratic Front which would grow into the largest, nonviolent, non-racial anti-apartheid formation in the history of the struggle. A fervent believer in direct, militant, nonviolent action, he became its most visible leader at home and abroad. He worked with President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, Rev. Frank Chikane and a whole array of African and world leaders to end apartheid.

Dr. Boesak is recipient of thirteen honorary Doctor’s degrees and more than twenty awards, among those the Robert Kennedy Human Rights Award, the King Hintsa Bravery Award from the Xhosa Royal House, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Award. Recently he was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. International Board of Preachers at Morehouse College, the only African to have been afforded that honour.

Allan Boesak is an award-winning author of 23 books, most recently Pharaohs on Both Sides of the Blood-red Waters, Prophetic Critique on Empire - Resistance, Justice and the Power of the Hopeful Sizwe (2017) and Children of the Waters of Meribah - Black Liberation Theology, the Miriamic Tradition, and the Challenges of 21st Century Empire, (2019). His new book, Selfless Revolutionaries: Biko, Black Consciousness, Black Theology, and a Global Ethic of Solidarity and Resistance, will hopefully be published this year. Prof. Boesak has taught across the world, and continues his teaching and preaching, while remaining active in global struggles for human rights. Currently, he is Professor of Black Theology and Ethics at Pretoria University. He is married to renowned investigative journalist Dr. Elna Boesak. The couple have two daughters.

Jonathan Allen, JD

Jonathan L. Allen is a champion for equity. He is Co-founder and Director of Development for The Leadership Brainery, a Boston-based nonprofit fostering equity by providing college-enrolled diverse young leaders, who are working for the greater good, with opportunities to advance their education, build inclusive networks, and gain access to impactful and high-wage careers. Jonathan is also committed to public service, and recently ran for Boston City Council in the Fall 2019 election. In response to the pandemic, Jonathan worked at Partners in Health as a supervisor on the Community Contact Tracing Collaborative working to stop the spread of COVID-19 throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts — through which he helped develop protocols and train teams for equitable data collection.   

Jonathan followed his maternal and paternal grandmothers’ footsteps and began preaching at age 11 and was ordained at age 20. Recognized as a social engineer and an advocate for love and equity, his beliefs surrounding transformative leadership, collective responsibility, political spirituality, and social and emotional intelligence have influenced individuals and groups throughout the world.  

As a first-generation college student, he became freshman and sophomore class president, junior senator, and Student Body President of Grambling State University. After receiving his BS in Business Management, Jonathan worked to expand services for a pediatric day healthcare center for chronically ill children until departing to earn his Master of Theological Studies degree from Southern Methodist University | Perkins School of Theology.  

 Jonathan is a 2019 graduate of Boston University School of Law, where he was an active leader. He has participated in international arbitration and mediation competitions and served as the president of the Black Law Students Association. Jonathan has written speeches for U.S. Congresspersons while studying Faith and Politics under former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry at Wesley Theological Seminary. He was later a fellow at Free Speech for People, research assistant to the Honorable Geraldine S. Hines of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, research assistant to Rev. Cornell Brooks who is former President and CEO of the NAACP, and fellow at Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice.

Pastor Earl Fisher, Ph.D.

 A Movement and Ministerial leader at the forefront of social justice and black liberation efforts in Memphis, TN, and beyond, Earle J. Fisher was born September 26th, 1978 in Benton Harbor, Michigan to Min. Claudia Fisher and Mr. Earl Bradley. He sojourned to Memphis, TN in the fall of 1999 on a full ride athletic scholarship to play basketball at LeMoyne-Owen College. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science in 2003 and subsequently obtained his Master of Divinity Degree in May 2008 from Memphis Theological Seminary and is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Missionary Baptist Denominations.  In 2018, Rev. Fisher earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Communication from the University of Memphis and currently serves as Senior Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

As a community organizer, Pastor Earle co-organized the Memphis Grassroots Organizations Coalition in August of 2015 in response to the brutal death of Darrius Stewart by Memphis Police Officer Connor Schilling.  Spearheading initiatives in criminal justice reform, media accountability, the removal of confederate monuments, and voter empowerment, Dr. Fisher formed #UPTheVote901 in November of 2017 to “give more political power to more people” and “increase voter turnout in Memphis and Shelby County.” 

Dr. Fisher teaches Religion and Humanities at several local colleges and universities and is the 2019-2020 Henry Logan Starks Fellow at Memphis Theological Seminary. Dr. Fisher has been affirmed as a pastor, professor, and an urban prophet. Most of Dr. Fisher's work focuses on the African American Religious Rhetoric, Contemporary Rhetorical Theory, Black Liberation Theology, and the prophetic persona of Albert Cleage, Jr. 

Dr. Fisher is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha, husband of one wife, Denise, father of one son, Jalen, believer in one God, and friend and mentor to many.

Cherisse Jones- Branch, Ph. D

Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch is the James and Wanda Lee Vaughn Professor of History and Dean of the Graduate School at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro. She received her B.A. and M.A. from the College of Charleston, South Carolina, and a doctorate in History from The Ohio State University, Columbus. Jones-Branch is the author of Crossing the Line: Women and Interracial Activism in South Carolina during and after World War II and the co-editor of Arkansas Women: Their Lives and Times. A second manuscript titled Better Living By Their Own Bootstraps: Black Women’s Activism in Rural Arkansas, 1913-1965, is forthcoming from the University of Arkansas Press in June 2021.

 Ailey Pope, MTS

 The Ailey Pope serves as the Community Liaison for a member of the United States Congress. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Ailey graduated from Wiley College with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Philosophy and a master’s from Southern Methodist University Perkins School of Theology in Theological Studies. Ailey previously worked on Capitol Hill before moving back to Missouri to begin a new path working with communities in each region of the state.  While working on Capitol Hill, she was a member of the Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus, the Women’s Congressional Staffer Association and was nominated by the Black Women’s Congressional Alliance as a Rising Star in 2018.  

While at Wiley College, Ailey was the Captain of the Wiley College Speech and Debate team and also acted as the Student Body Vice President. While at Perkins, she served as student senator and the president of the Black Seminarians Association. She also worked closely with community leaders in the Dallas community to fight for justice and equity. Recently, Ailey worked with leaders in San Antonio to create policy strategies from economic development to education. 

Ailey has traveled to over 20 countries, speaks fluent French and has studied in Dubai. As a member of People-to-People Student Ambassadors, Ailey traveled on behalf of the United States to China and Europe and has also taught American Speech and Debate at the United States Embassy in the Republic of the Congo.

Stacy L. Spencer, D. Min

Dr. Stacy Spencer is the Senior Pastor of New Direction Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, a multi-site congregation with church plants in Collierville, TN, and Idutwya, South Africa.

The Olmstead, KY, native is a dynamic speaker, visionary and author. His energetic and culturally relevant messages address the spiritual growth of the individual and issues in society. He has a passion to teach Kingdom living – to equip people with biblical guidelines and practical resources that can transform their lives and the world. Dr. Spencer’s Kingdom mindset led to the development of Eden Square Town Center; a multi-million-dollar community model intended to reinvigorate an area of Memphis that is considered a food desert. The mixed-use development project includes a middle school, performing arts center, wellness center, retail spaces and housing.

 In 2018, Dr. Spencer released “3D Relationships: Three Relationship Dimensions to Lead You Into Your Purpose.” Dr. Spencer also wrote “U-Turn: A 12 Step Guide to Spiritual Transformation” to help people experience a deeper and more fulfilling relationship with Jesus.

Dr. Spencer is chairman of the board of directors for Power Center Community Development Corporation. The independent non-profit launched Power Center Academy, a charter school that celebrated the May 2015 high school graduation of its inaugural class of 6th graders. He earned a Doctorate of Divinity from Drew University, a Masters of Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Bachelors in Broadcast Communication from Western Kentucky University.