Kristopher Burrell, Author at Public Seminar

Activism

When It Comes to Racial Justice, Why Is It Wrong to Demand the “Impossible”?

Because when white comfort matters most, Black lives are not a priority

November 3, 2020 • by Kristopher Burrell

On a recent episode of The Open Mind, Alexander Heffner asked his guest, activist minister and scholar Nyle Fort, about the connections between the Covid-19 pandemic and the reemergence of social justice protests across America. Referencing Arundhati Roy’s recent essay “The Pandemic is a Portal,” Fort meditated on the potential ...

When It Comes to Racial Justice, Why Is It Wrong to Demand the “Impossible”?

Activism

I Was Called, Too

The life and work of Coretta Scott King

January 20, 2020 • by Kristopher Burrell

This year, in honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, I thought it both appropriate—and overdue—to discuss the significance of Coretta Scott King. And not just as the wife, and eventual widow, of Martin Luther King; but as an important activist and shaper of Dr. King’s ideas. Mrs. King was a significant figure in ...

Feature

The Dilemma of Black Citizenship

Perpetual Partiality and Patriotism

August 23, 2019 • by Kristopher Burrell

"I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”James Baldwin, Notes from a Native Son The concepts of universal equality and suffrage have historically provided the necessary openings for those who are not rich or white ...

Politics

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Manually Bending the Arc of Time Towards Justice

January 27, 2018 • by Kristopher Burrell

Speech by Dr. Kristopher Burrell, January 16, 2017, St. Paul’s Church -- National Historic Site, Mount Vernon, NY Good afternoon, everyone. It is my pleasure to be here at St. Paul’s Church on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dr. King would have turned 88 years of age yesterday. I would ...

Feature

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Greater Vision

Bending the arc of time towards justice

January 15, 2018 • by Kristopher Burrell

When I sat down to write this essay, I began a process of learning, re-learning, and un-learning about Dr. King. As I began to read a sampling of the works that other scholars have written about him, as well as his speeches and other writings, I once again encountered the ...