Hundreds of students and advisors from Yale, Amherst, Bowdoin, Parsons, Dartmouth, Pace, Brown, Princeton, Rutgers, Duke, USD, Sarah Lawrence, Emory, Columbia, and more, gathered to hear Chanta Haywood, an instructor in the School of Communication, speak on Intergenerational Spirituality and Social Consciousness at the Black Solidarity Conference hosted by Yale.

Situating her discussion around Frantz Fanon’s admonition that each generation must discover, fulfill, or betray its mission, Haywood used her own book, “Prophesying Daughters” to illustrate how 19^th century black women preachers used their spirituality as a form of resistance. These women left a blueprint for what Haywood calls “divine defiance,” or using a relationship with a higher being to critique, challenge, and address social issues. Haywood challenged participants to think about how they can apply this idea to MeToo, BlackLivesMatter, LGBTQ, Climate Change, and other social movements.

The students responded positively to the talk, one even saying it was “the most progressive discussion around religion and spirituality.” Another student remarked, “I genuinely learned something new and was also provided a clear pathway to continue learning new things.” Haywood was excited to have the opportunity to share her research with the next generation of thought leaders. She hopes to be able to speak to more students, specifically those at FSU, soon.