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March 4 Discussion on Racial Struggles Among Christians, Muslims

The Duke Faith Council event honors the late Rev. C. Eric Lincoln

Scholars will discuss racial struggles among Christians and Muslims during a public event Monday, March 4, at Duke University.

The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 7 p.m. in Duke Divinity School's Goodson Chapel. It is hosted by Duke University Faith Council.

The discussion honors the work of the late Rev. C. Eric Lincoln, a Methodist minister, civil rights activist, former professor of religion and culture at Duke and author of "Black Muslims in America"

The event also contributes to the university’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the integration of the undergraduate student body.

Panel guests include the Rev. William Turner Jr., professor of the practice of homiletics at Duke Divinity School; Sherman A. Jackson, chair of Islamic Thought and Culture, and professor of religion, American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California; and Lawrence Mamiya, a professor of religion and Africana studies.

Both Turner and Mamiya worked closely with Rev. Lincoln, and Mamiya co-authored with him, "The Black Church in the African American Experience."

"This event was designed to lift up the history -- past and present -- of racial struggle and alienation in the Christian and Muslim communities, while also honoring the pioneering work of professor Lincoln," said Christy Lohr Sapp, associate dean for religious life at Duke Chapel and coordinator of the Faith Council. 

"In the final book written before his death, 'Coming Through the Fire,' Lincoln writes of 'the recognition that we are all of a kind, with the same vulnerabilities, the same possibilities and the same needs for God and each other,'" she said. "This concept can be applied to interfaith relations, as well as race relations, and it is particularly salient during this 50th anniversary commemoration."

A reception will follow the interfaith event, which is co-sponsored by the Duke Divinity School; 50th Anniversary Committee; Center for Muslim Life; Duke Department of Religion; Department of African and African American Studies; Duke Islamic Studies Center; and Durham Congregations In Action.