To Speak a Defiant Word

This is a compelling compendium of Murray's theological insights and spiritual yearnings. True food for thought and for the soul and a call to each of us to live lives of justice and hope. -Emilie M. Townes, Vanderbilt University Divinity School Pauli Murray's life was remarkable by any stretch of the imagination, and it was lived at the crossroads of the 20th century's struggle with civil rights, equal rights, women's rights, and labor movements. In this necessary, original, and accessible collection, Anthony Pinn helps us embrace Pauli Murray with head, heart, and humanity. -Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Vanderbilt University Divinity School Though she stepped into the pulpit late in life, Pauli Murray was a prophetic preacher throughout the 20th century, confronting the principalities of sexism and racism with her typewriter and her direct action. She confronted both the white supremacists who defended segregation and the Black men who thought they knew better, always with a certitude that made clear she drew from deep wells. In this collection of Murray's sermons and lectures, we get to see how her trailblazing life of proclamation was rooted in both the Scriptures and a powerful understanding of God's love for all creation. Drink deep from the wisdom that sustained this giant of the Movement. -William J. Barber, II, author of We Are Called To Be a Movement In this indispensable collection, Anthony Pinn gives substantial attention to Pauli Murray's sermons and lectures in tracking her religious development and growing theological perspectives. Unlike most scholarship on Murray's religious turn, this collection offers a full-throated account of her activism, later in life, as an evolving expression of her religious growth. -Keri Day, Princeton Theological Seminary