Jennifer Long MacEwan: BLM 2020 as a "Woke-Up Call" for White Canadians
Channel: GIRES-Global Research Institute
Date: 2022-05-23

Jennifer Long earned a PhD in sociocultural anthropology with a specialization in Migration and Ethnic Relations from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. After her doctoral work in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, she held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations where she studied newcomer integration and settlement practices in Ontario, Canada. Since this time, Dr. Long has worked as an applied anthropologist on behalf of for- and non-profit organizations conducting qualitative research, program evaluation, and as an ethnographer- for-hire. She is currently an Assistant Professor at MacEwan University where she studies white racial identity and whiteness among Edmontonians and Albertans.

ABSTRACT
This presentation seeks to examine the intersection between the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM), and the Black Church. Historically, the Black Church has been instrumental in social justice in the United States. This was birthed out of the fight for freedom and equality, which began because the enslavement of African descended people in America. As the Black Christian tradition in the United States grew, so did the power of the Black Church. During the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Church was behind organizations such as the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). Most notably, the Civil Rights Movement was led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was a Baptist preacher. The Black Lives Matter Movement has found some support within the Black Church, as exemplified through Black Liberation Theology, which posits that the goal of Christianity is as that of a liberatory means for African descended people. At the onset of BLM, many Black Churches embraced BLM as a viable means of protest, however there was, and continues to be some pushback from other more theologically conservative Black Churches, who see Black Lives Matter as a threat to morality and opposed to orthodox Christian theology.

CONFERENCE INFORMATION
"Black Lives Matter: Lessons from a Global Movement"
Organizer: GIRES-Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship  
Date: 21-22 May 2022
Place: Amsterdam (Virtual)
More information: https://www.gires.org/activities/conferences/black-lives-matter-lessons-from-a-global-movement/