Mandisa Thomas
Mandisa Lateefah Thomas is the founder and president of Black Nonbelievers Inc. She has spoken at secular conferences and events, and has promoted the group's agenda in media outlets. Early life and background. Thomas's upbringing was in a nonreligious, single-parent household, but she describes her grandmother as "staunchly religious". At the age of twenty-one, Thomas moved with her husband to Atlanta, where cultural factors made it difficult to lead a secular life. This experience led her to found Black Nonbelievers. She considers religion, and Christianity in particular, to have been ingrained into the African -American identity by force. Activism. Thomas spoke at the 2013 National Convention of American Atheists. That same year she organized the Blackout Secular Rally in New York, the United States' first outdoor event headlined by nontheists of color, and the first secular rally celebrating racial diversity. She credits Ayanna Watson with helping develop the idea after the success of the 2012 Reason Rally. In 2017, Thomas was recognized by name in a bill (SCR-79) introduced by state Senator Richard Pan, and adopted by the California State Senate, proclaiming October 15, 2017 as the 16th annual celebration of California Freethought Day . Thomas has made interview appearances in media outlets including CBS News, WABE FM 90.1's "Closer Look", NPR's "Code Switch" podcast, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation's Freethought Radio program. She has been profiled in publications including "Jet magazine" and Playboy, and has written opinion pieces for outlets including CNN. Her acting credits include "The Mythicist Milwaukee Show", as well as the documentaries "Contradiction" (2013), "Racial Taboo" (2013), and "My Week in Atheism" (2014). Black Nonbelievers. Thomas founded Black Nonbelievers, Inc. in 2011, as a non-profit, secular fellowship. Its goals include eliminating stigma, increasing visibility, and providing  support and networking opportunities around non-belief in the African-American community. The organization's leadership is mostly female, and includes LGBTQ representation, and it has chapters in ten U.S. cities. It partners with other secular organizations including African Americans for Humanism, Openly Secular and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. In March 2018, in order to devote herself full-time to activism within Black Nonbelievers and the broader secular community, Thomas resigned from her full-time position as event services manager at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's conference center. Awards and honors. In 2018, the Unitarian Universalist  Humanist Association named Thomas its Person of the Year. In 2019 the Secular Student Alliance presented her with its Backbone Award. Personal life. Thomas and her husband, also an atheist, have three children and reside in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.