RELI 252 - Martin and Malcolm: Racial Terror and the Black Freedom Struggle

In this course we explore the complicated lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. - the convergences and divergences. We analyze the intersections of racial identity, religious affiliation, and political orientation and their relations to the prevailing notions of manhood. How did Malcolm and Martin enter the black freedom movement? How did their religious affiliation facilitate or hinder entry? How did their participation in the movement inform their understanding of religion? Within their respective imaginations, what kind of “religio-political and ethical figure” is America - Egypt, or Promised Land, Zion or Babylon; messianic nation or apocalyptic, dystopian nightmare? How do Martin and Malcolm perform, enact, and embody the notion that “black lives matter?” (4 Credits)