Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou is an author, documentary filmmaker, public intellectual, organizer, pastor and theologian. A graduate of St. Louis Soldan High School, Rev. Sekou has deep ties to the region. He began his ministry at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, where Michael Brown's funeral was held. He has been on the ground in Ferguson for the past three months on behalf of the Fellowship of Reconciliation — the country’s oldest interfaith peace organization. Rev. Sekou participated in the daily protest and has co-led trainings for over 800 people in nonviolent civil disobedience.
Rev. Sekou was arrested twice for acts of civil disobedience — once for praying in front of riot police and while co-leading group of religious leaders on Moral Monday. In addition to numerous media appearances, he co-authored with Cornel West, And the Young Ones Shall Lead Them: The Ferguson Rebellion and the Crisis in Black Leadership. His writing and reflections on Ferguson include: A Letter from Ferguson and The Gospel is not a Neutral Term.
Rev. Sekou is Scholar in Residence at Stanford University's Martin Luther King Education and Research Institute. Considered one of the foremost religious leaders of his generation, he published a collection of writings, Gods, Gays, and Guns: Essays on Religion and the Future of Democracy (Campbell & Cannon Press, 2012). Based on his in-depth reporting on the London Riots 2012, Rev. Sekou has a forthcoming book entitled Riot Music: British Hip Hop, Race, and the Politics of Meaning (Hamilton Books, 2015).
Having studied continental philosophy at the New School, systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary and currently studying religion at Harvard University, Rev. Sekou is a Statesman for peace and justice throughout world. Based on a lecture he delivered in Beirut, Lebanon, his short documentary film, Exiles in the Promised Land: The Quest for Home, focuses on the plights of Palestinians, Iraqi and post-Katrina New Orleans. The film was accepted at the Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival. Rev. Sekou was a delegate to the People's World Climate Change Conference in Bolivia, has played a key role in civil and interfaith diplomacy negotiations with the Iranian government, is a contributing editor of The Fellowship Magazine and was also a Freeman Fellow with the historic Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Rev. Sekou delves into Hip-Hop, religion, homophobia, sexism, race and politics with organic insight. He has given over 1,000 lectures throughout the country and abroad, including Harvard Divinity School, Princeton University, University of Virginia, the University of Paris IV- La Sorbonne and Vanderbilt University for the African American Lectionary Conference.
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