“I am proud to join in the Rustin Center’s work of building a beloved community where Black LGBTQIA lives matter.”
The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, a community activist center and LGBTQ safe-space in Princeton welcomed Dr. Peniel Joseph to its Board of Directors.
Dr. Joseph has written a new book, The Sword and The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X & Martin Luther King Jr. In it he examines the political lives of the two leaders who assumed divergent, but crucially similar roles. The new Board member at BRCSJ has shared his expertise on racial issues on National Public Radio, The Colbert Report, PBS, & MSNBC. He has published works in The Journal of American History, The New York Times, The Black Scholar, Souls, American Historical Review, Newsweek, TheRoot, and The Washington Post.
Dr. Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs University of Texas at Austin as the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics & Political Values and at the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts. Dr. Joseph’s other books include Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America, Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama, and Stokely: A Life.
“I am excited and honored to join the board of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice. At this watershed moment in history, where millions of people have demonstrated nationally and globally to end systemic racism, defeat white supremacy, and guarantee Black Dignity and citizenship, we need allyship in the service of intersectional justice more than ever,” said Joseph. “I am proud to join in the Rustin Center’s work of building a beloved community where Black LGBTQIA lives matter and are central to achieving a country free of injustice, poverty, violence, and inequality.”
Dr. Joseph joins a diverse Board dedicated to the mission of the BRCSJ. Other members of the Board include Coalition for Peace Action’s Rev. Bob Moore, transgender crusader Erin Worrell, Clarion River Group founder and workers’ right advocate David Sailer, Beyond Diversity Executive Director Robin Parker, Maplewood, New Jersey’s openly gay Deputy Mayor, Dean Dafis, activist street theatre performer Glen Pannell (aka “Mike Hot-Pence”), BRCSJ Community Outreach Coordinator Carol Watchler, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Haydon, Center for Medicare Advocacy Senior Attorney Wey-Wey Kwok, Women Evoking Change co-founder Pamela Hall, and Ex Officio Member, Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber.
“Dr. Joseph is an extraordinary addition to our Board of Directors at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice,” said Robt Seda-Schreiber. “He is the ideal individual to help us move forward at this pivotal moment in our nation’s history. He encompasses in his writing, his career, and indeed his own personal journey the true strength of our Center— embracing diversity over adversity to become a strong advocate and a stalwart ally, addressing systemic racism and overall societal inequities. He will truly be a force both at our Center and in the greater community for many years to come.”
