organizing

When I was 8 years old, my grandfather, Elder James Thomas, whispered in my ears the words whispered in his ear by his father. "You are of a royal priesthood. You are the heir of a rich tradition, born in the heat of slave, breed in the backwoods, go and preach the word given to your fathers and make your people free!" I have whispered these words in the ears of my five children with the hope that they will continue the prophetic preaching tradition.

While I am a third-generation ordained Pentecostal clergyperson, my work has been both ecumenical and interfaith with progressive orientation. I hold credentials in the National Baptist Convention (licensed minister) the Church of God in Christ (Ordained Elder), and in-care with a local United Church of Christ, where I serve as Senior Community Minister. I was privileged to serve as the founding National Coordinator of Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq. I spend so much time in one Mosque that the "brothers" there call me the Imam's Pastor. That Imam, my dear friend and brother, El Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, once commented publicly, "I do not know if a Rev. Sekou is a preacher posing an Imam or an Imam posing a preacher."

Live from the U.S. Social Forum: it's hot here in Atlanta, but not as sticky as it was yesterday morning in New York City, when I left home at 6am. Mostly, the heat here seems to be emerging from the fire and passion of the amazing activists, organizers, artists, youth, and regular people who have come together to seek to build another world -- a peaceful, humane, nonviolent, and just world.