2023 MLK Convocation
Led by Brebeuf Jesuit's Black Student Union
Greetings and Happy New Year!
Our first convocation of 2023 will be our annual MLK Convocation, led and organized by our Black Student Union. Each year, we gather as a community to memorialize Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy, the dream that he had for us almost 60 years ago, and our responsibility as children of God to work towards the creation of a world that is truly equitable for all. We are thrilled to announce this year's MLK Convocation speaker, Father Joseph Brown, S.J.
Joseph A. Brown, S.J., Ph.D. a native of East St. Louis, Illinois, is a Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus. With graduate degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Yale University, Fr. Brown has taught at Creighton University; the University of Virginia; Xavier University, where he was the Director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies; and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he is a Professor in the Africana Studies Department. The Africana Studies Department, where Fr. Brown has served as Director since July 1, 2022, is located in the School of Africana and Multicultural Studies at SIUC. In addition to being National Black Catholic Congress Liturgist in 1992 (New Orleans) and in 2002 (Chicago), Fr. Brown has published many articles in African American literary criticism and cultural studies. He also composes the blog, “
The Sankofa Muse.”
Additionally, he presents frequently at the Archbishop James Lyke Liturgical Conference and in many areas of the country. He is the author of Accidental Grace (Callaloo Poetry Series; 1986); A Retreat with Thea Bowman and Bede Abram: Leaning on the Lord (1997); To Stand on the Rock: Meditations on Black Catholic Identity (1996); Sweet, Sweet Spirit: Prayer Services in the Black Catholic Tradition (with the assistance of Bishop Fernand Cheri, OFM/2006); and The Sun Whispers, Wait: New and Collected Poems (Brown Turtle Press; 2009). Fr. Brown was the holder of the MacLean Chair of Jesuit Studies at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia during the fall of 2009. He was also the founding Chair of the 1917 Centennial Commission and Cultural Initiative, which was charged with presenting events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1917 East St. Louis Race Massacre/Pogrom.
We are delighted to host Fr. Brown and hope you will consider joining us on Friday, January 13, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. in the West Gym for a morning of history, reflection, and fellowship.
If you are unable to attend the formal conversation, you may still fellowship with Fr. Brown at the Community Meet-and-Greet that afternoon,
Friday, January 13, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. in the Mohr Family Information Commons. Light refreshments will be provided. Please
RSVP here.
In Christ,
Kayla Storrs
Director of Equity and Inclusion