“Democracy and god have failed”— captures the spirit of this provocative collection of essays. Arguing that the religion must be used for the expansion of democracy, "Gods, Gays, and Guns" takes up the topics of gay marriage, economic justice, and social movements. Written in the Parisian cafes, London’s ghetto, and the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake and post-Katrina New Orleans, "Gods, Gays, and Guns" is a spiritual tour-de-force— revealing a crisis of faith in religion and democracy. With an unflinching pen, Rev. Sekou challenges the reader to rethink the meaning of the role of religion in our global democracy. Praise for book: Rev. Sekou is one of the most courageous and prophetic voices of our time. His allegiance to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. is strong and his witness is real. Don't miss this book! -Cornel West, Professor of Religion, Princeton University The essays in "Gods, Gays, and Guns" are the result of deep immersion, in suffering and struggle, yes, but also in the ideas, political, theological, artistic, and above all democratic, that may make a difference. Sekou gives us something rarer and more valuable: a book of powerful questions. -Jeff Sharlet, Author, New York Times bestseller The Family This is a hopeful book. The “occupy” movement has stirred awareness here in America and elsewhere that we may be on the threshold of momentous change. But where will the fresh ideas, the leadership and, most importantly, the sustaining spirit for such a change originate? Rev. Sekou’s energetic, thoughtful and engaging book begins to answer some of these questions, and indeed the author himself embodies some of those answers. -Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard University
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou
Osagyefo (oh-sah-GEE-fo) Uhuru (ooh-WHO-roo) Sekou (SAY-koo)
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou is an author, documentary filmmaker, public intellectual, organizer, pastor and theologian. Considered one of the foremost religious leaders of his generation, Rev. Sekou is the former Senior Minister of Lemuel Haynes Congregational Church (UCC). He has forthcoming collection of writings, gods, Gays, and Guns: Essays on Religion and the Future of Democracy.
Raised in the rural Arkansas Delta, he is a third generation ordained Elder in the Church of God in Christ (Pentecostal). Rev. Sekou has served as the Special Assistant on social justice to the Bishop for the Church of God in Christ in New York. At Judson Memorial Church in New York, he served as a Senior Community Minister. He managed a food pantry, HIV-AIDS, and homeless feeding program as the Social Justice Minister at Middle Collegiate Church. He authored the critically acclaimed Urban Souls, which takes a refreshing approach to the spiritual crisis in America. He delves into Hip-Hop, religion, homophobia, sexism, race, and politics with organic insight. Princeton Professor of Religion Cornel West penned the preface, writing: "Rev. Sekou has the most in depth and concise analysis of youth that I have ever heard." Rev. Sekou was a fellow-in-residence at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. As an Ella Baker Fellow at New York Theological Seminary's Micah Institute, he serves a chief strategist for organizing clergy for economic justice in New York City.
Rev. Sekou has given over 1000 lectures throughout the country and abroad, including Harvard Divinity School, Princeton University, University of Virginia, and the University of Paris IV- La Sorbonne, and Vanderbilt University for the African American Lectionary Conference. He has studied continental philosophy at the New School, systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary, and is currently studying religion at Harvard University. Rev Sekou is a contributing editor of The Fellowship Magazine. He was also a Freeman Fellow with the historic Fellowship of Reconciliation.
He served on Platform Committee for the National Political Hip Hop Convention, as well as Senior Adviser on Urban Public Policy for the Kucinich for President 2004 Campaign. Rev. Sekou directed a community center in the notorious Cochran Housing Project in St. Louis, MO. Rev. Sekou is a Professor of Preaching at the Seminary Consortium of Urban Pastoral Education in the Graduate Theological Urban Studies Program in Chicago, IL.
In response to the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, Rev. Sekou moved to New Orleans for six month and founded the Interfaith Worker Justice Center for New Orleans. Rev. Sekou was the founding national coordinator for Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq (CALC-I). CALC-I
represented over 300 faith based institution and organization around the country working to end the war and occupation in Iraq. On September 26, 2006 CALC-I led a civil disobedience action opposing the war and occupation of Iraq at the White House. Over 370 people were arrested including sixty religious leaders.
As an "International Ambassador" for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Rev. Sekou is a Statesman for peace and justice throughout world. He co-led an interfaith delegation to Haiti one month after the tragic earthquake. He built toilets alongside the Haitian people. 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. He was a delegate to the Interdependence Day Conferences in Istanbul, Turkey and Berlin, Germany. He has played a key role in civil and interfaith diplomacy negotiations with the Iranian government.
Recognizing his distinguished work as Public Scholar and Intellectual, the Institute for Policy Studies-the nation's oldest multi-issue progressive think tank in Washington, D.C. appointed Rev. Sekou as the first Associate Fellow in Religion and Justice. Recently, Rev. Sekou received the Keeper of the Flame Award by the National Voting Rights Institute and Museum in Selma, AL.
