Black Freethinkers: A History of Secularism in the United States, host SI Martin

In keeping with their continued exploration of freethinking, Humanism and history from an African perspective, our friends the Association of Black Humanists, are honoured to have as a speaker in September, Professor Christopher Cameron, to talk about his book, Black freethinkers: A history of secularism in the United States. As it is a talk, you do not have to have read the book to attend the event.

We are also thrilled to have the British Historian, S I Martin, lead a discussion with Professor Christopher Cameron on his book and to explore his thoughts on Black freethinkers.

In his book, Black Freethinkers, historian Professor Cameron sifts through the evidence of historical records and discovers that the historical and popular depictions of African Americans as naturally religious may be incorrect. Based on the writings and speeches of African American freethinkers such as Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin and Alice Walker, Professor Cameron argues that freethought has been a feature of black political and intellectual life for over two centuries.

Professor Cameron suggests a novel point of origin of non-belief and scepticism in America, namely the brutality of the institution of slavery.

Professor Cameron shows that the experience of slavery and the degradations of proslavery Christianity also led some enslaved and free blacks in the nineteenth century to varieties of unbelief.

This will be a really memorable event. Not to be missed.

Spaces are limited. Please RSVP today to secure a seat.

Tickets: £10

Venue: Nelson Square Community Room,

60A Rowland Hill House, SE1 0LT

Date: 22 September 2023

Time: 7pm - 9pm

Nearest Tube: Southwark

About the Author

CHRISTOPHER CAMERON is an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the founder of the African American Intellectual History Society, the author of To Plead Our Own Cause: African Americans in Massachusetts and the Making of the Antislavery Movement, and a co-editor of New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual Tradition (Northwestern, 2018).