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The 10th Annual Lecture on Multiculturalism
Date:
Tuesday, Feb 10, 2004
Time: 7:00-9:00pm
Press
Release Page | Campus
Flyer
Speical
Notice:
We
regret to announce, Rev. Raul Suarez was denied
a visa by the
State Department to visit the United States.
See news report from Providence
Journal
This year's program is specially
dedicated to Rev. Suarez who was not able to come
due to the denial of visa at the U.S. embassy in
Cuba.
Replacing
Rev. Suarez for the Annual Lecture will be Dr.
Miren Uriarte
from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Professor of Human
Services & Rev. Lucius Walker, Executive Director, Pastors for Peace. |
Rev. Raul Suarez.
Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Memorial
Center and Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Havana,
Cuba
and an official of the Cuban government will deliver the University of Rhode
Island's Tenth Annual Lecture on Multiculturalism titled " The
Role of Nonviolence, Antipoverty Initiative, and Liberation Theology in the
Cuban Revolution" on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 at 7:00pm in Chafee Auditorium,
Kingston, RI.
A prominent theologian, activist and government official, Rev.
Suarez is well known throughout South America and the Caribbean
as arguably Cuba's foremost
advocate of liberation theology. Its origin credited to the speeches and writings
of Gabriel Gutierrez of Peru during the late 1960's and early 1970's
liberation theology focuses on the role of the Church and the example of Christ
in liberating the poor (as well as the elites) from the poverty of powerlessness
by eliminating structural inequalities in the social political and economic
process; from the poverty of inauthenticity by developing heightened individual,
community, and spiritual consciousness through social engagement; and from
the poverty of sin by restoring all members of society into harmony with each
other and communion with God, thereby realizing the kingdom of God on earth.
Three major milestones in the ministry of Rev. Suarez were attained upon his
assumption of the stewardship of Ebenezer Baptist Church and the initiation
of a church dialogue with the Cuban government in 1971. The founding of the
Martin Luther King Memorial Center in 1987 and his selection as Representative
in the Cuban National Assembly, the legislative branch of government, in 1991
his tenure at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Marianas, a predominantly black and
poor community, has resulted in the conversion in demographics from predominantly
white to predominantly black. His presence in the National Assembly has given
a greater voice to a civil rights agenda, including opposition to capital punishment.
But his most important legacy is the work of the Martin Luther King Memorial
Center, profoundly influenced by the theology and social activism of the African-American
civil rights leader. An ecumenical organization established on the principles
of Christian Liberation theology, the King Center offers programs under four
rubrics: (1) popular education, emphasizing strategies for community organization
and development; (2) community service, centering on housing, the elderly and
low-income communities. (3) social and theological study and research, promoting
cooperation and collaboration within the religious community in Cuba and in
Latin America; and (4) international solidarity, establishing links to centers,
religious groups, and non-governmental organizations around the world. The
work of the King Center is largely supported by international non-government
organizations in the United States, Canada, and Europe, such as Oxfam and Pastors
for Peace. Under the umbrella of the King Center, Rev. Suarez has also founded
Caminos: A Social Theological Review, to which he is a frequent contributor.
Initiated by the University of Rhode Island Multicultural Center,
the Annual Lectures on Multiculturalism seek to promote strategies
that encourage individuals,
organizations, and groups to develop global ways of knowing, global building
of relationships, and global problem solving. Previous speaker in this series
have been bell hooks, the nation's leading black cultural critic (1995).
Christopher Edley, Harvard professor of law and legal counsel to President
Clinton (1996). Alvin Poussaint, Harvard psychiatrist and child studies researcher
(1997). Cornel West, then Harvard professor of African-American Studies (1998);
Lani Guinier, Harvard professor of law (1999); Robin D. G.. Kelley, one of
the nation's outstanding social historians and a scholar of hip hop culture
(2000); Patricia J. Williams (2001), Columbia Law professor and a pioneer of
critical-race theory; Bob Moses, SNCC civil-rights pioneer and founder of the
groundbreaking Algebra Project (2002); Paul Gilroy, Yale sociology and African-American
British cultural studies (2003).
Though he has visited the United States in 1997 and 1999 on diplomatic mission
without incident, Rev. Suarez may be refused a visa for travel to the United
States. Under current State Department regulations, members of the Cuban government
are generally prohibited from traveling to the United States. If he is unable
to secure visa approval, Rev. Suarez will deliver the lecture via videotape.
Related Links
(URI and the URI Multicultural Center are not responsible for the content of
the following Web sites.)
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Websites:
Last updated:
02/17/2005
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