Sikivu Hutchinson
Sikivu Hutchinson | |
---|---|
NYU | |
Known for | Author of Humanists in the Hood: Unapologetically Black, Feminist, and Heretical, (2020), Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels, (2013) Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (2011) Imagining Transit: Race, Gender, and Transportation Politics in Los Angeles (Travel Writing Across the Disciplines) (2003) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | USC Center for Feminist Research |
Website | www www |
Sikivu Hutchinson is an American author, playwright, director, and musician. Her multi-genre work explores feminism, gender justice, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, humanism and atheism. She is the author of Humanists in the Hood: Unapologetically Black, Feminist, and Heretical (2020), White Nights, Black Paradise (2015), Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels (2013), Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (2011), and Imagining Transit: Race, Gender, and Transportation Politics in Los Angeles (Travel Writing Across the Disciplines) (2003). Her plays include "White Nights, Black Paradise", "Rock 'n' Roll Heretic" and "Narcolepsy, Inc.". "Rock 'n' Roll Heretic" was among the 2023 Lambda Literary award LGBTQ Drama finalists. Moral Combat is the first book on atheism to be published by an African-American woman.[1] In 2013 she was named Secular Woman of the year[2] and was awarded Foundation Beyond Belief's 2015 Humanist Innovator award. She was also a recipient of Harvard's 2020 Humanist of the Year award.
Early life and education
Her grandfather Earl Hutchinson Sr. and father Earl Ofari Hutchinson are both authors.[3][4] Hutchinson graduated from New York University with a Ph.D. in Performance Studies in 1999.[5]
Early career
Hutchinson has written articles for
She has taught women's studies, urban studies, cultural studies, African American Humanism and education at the
Moral Combat
In her book, Moral Combat, she examines what she views as the hijacking of civil rights by the Christian Right; the connections between humanism, feminism and social justice; the importance of humanism for pre-college education; the backlash of religious fundamentalism, in the vein of the
Black Skeptics group
Formed by Hutchinson in March 2010 she explained to KTYM radio the reason she formed the group was a "response to the emergent need amongst African-American non-believers to have some kind of community and interpersonal connection to each other, in real time". She believes that there is a large community of black non-believers on social media sites, but it is important for these people to find a "sanctuary from the hyper-religiosity that African-Americans are seeped in".[8] The group was featured in a May 2012 article[9] that chronicled how greater numbers of African Americans were leaving religious faith and adopting atheism and freethought.
Political views
Diversity in religious skepticism
Hutchinson has stated that "While black male non-believers are given more leeway to be heretics or just MIA from church, black women who openly profess non-theist views are deemed especially traitorous, having 'abandoned' their primary role as purveyors of cultural and religious tradition."[10] Much of Hutchinson's work focuses on the cultural and social history of African-American secular humanist thought and its role in black liberation struggle.[11] Hutchinson's work also challenges the social conservatism of the Black Church with respect to abortion, gay rights and women's rights.[12]
Hutchinson has challenged the lack of racial diversity and attention to
In 2016, Hutchinson criticized the merger of the secular organizations Center for Inquiry and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science which gave Richard Dawkins a seat on the board of directors of the Center for Inquiry. Her criticism was that both organizations had an all-white board of directors.[15]
Humanism
Hutchinson subscribes to a radical humanist vision that eschews religious and social hierarchies of race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability status because they undermine the universal human rights and self-determination of oppressed peoples. For communities of color, radical Humanism reinforces the cultural legitimacy, visibility, and validity of non-believers of color within the context of a
Hutchinson has argued for the articulation of a culturally relevant humanism based on secular social, racial, and gender justice that eschews notions of
Billboard campaign
In 2012 Hutchinson was featured in a national billboard campaign of prominent black non-believers launched by African Americans for Humanism. She was paired with author Zora Neale Hurston, a folklorist of African-American culture who wrote of being a skeptic in her essay "Religion."[19]
Books
- White Nights, Black Paradise. Infidel Books. 2015. ISBN 978-0692267134.
- Godless Americana. Infidel Books. 2013. ISBN 978-0615586106.
- Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics and the Value Wars. Infidel Press. 2011. ISBN 978-0578071862.
- Imagining Transit: Race, Gender, and Transportation Politics in Los Angeles (Travel Writing Across the Disciplines). Peter Lang Publishing. 2003. ISBN 978-0820455860.
References
- ^ "Black atheists matter: how women freethinkers take on religion". Big Think. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- ^ "Secular Woman Membership Awards". Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
- ^ "Earl Hutchinson Sr., 100; Considered Oldest Black American to Pen Memoirs". Los Angeles Times. February 17, 2004. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ "Books by Earl Ofari Hutchinson". Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ Joseph, May; Fink, Jennifer (1999). Performing Hybridity. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 254.
- ^ a b "Sikivu Hutchinson | Secular Student Alliance". Secularstudents.org. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ Edwords, Fred (March–April 2012). "The Hidden Hues of Humanity". The Humanist. 72 (2): 29–30. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ "Introducing The Black Skeptics Group". BlackSkeptics.org. April 8, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "More African-Americans leaving religious faiths". University of Southern California. 14 May 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ "Moral Combat: Interview with Dr Sikivu Hutchinson « Echoes of CommonSense". Echoesofcommonsense.wordpress.com. 6 March 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ Hutchinson, Sikivu. "Good, Without God". The New Humanism. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ISBN 978-0578071862.
- ^ "The White Stuff". Daylight Atheism. December 7, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ "Beyond The Sacrificial Good Woman: Black Feminism and Freethought". The Feminist Wire. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ #AtheismSoWhite: Atheists of Color Rock Social Justice by Sikivu Hutchinson, Huffington Post, January 26, 2016
- ^ "Queer Youth of Color Beyond Faith". The New Humanism. 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ "To Be Atheist, Feminist, and Black". RD Magazine. February 3, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- The Humanist. No. July / August 2018. American Humanist Association. Archivedfrom the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ "Announcing the We Are AAH Campaign". aahumanism.net. Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.