Boykin, Douglas to keynote MSU symposium

Author Keith Boykin comes to Baltimore on March 9. (Photo courtesy of Boykin)

Keith Boykin, an author and TV commentator on politics, race and sexual orientation, will be a keynote speaker at Morgan State University’s symposium “Intersections: Sexuality, Gender, Race and Ethnicity” to be held March 9. Goucher College professor of philosophy and religion and author Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas will also keynote.

The event, which is sponsored by the Morgan State University’s Program in Women and Gender Studies, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Bmore Proud Intercollegiate LGBT Network, will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Morgan State University Student Center, 1700 East Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore.

Eight panels covering such disciplines as Religion/Spirituality, Marriage, Redefining Families, Transgender Issues, Health, Education, Film and Literature, History, Global Contexts and Mental Health will be offered. In addition, The Rock Creek Singers of The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will perform at the closing session at 4 p.m.

Boykin was a founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition. He delivered a speech to 200,000 people at the Millennium March on Washington and gave a stirring speech about the AIDS epidemic in front of 40,000 people in Chicago’s Soldier Field in July 2006. Boykin’s books have been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, including his most recent book, “Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America.”

His newest book is “For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home.” It responds to the crisis of youth development and suicide in the black community, specifically among young gay men of color.

Douglas recently published “Black Bodies and the Black Church: A Blues Slant.” Douglas taught theology at the Divinity School of Howard University in Washington, D.C. for 14 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s and doctoral degrees in divinity and systematic theology. In 1985, Douglas became the first black woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest in the Southern Ohio Diocese. At the time, she was one of only five black female Episcopal priests nationwide.

For registration information, call 443-885-3130 or visit morgan.edu.