Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons And Writings

by Pauli Murray, Anthony B. Pinn (Editor/Introduction)

Genres: Religion, Feminism, Spirituality, History, African American, Gender, Nonfiction

245 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2006

About the author

The Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist, women's rights activist, lawyer, and author. She was also the first black woman ordained an Episcopal priest.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Murray was raised mostly by her maternal grandparents. At the age of sixteen, she moved to New York to attend Hunter College, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1933. In 1940, Murray was arrested with a friend for violating Virginia segregation laws after they sat in the whites-only section of a bus. This incident, and her subsequent involvement with the socialist Workers' Defense League, inspired her to become a civil rights lawyer, and she enrolled at Howard University. During her years at Howard, she became increasingly aware of sexism, which she called "Jane Crow", the sister of the Jim Crow racial segregation laws. Murray graduated first in her class, but was denied the chance to do further work at Harvard University because of her gender. In 1965 she became the first African American to receive a J.S.D. from Yale Law School.

As a lawyer, Murray argued for civil rights and women's rights. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Chief Counsel Thurgood Marshall called Murray's 1950 book States' Laws on Race and Color the "bible" of the civil rights movement. Murray served on the 1961 Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and in 1966 was a co-founder of the National Organization for Women. Ruth Bader Ginsburg later named Murray a coauthor on a brief for Reed v. Reed in recognition of her pioneering work on gender discrimination. Murray held faculty or administrative positions at the Ghana School of Law, Benedict College, and Brandeis University.

In 1973, Murray left academia for the Episcopal Church, becoming a priest, and was named an Episcopal saint in 2012. Murray struggled with issues related to her sexual and gender identity, describing herself as having an "inverted sex instinct"; she had a brief, annulled marriage to a man and several relationships with women, and in her younger years, occasionally passed as a teenage boy. In addition to her legal and advocacy work, Murray published two well-reviewed autobiographies and a volume of poetry.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ruqaiyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons and Writings' is nothing short of a historical treasure trove, an electrifying jolt to the collective conscience and I could kick myself for not learning about this amazing person until later in life.

Pauli Murray, if you're unfamiliar, was a jack-of-all-trades in the best possible way – civil rights activist, lawyer, poet, priest, and an unapologetic trailblazer for gender and racial equality. So, diving into this collection is like wading through the very essence of resilience and undiluted conviction.

First off, the sermons – they're not your run-of-the-mill Sunday church fare. We're talking about profound, shake-you-to-your-core kind of messages that transcend religious dogma. Murray's words are a clarion call for justice and equality, delivered with the kind of passion that lights fires under the most complacent of behinds. If you've ever wondered what it sounds like when someone speaks truth to power from the pulpit, here's your answer.

But it's not all fire and brimstone; there's a poetic grace to Murray's writings that's equally compelling. There's this raw, unfiltered honesty laced with a hope that's contagious, even against the backdrop of harsh realities. Reading through these pieces, you get this sense that Murray isn't just speaking to their contemporaries but reaching out through the annals of time to speak to us, right here, right now.

Now, I won't lie – some of these writings are a tough pill to swallow, a stark reminder of the battles fought and the ones still raging. For those who fancy themselves as aficionados of history, civil rights, or simply human resilience, 'Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons and Writings' is a must-read. It's not just about digesting the words of a pivotal figure in American history; it's about letting those words stir something in you, challenge you, and maybe, just maybe, spur you into action.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's great fun seeing this civil rights activist reaching the pinnacle of her life as a priest and reading her sermons. I wouldn't call them ground-breaking or must read, but they have a familiar, prophetic, justice-rolls-down feel to them.