Description: The Auburn Avenue Research Library, in collaboration with the Baton Foundation Inc, will host a lecture and book signing about Black faith-based personal freedom. Professor and Author Randal Maurice Jenkins will discuss his publication Faith and Struggle in the Lives of Four African Americans. This book explores the faith stories of four individuals: Atlanta native Mary Lou Williams, Ethel Waters, Eldridge Cleaver, and Muhammad Ali. It examines their autobiographical writings, interviews, speeches, letters, and memorable performances to understand how each of these figures used religious faith publicly to reconcile deep personal struggles, voice their concerns for human dignity, and reinvent their public image. For them, liberation was not simply defined by material or legal well being, but by a spiritual search for community and personal wholeness. Randal Maurice Jelks is Professor of African and African American Studies and American Studies. He holds courtesy appointments in History, Religious Studies, and is the co-Editor of the journal American Studies. Jelks is a graduate of the University of Michigan (BA in History), McCormick Theological Seminary (Masters of Divinity) and Michigan State University (Ph.D. in Comparative Black Histories). Jelks is also clergy person in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

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