Project Director:
Andre E. Johnson, PhD is currently an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Memphis. He teaches in the areas of Rhetoric and Religion, Rhetorical History, and African American Public Address. He also is currently Senior Pastor of Gifts of Life Ministries an inner-city church built upon the servant leadership philosophy. Dr. Johnson has a Masters of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Communication. He is currently editing The Literary Archive of Henry McNeal Turner and has published the first five volumes under the title: "The Literary Archive of Henry McNeal Turner." Dr. Johnson is also the author of The Forgotten Prophet: Bishop Henry McNeal Turner and the African American Prophetic Tradition, (2012) that won the 2013 African American Communication and Culture Division Outstanding Book Award. He is the editor of Urban God Talk: Constructing a Hip Hip Spirituality (2013). He also serves as Founder and Managing Editor of the popular Rhetoric Race and Religion Blog and as general editor of the Rhetoric Race and Religion book series with Lexington Books.
See Dr. Johnson's CV here.
Researchers/Collaborators
Kimberley Travers
Dianna Watkins-Dickerson
James Morgan III
Praise for the #HMTProject:
"I am a lover of history; especially Black history. This project is so important, because HMT is a forgotten trailblazer of equal, civil, and Black rights. His work is not only important historically, but also contemporarily. He spoke of matters that needed attention 100 years ago, as well as today!! Finding and exploring his work is important for academia and common life alike."-Anthony Stone, Graduate Student: Sociology, University of Memphis
"As a descendant of one of Bishop Turner's students in ministry, I enjoy reading the works of this prolific figure. Over a century after Bishop Henry McNeal Turner's words touched my ancestor and inspired him to pursue a career in ministry, his legacy and the Henry McNeal Turner project are inspiring and informing me, a member of the "Black Lives Matter" Generation. Matter of fact, Bishop Turner was teaching us that our lives mattered long before there was a movement of that name. His words prophetically foresaw the racial strife in America in the 20th century and as we continue to see the 21st century as well."-James Morgan III, African American Historical & Genealogical Society and #HMTProject Researcher/Collaborator
"This project provides a treasure trove of primary source documents that remain particularly important to understanding not only African American history, but the broader history of the role of the Church in the struggle for Civil Rights. The words of Henry McNeal Turner remain remarkably salient in drawing through lines between the history of race and racial discrimination in the United States in the past and the present modes of race and racial discrimination. The powerful words spoken from the pulpit then could be applied to any number of situations today from police involved shootings to the resurfacing of lynching rhetoric in public spaces."-Sam Perry, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Public Address, Baylor University
"Henry McNeal Turner has always been a point of reference for my work in Applied Theology. From his essay "God is a Negro" to his insights on the role of choirs in the Black Church, penned in conjunction with the commission considering merger or affiliation between the AME and AMEZ Churches circa 1880, Bishop Turner's voice always called the church at the grassroots level to reflect the highest of aims and the most critical of questions. No wonder that upon his death, no less than WEB DuBois penned,"the last of the great Negro churchmen is dead."-Harold Dean Trulear, Associate Professor of Applied Theology at Howard University School of Divinity and #HMTProject Advisory Board Member
"This project provides a treasure trove of primary source documents that remain particularly important to understanding not only African American history, but the broader history of the role of the Church in the struggle for Civil Rights. The words of Henry McNeal Turner remain remarkably salient in drawing through lines between the history of race and racial discrimination in the United States in the past and the present modes of race and racial discrimination. The powerful words spoken from the pulpit then could be applied to any number of situations today from police involved shootings to the resurfacing of lynching rhetoric in public spaces."-Sam Perry, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Public Address, Baylor University
"Henry McNeal Turner has always been a point of reference for my work in Applied Theology. From his essay "God is a Negro" to his insights on the role of choirs in the Black Church, penned in conjunction with the commission considering merger or affiliation between the AME and AMEZ Churches circa 1880, Bishop Turner's voice always called the church at the grassroots level to reflect the highest of aims and the most critical of questions. No wonder that upon his death, no less than WEB DuBois penned,"the last of the great Negro churchmen is dead."-Harold Dean Trulear, Associate Professor of Applied Theology at Howard University School of Divinity and #HMTProject Advisory Board Member
Advisory Board
*Advisory Board members offer advice, counsel and suggestions for the site. If you are interested in becoming an advisory Board member, send your name and affiliation to Andre E. Johnson at thehmtproject1834@gmail.com
Harold Dean Trulear, PhD-Associate Professor of Applied Theology, Howard University School of Divinity
Cardi B. Wells Teníadé-Black Pensacola
Michael K. Turner, PhD- Associate Professor of the History of Christianity and Wesleyan Studies, Memphis Theological Seminary.
Dave Louis Adams, Sr.-Pastor, St. Mark AME Church, Munford, Tennessee
Veverly M. Edwards-Graduate Student, English, University of Memphis
Kami Anderson, PhD-Associate Professor in the Department of Digital Writing and Media Arts, Kennesaw State University
Cardi B. Wells Teníadé-Black Pensacola
Michael K. Turner, PhD- Associate Professor of the History of Christianity and Wesleyan Studies, Memphis Theological Seminary.
Dave Louis Adams, Sr.-Pastor, St. Mark AME Church, Munford, Tennessee
Veverly M. Edwards-Graduate Student, English, University of Memphis
Kami Anderson, PhD-Associate Professor in the Department of Digital Writing and Media Arts, Kennesaw State University
Susan Eva O'Donovan, PhD-Associate Professor, History, University of Memphis
Beverly Bond, PhD-Associate Professor, History, University of Memphis
Marsha Foster Boyd, PhD, Chief Catalyst Catalyst Connections Global LLC
Roderick Sweet, graduate student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Kelisha B. Graves, Fayetteville State University
Beverly Bond, PhD-Associate Professor, History, University of Memphis
Marsha Foster Boyd, PhD, Chief Catalyst Catalyst Connections Global LLC
Roderick Sweet, graduate student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Kelisha B. Graves, Fayetteville State University
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
University of Memphis
212 Arts and Communication Building #229
Memphis, Tennessee 38152
Phone: 901-678-5779
Email:
thehmtproject1834@gmail.com
ajohnsn6@memphis.edu