FFRF salutes Black History Month and secularism – Freethought Now

In honor of Black History Month, below are highlights of some of the many distinguished Black freethinkers, past and present, who have made known their dissent from religion. For more information, see FFRF’s Freethought of the Day series.NORMAN ALLEN JR. Allen founded African Americans for Humanism in 1989 and served as its director until 2010. He edited African American Humanism: An Anthology (1991) and The Black Humanist Experience: An Alternative to Religion (2003).“Humanism is about solving our differences peacefully. We know of many religious wars, but organized humanists have not settled their differences with violence.”— Allen statement to Humanists International on the United Nations International Day of Peace (Sept. 21, 2017).JAMES BALDWIN Major 20th-century author James Baldwin’s many great novels and essays were inspired by his experiences living as a disenfranchised, Black, gay man in a country that largely shunned these characteristics. Baldwin was a leading voice for the...