Black History & COVID

David McBride, a professor emeritus of African American history at Penn State University, will present a Zoom forum at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, February 13, sponsored by the Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. It will examine how communities have rebuilt following disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The forum is open to the public. McBride says the ideal of a harmonious community emerging from unsettled forests and bustling cities is rooted in the very beginnings of the modern Judeo-Christian tradition. It is expressed in the 1630 sermon “Dreams of a City on a Hill” by John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay colony. In modern times religious philosopher Josiah Royce (1855-1916) originates and then Rev. Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) popularizes the term “beloved community.” My talk addresses the question: How have communities rebuilt following disasters like the Covid-19 pandemic? Looking at challenging episodes in Black History—urban riots, hurricanes, epidemics—we explore ways communities rebuild or fail the community ideal, asking: Are we at a critical point of community rebuilding with the weakening of the Covid-19 pandemic in sight? For the Zoom link, email worship@keweenawuu.org