A wide-ranging discussion with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the legendary civil rights leader and first major African American presidential candidate, and Katrina vanden Heuvel, the acclaimed social critic and publisher of The Nation magazine, on matters of race, religion, and politics in America today. With the election just days away, this timely discussion will explore the critical intersections of race and religion in the 2012 presidential campaign and their implications for America’s political future. The conversation will be moderated by  Obery Hendricks, Visiting Scholar in the Department of Religion at Columbia University.

View photos of the conversation here.

The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. Over the past forty years, he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. Long a forceful figure in American politics, he was a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and was a shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991-1997.

Katrina vanden Heuvel has been the editor of The Nation since 1995 and its publisher since 2005. A weekly columnist for WashingtonPost.com, she is a frequent commentator on American and international politics on MSNBC, CNN, ABC and PBS and public radio. Her articles have appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and the Boston Globe. Among other books, she is the author of The Change I Believe In (Nation Books, 2011).

Dr. Obery Hendricks is currently Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary and a Visiting Scholar in the Religion Department at Columbia University. A former Wall Street investment executive and past president of Payne Theological Seminary, the oldest African American theological seminary in the United States, his most recent book is The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus’ Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted.

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Please note that seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. An RSVP does not guarantee admission to the event. We recommend arriving early to ensure that you will be seated. Please leave large bags and posters at home; space in the theater is limited.

Line outside Miller Theatre will begin forming at 5pm, doors will open at 6pm, and event will begin promptly at 7pm.

 For questions, please contact 212-851-4121 or [email protected]

Sponsored by the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University.