Atheists of Color List Updated!

The Atheists of Color list has been updated! Thanks so much to everyone who posted suggestions for new inclusions, and provided updated information on the existing list.

Quick update for those who aren’t familiar: A couple of years ago, I compiled a list of prominent atheists of color, and organizations of atheists of color, here on this blog. I did this for a number of reasons: mostly so that conference organizers, event organizers for local and student groups, anthology editors, bloggers, journalists, and people who are simply participants in the atheist community could easily be made familiar with the work of a wider range of atheists… a range that’s more diverse, and more reflective of the actual makeup of the atheist community. (tl;dr: Conference organizers, you no longer have an excuse. 🙂 ) And hopefully, atheists of color who see the list will feel less isolated, and will be better able to find resources and community.

The list had gotten somewhat out of date, so I asked readers to comment with suggestions for additions to the list, updated info, etc. Readers came through, and the list is now all shiny and new.

If anyone knows of any other additions or changes, please suggest them at any time. And thanks again to everyone for making this happen!

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Atheists of Color List Updated!
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7 thoughts on “Atheists of Color List Updated!

  1. 1

    Are there too many GLBT atheists to compile a similar list of them?

    (Off-topic grin: the banner ad I’m seeing over this blog right now advertises “So. Many. Shoes. Women’s Fall Styles.” Other than the “Fall” thing, it looks like the ad-picking algorithm in these parts is getting better. 🙂

  2. 2

    It’s lovely to see Afro American atheists speak up as they seem to be such a rarity.

    In the UK most of the black British people I know -especially my generation (raised in the 70s and 80s) and younger- are free thinking, sceptical atheists.

    Although far too many subscribe to wild conspiracies about a white supremacists controlling the world, pseudo Afrocentrist history whereby Africans discovered every continent and invented every technology and were robbed by the evil whites or the racist black supremacist melanin theory espoused by Frances Cress Welsing.

  3. 3

    Greta you say “Conference organizers, you no longer have an excuse”

    Is it your contention that there’s racism underlying the lack of black speakers at atheist conferences?

  4. 4

    Is it your contention that there’s racism underlying the lack of black speakers at atheist conferences?

    Oh, please.

    The list post linked from this one states, in part:

    I do not want to get into an argument here about why we need this list, or how we should just be color blind and ignore race altogether. In a perfect world, maybe we wouldn’t need it. We don’t live in a perfect world. Among other things, well-meaning people can unconsciously perpetuate racial bias without intending to… and we need to take conscious action to counter this unconscious tendency. If you think the atheist movement doesn’t need to make a conscious effort to be more inclusive, then please read these pieces:

    Getting It Right Early: Why Atheists Need to Act Now on Gender and Race
    Race, Gender, and Atheism, Part 2: What We Need To Do — And Why

    And if, after reading those pieces — not skimming them or reading the titles, but actually reading them — you still think we don’t need to make a conscious effort to be more inclusive of people of color, then please make your arguments ON THOSE POSTS. Not here.

    I’m not sure if the “ON THOSE POSTS” rule applies to this comment thread, but in any case it might behoove you to go read those two earlier posts before asking a silly question like the one you just did.

  5. 6

    Is it your contention that there’s racism underlying the lack of black speakers at atheist conferences?

    mrbp @ #3: It is my contention that unconscious racism, and occasionally conscious or more overt racism, are a big part of the reason that there’s under-representation of black, Asian, Hispanic, Middle-Eastern, and indigenous people as speakers at atheist conferences. For a more thorough discussion of some of the ways this happens and some of the things that can be done about it, please read the posts linked to by Rieux in #4.Thank you.

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