James Baldwin and Black Queer Prophetic Lament (and Hope?)

Professor Bryan Massingale

Thursday, 8 May 2025 | 4pm (Pacific Time) | ONLINE

Click here to register in advance for this online lecture!

James Baldwin is often invoked as a seminal figure in Black queer thought, but he is still underutilized as a source for (white) queer theology and activism.  This lecture  aims to situate Baldwin in the tradition of African American prophetic theology.  It will highlight his later critiques of American life, given the intransigence of white supremacy and its influence in US queer life.

Baldwin’s complex embrace of hope — a “blues hope” — can be a valuable resource for developing a queer ethical critique that is both soberingly realistic and yet empowering in the face of increasingly entrenched queer phobia and erasure.

Dr. Bryan Massingale

Bryan Massingale is a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  He completed his formal education in Rome at the Pontifical Institute for Moral Theology, earning the Doctor of Moral Theology degree “summa cum laude.”

He is the James and Nancy Buckman Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University and the Senior Fellow in its Center for Ethics Education.  An award-winning scholar, teacher, and activist, he is a leader in Catholic theology.  He is a former President of the Society of Christian Ethics, a former President of the Catholic Theological Society of America, and a former Convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium.

Dr. Massingale has authored two books and more than 200 articles, book chapters, and book reviews.  His monograph entitled, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, received a First Place Book Award from the Catholic Press Association of the U.S. and Canada.  He is a co-editor of a volume of essays, All of Us: A New Agenda for Catholic Theology from Queer Catholics of Color (Fortress Press, 2025).  He also authored a major document for Catholic Charities USA, entitled, “Poverty and Racism: Overlapping Threats to the Common Good.” He is an award-winning contributor to major Catholic thought vehicles such as US Catholic, Commonweal, America Magazine, The Tablet, and The National Catholic Reporter. As a public intellectual, he frequently addresses issues of racial and sexual justice in global venues such as National Public Radio (NPR), ABC News, the PBS NewsHour, BBC World News, The New York Times, the Huff Post, Canadian Public Radio, the South African Times, and the Associated Press. His current writing and research projects explore the contributions of the Black radical imagination to Catholic theology; the challenge of white Christian nationalism; and the intersections of race, sexuality, and faith.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Professor Massingale strives to be a scholar-activist through serving civic and faith-based groups advancing justice in society.  He was a consultant for the U.S. State Department’s Strategic Religious Engagement Unit, providing expertise on international LGBTI advocacy.  He has served as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, providing theological assistance on issues such as criminal justice, capital punishment, environmental justice, and affirmative action. He has also been a theological consultant for the National Black Catholic Congress, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Health Association, the National Catholic AIDS Network, Catholic Relief Services, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, and the anti-racism teams of Call to Action and Pax Christi USA.  He is a leading voice among Catholics advocating the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in both society and the faith community.

Dr. Massingale is the recipient of numerous honors and recognitions for both his academic scholarship, teaching, and advocacy for justice.  Among these are four honorary doctorates; Marquette University’s highest award for teaching excellence; the prestigious Ketteler Award for Social Justice; Barry University’s Yves Congar Award for Theological Excellence; Pax Christi USA=s Teacher of Peace Award; the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Faith Doing Justice Award “for leadership for social justice grounded in faith”; Dignity USA’s Risk Taker/Justice Maker Award for “advocating for justice for LGBTQI Catholics at great personal risk”; the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests= Pope John XXIII Award, Afor his tireless efforts to create a world where the dignity of each person is respected and protected@; Catholic Charities USA=s ACentennial Gold Medal@ for leadership and service in the social mission of the Catholic Church; and the ARev. Al McKnight Award@ from the National Joint Conference of Black Catholic Clergy, Sisters, Deacons and Seminarians for outstanding witness on behalf of justice for the marginalized.  He has received numerous recognitions from the Catholic Press Association for award-winning commentaries on contemporary social issues from a faith perspective.

The CLGS John E. Boswell Lecture

Praised and critiqued, lauded and contested – John Boswell’s scholarship continues to provoke questions, inspire new academic work, and, in many ways, set the bar high for LGBTQ religious scholarship. In February, 2006, CLGS brought together some of the leading voices in both academic and activist circles to consider the legacy of Boswell’s scholarship and the path it continues to chart for so much work that still needs to be done. CLGS was pleased to make that conference the occasion for establishing a special endowment fund to honor John Boswell’s life and scholarship by creating the annual CLGS John E. Boswell Lecture, which brings leading scholars in LGBTQ religious studies to the PSR campus each spring semester

In 1980 John Boswell published a book that historian of sexuality Michel Foucault called “a truly groundbreaking work.” Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century charted bold territory in both historical and religious scholarship, setting a new benchmark of academic excellence for gay and lesbian studies. Equally significant, if not more controversial, was his 1993 book, Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, in which he tried to show historical precedence for the religious blessing of same-sex relationships.

In 1975 Dr. Boswell joined the Yale University faculty as an assistant professor after studying at the College of William and Mary and Harvard University. In 1990 he was named the A. Whitney Griswold Professor of History at Yale where he later served a two-year term as the chair of the history department. In 1987 he also helped organize the Lesbian and Gay Studies Center at Yale.

Martin Duberman, founder of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the City University of New York, considered Dr. Boswell “one of the major innovative figures in gay and lesbian scholarship. John was very brave and pioneering. And very brilliant.”

Although John Boswell died from AIDS-related illnesses in 1994, his trail-blazing efforts in historical scholarship continue to shape and inspire academic, activist and faith communities of all traditions. The annual John E. Boswell Lecture honors that pioneering legacy.

Click here for a list of past CLGS Boswell Lecturers.