Rev. Osagyefo Sekou

Affiliate Faculty
Pronoun: He/Him

The New School, B.A. in Liberal Arts (Creative Writing & Continental Philosophy)
Goldsmiths, University of London, MPhil/PhD Candidate in Religious Studies

Author of Urbansouls: Meditations on Youth, Hip Hop, and Religion (Chalice Press, 2016)
Author of Gods, Gays, and Guns: Essays on Religion and the Future of Democracy (Chalice Press, 2016)
Author of forthcoming Riot Music: Race, Hip Hop and the Meaning of the London Riots 2011 (Hamilton Books)

Pastor of Theology and Art, Valley and Mountain Fellowship

Musician, filmmaker, activist, and theologian specializing in Black Pentecostal Liberation Theology, social justice movements, and militant nonviolent civil disobedience.

Former Professor of Preaching, Seminary Consortium of Urban Pastoral Education, Chicago, IL

Former Pastor for Formation and Justice, First Baptist Church, Jamaica Plain, Boston
Former Senior Pastor, Lemuel Haynes Congregational Church, Queens
Former Special Assistant on Social Justice to the Bishop, Church of God in Christ
Former Senior Community Minister, Judson Memorial Church, New York
Former Social Justice Minister, Middle Collegiate Church, New York

Fellow-in-Residence, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
Former Ella Baker Fellow, Micah Institute at New York Theological Seminary

Dissertation: Being and Somebodiness: The Ferguson Uprising and the Making of Black Pentecostal Liberation Theology

As the Pastor of Theology and Art at Valley and Mountain Fellowship. Rev. Osagyefo Sekou (he/him) has written two collections of essays. Urbansouls: Meditations on Youth, Hip Hop, and Religion (Chalice Press 2016) and Gods, Gays, and Guns: Essays on Religion and the Future of Democracy (Chalice Press 2016). and the forthcoming Riot Music: Race, Hip Hop and the Meaning of the London Riots 2011 (Hamilton Books). He wrote, produced, and directed two musical documentary shorts, Exiles in the Promised Land (2007) and Mississippi: A Love Story (2018).

With the Deep Abiding Love Project, he has helped train over thirteen thousand clergy and activists in militant nonviolent civil disobedience throughout the United States. He faced years in prison for his role in the Ferguson Uprising and spent six weeks on the ground in Charlottesville, VA training clergy in response to the Unite the Right rally. He is a founding national coordinator for Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq (CALC-I), which represents over 300 faith-based institutions and organizations working to end the war in Iraq. In 2006, CALC-I led a civil disobedience at the White House.

His music is a unique combination of Delta Blues, Memphis Soul, 1970s funk, and Gospel. His performances are one-part protest rally, one-part Pentecostal tent revival, and one-part late night juke joint. He released three albums The Revolution Has Come; In Times Like These; and When We Fight, We Win: Live in Memphis. NPR’s Bob Boilen commented that Rev. Sekou delivered one of “the most rousing Tiny Desk performances”. His documentary short film, ‘Exiles in the Promised Land” is based on his visit to a Palestinian refugee camp and lecture in Beirut, Lebanon. It was selected for the Amnesty International Human Rights Film Festival (2009). Rev. Sekou has lectured widely, including at Princeton University, Harvard Divinity School, the University of Virginia, University of Paris IV – La Sorbonne, and Vanderbilt University, and is a former Professor of Preaching in the Graduate Theological Urban Studies Program at the Seminary Consortium of Urban Pastoral Education, Chicago, IL.

Reverend Sekou served as Pastor for Formation and Justice at First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, Boston. He was formerly Senior Pastor of Lemuel Haynes Congregational Church in Queens, served as Special Assistant on Social Justice to the Bishop for the Church of God in Christ, Senior Community Minister at New York’s Judson Memorial Church, and Social Justice Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, New York. He has been Fellow-in-Residence at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, and as Ella Baker Fellow at New York Theological Seminary’s Micah Institute, he served as a strategist organizing clergy for economic justice in New York City. Rev. Sekou holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from The New School in New York where he concentrated in creative writing and continental philosophy. Currently, is a MPhil/PhD candidate in Religious Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. His dissertation title is “Being and Somebodiness: The Ferguson Uprising and the Making of Black Pentecostal Liberation Theology”.