In the Spring of 2022, Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) - then at Union Theological Seminary - and Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City partnered on a civil rights pilgrimage that included Atlanta, Selma, and Montgomery. Footage from the pilgrimage premiered in the PBS documentary, Religion, Racism & Reconciliation: A Documentary on America’s Original Sin on February 24th, 2025.
Footage of the pilgrimage begins at 0:37:16.
The film explores how racism has intertwined with American religion, focusing on individuals and communities of faith working to address issues such as voting rights, income inequality, and mass incarceration. Through interviews with academic and religious leaders, the documentary examines the contradiction of an American society that values freedom and equality while grappling with its history of slavery, segregation, and racism. It also highlights the role of religion in both fueling racial division and promoting healing and reconciliation.
Pilgrimage leaders featured in the film include the Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, Ph.D., former dean of EDS; the Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd, Bishop of New York who was Rector at Church of the Heavenly Rest at the time of the filming; the Rt. Rev. Robert Wright, Bishop of Atlanta; Joanne Bland, civil rights activist; the Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu, speaker, advocate, educator, and daughter of the Rev. Desmond Tutu; the Rev. Senator Kim Jackson, who represents Georgia District 41 in the State Senate; among others.
EDS and Heavenly Rest organized two of the panels featured in the film as part of a pilgrimage that was attended by EDS@Union students, staff and students from Union Theological Seminary, and parishioners of Heavenly Rest. In her moderation of one featured panel, Rev. Douglas asks,
“We oftentimes talk about the legacy of white supremacy in terms of the systemic, the structural, the political, the economic. But we don't talk about the legacy of white supremacy that is the spiritual. What's the spiritual legacy of white supremacy?”
Bishop Wright responds, “We have to talk about the corrosive effect, both on the one who is being called inferior, as well as the corrosive effect on the one who's trying to build a world around this false notion of superiority.”
The documentary was screened by The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Friday, March 7, 2025 followed by a panel discussion on the role religion plays in perpetuating and dismantling systemic racism in America with EDS Dean Emeritus and Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral, the Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, Ph.D and the founding Director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice, Jim Wallis.
The film was produced by National Press Club members Gerald Krell and Adam Krell and premiered on PBS on February 24th, 2025.
Religion, Racism & Reconciliation is available to stream with a small donation to Connecticut Public Radio/PBS/NPR here.