Spirituality in fight against racism to be discussed by Professor Tobin Shearer at Palo Alto church

Dr. Tobin Miller Shearer will speak at Palo Alto Christian Reformed Church on October 27.Photo byABEL MARQUEZonUnsplash

History Professor Tobin Miller Shearer will explain his ideas about antirascist spirituality at the Palo Alto Christian Reformed Church on October 27 at 6:00 pm. Free tickets to the event can be ordered online. The church is located on 687 Arastradero Road, near Alta Mesa Memorial Park.

Shearer teaches history and African-American studies at the University of Montana. With Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Shearer is the co-author of the 2021 book Been in the Struggle: Pursuing an Antiracist Spirituality.

On his blog Truth and Grace, Shearer and Stoltzfus responded to a reviewer who had criticized their book for alledgedly generalizing that spirituality was racist.

"Our book’s subtitle makes the case: we are pursuing an anti-racist spirituality, one that seeks to redeem the use of formal religious practices that exclude rather than invite in," they wrote. "Spirituality itself is not the problem. Rather, we hold that it may be one of the most essential resources for moving forward."