Freedom Rising Conference

October 31–November 2, 2025 | New York City & Online

The new administration has begun advancing a legislative agenda that threatens the moral fabric of our nation. With policies that endanger immigrant communities, dismantle civil rights, and embolden systems of exclusion, we are witnessing a deliberate rollback of justice under the banner of power and control.

What are we called to do in a time such as this?

We will not meet the rise of white Christian nationalism with silence or compliance.

Now is the time for people of moral courage, spiritual imagination, and radical love to come together. A multiracial, multifaith, intergenerational movement must rise—committed to justice, compassion, and strategic resistance.

We have been here before. And we know what it takes. It takes vision. It takes a Sankofa memory that reaches into the past to retrieve what is good and true. It takes prayer, persistence, the wisdom of our elders, and the audacity of our youth.

Now is the time.

We must respond to the Fierce Urgency of Now—because, as Dr. King warned us, there is such a thing as being too late.

October 31st: How Did We Get Here?

8:15 AM – Doors Open

9:00 AM – Welcome & Framing

9:15 AM – Artistic Offering

9:30 AM – Prophetic Grief and the Power of the Southern Freedom Movement

Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III

10:45 AM – The Tenacity of White Supremacy — Are These Death Throes?

Dr. Robert P. Jones

12:00 PM – Go Get Lunch; Take a Friend!

1:15 PM – Nevertheless, We Resist, We Heal, We Move for Justice with Joy Tiq Milan

2:05 PM – Closing Remarks & Send-off to Workshops

2:20 PM – Workshops Multiple options | Choose your path

Workshop A: When Trans Folx are Safe, We’re All Safe - Zayn Silva | Joey Morelli | Sam Penix | Elise Tiralli

Workshop B: How Do You Make Repair? Macky Alston | Danita Branam | Majora Carter

3:45 PM – We The People: Process Space: Going Deeper

4:45 PM – Conference Day One Concludes

~ An Evening Out in New York ~

November 1: Building Beloved Community with a Revolution of Values

9:30 AM – Doors Open

10:00 AM – Welcome & Framing

10:15 AM – Artistic Offering

10:45 AM – Beloved Community: Radically Rooted in Texts and Truth - Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas | Dr. Obery Hendricks, Jr.

‍11:55 AM – Building a Society inspired by the Border-Crossing Jesus - Rev. Dr. Miguel de la Torre | Edna Benitez | Zayn Silva

1:00 PM – Go get lunch; take a friend!

2:15 PM –  A Revolution of Values in the Classroom and in the Streets - Rev. Mark Thompson | Rev. Micah Bucey | Rev. Amanda Hambrick-Ashcraft

‍3:25 PM – Our Youth Speak - Emerging Voices on Today’s Movement

‍3:55 PM – Closing Remarks & Send off to Workshops - Choose your path

‍4:10 PM – Workshops & Affinity Space Breakouts

Workshop A: Meeting the Moment with Rapid Response - Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft | Edna Benitez

Workshop B: How Do You Keep Democracy? Claudia Slacik | Gloria Tate | Middle Church Voter Reform Group

‍Workshop C: Digital Learning Collective - Rev. Natalie Renee Perkins | Zayn Silva | Michael Lennon

‍5:15 PM – Conference Day 2 Concludes

~ A Night Out in New York ~

Sunday, November 2: Where Do We Go From Here?

8:15 AM – Doors Open

8:30 AM – Morning Sessions - Sophia Diehl: Movement and Meditation OR Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft: On Just Love

9:10 AM – Welcome & Framing

9:15 AM – Having the Conversation – From Black & White to Shades of Grey - Rev. Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim | Anu Gupta

10:35 AM – Light Brunch Served

11:45 AM – Worship Celebration: Fixing This Hot Mess with Just Love - Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

1:00 PM – A Call to Reparations - Hosted by Macky Alston

2:05 PM – Lunch & Learn with Middle Staff - Building Movements inside the Church, in the Streets, and in Digital Spaces Around the Globe - Rev. Natalie Renee Perkins | John Del Cueto | Zayn Silva | Michael Lennon | Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

3:10 PM – Intergenerational Panel: Where Do We Go From Here? Traci Blackmon | Kaliswa Brewster | Brian McLaren | Jawanza Williams

4:15 PM – Closing Keynote: We Are Not Going Back, No Matter What - LaTosha Brown | Resistance Revival Chorus

4:45 PM – Closing Remarks: We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For - Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

5:00 PM – The Fierce Urgency of Now Conference Concludes

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