5:00 PM Pre-Lecture Reception. We invite you to attend a pre-lecture reception in the Winn Center prior to the Lecture.

Womanist Defiance in the Face of Erasure and the Fracturing of Communities

Dr. Pamela Lightsey will be at Louisville Seminary to deliver the lecture in person with an option for remote participants to join virtually. Registration is required whether attending in-person or online.

About the Lecture

While Alice Walker's original 4-part definition describes a womanist as one who is "Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female," we will ponder what it means to be committed to the survival and wholeness of Black people in this era of our nation's history. This lecture especially reflects upon the ways Black woman-identified persons have lived that out as a womanist mandate. We will recall a lineage of defiance while confronting what Dr. Katie G. Cannon called the “contestable issues inscribed on Black bodies” that deny our humanity and distort our history in this nation.

View printable pdf.

About Dr. Pamela Lightsey

Dr. Pamela Lightsey has a stellar history as a senior administrator and scholar in higher education. She currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Meadville Lombard Theological School and Associate Professor of Constructive Theology. Before her appointment at Meadville, she was Associate Dean at Boston University School of Theology. She is also an ordained elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Dr. Lightsey is a womanist theologian who has lectured at schools within and outside the continental United States. She has served as co-chair of the American Academy of Religion's Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group. She is currently a member of the Workgroup on Constructive Theology. Dr. Lightsey is an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Army. She served as a member of the original
executive committee for the Soul Repair Project, which studies the role of moral injury in military veterans.

As an activist, Dr. Lightsey has worked within the LGBTQ community to end the Don't Ask, Don't Tell military policy, to ensure marriage equality, and to remove discriminatory
laws in the United Methodist Church. She has served as a member of former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and now Mayor Brandon Johnson’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council. Pamela was on the ground protesting against excessive police force during the first 21 days of unrest in Ferguson and, across one year, was one of several livestreamers providing ongoing broadcasts. Her work is the largest video archive of this historic time captured live by a solo African American theologian in the country. Dr. Lightsey has consistently collaborated with activist- colleagues in the movement for the liberation of Black lives, those addressing violence against Black transwomen, and institutional racism on college campuses. Leading up to the Presidential election of 2020, she formed Blaque Political Collection, a team of activists whose sole purpose is educating and encouraging Black LGBTQIA+ persons to exercise their right to vote.

Pamela’s several publications include the full manuscript, “Our Lives Matter: A Womanist Queer Theology” (Wipf and Stock, 2015), Transforming Service: Reflections of Student Services Professionals in Theological Education. Editors Shonda R. Jones & Pamela R. Lightsey. (Wipf and Stock, 2020), “I’m Black. I’m Queer Lesbian. I’m Methodist. I’m Thriving, Irregardless.” in I’m Black. I’m Christian. I’m Methodist. (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2020). “Blinking Red: The Escalation of a Militarized Police Force and Its Challenges to Black Communities” (Lexington Books, 2019), in Feminist Praxis Against U.S. Militarism (New York: Lexington Books, 2019).

Pamela is the mother of two adult children, one grandson and one adult goddaughter, and her children. They are her central sources of joy and hope.

About the Katie Geneva Cannon Lecture - hosted by the Black Church Studies Program at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Katie Geneva Cannon Womanist Lecture returns to Louisville Seminary as a vital forum for theological reflection, prophetic scholarship, and transformative dialogue rooted in the legacy of Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon—trailblazer, ethicist, and founder of womanist theological ethics. This annual lecture series honors her pioneering contributions by centering the voices and visions of Black women who engage in liberative scholarship at the intersection of faith, justice, and community.

Each year, this lecture features distinguished womanist scholars, pastors, and practitioners who challenge systems of oppression while offering sacred insight grounded in lived experience, rigorous intellect, and deep spiritual conviction. The event serves as a sacred space of celebration, education, and empowerment—calling the church and academy alike to accountability and action.

Through this lecture, Louisville Seminary affirms its commitment to justice-centered theological education and the uplift of Black women’s voices in ministry and the public square.

*This lecture, hosted by the Black Church Studies Program and funded by our Black Church Cornerstone Collaborative at Louisville Seminary, continues the legacy of Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon by centering prophetic voices that challenge oppression and uplift community.

**This event may be photographed and/or recorded. By registering and participating, you understand that your image may be included in the recorded video or still photography, and you consent to this and its use in any and all media throughout Louisville Seminary and its partners.

Womanist Defiance in the Face of Erasure and the Fracturing of Communities

2025 Katie Geneva Cannon Womanist Lecture presented by Dr. Pamela Lightsey