Carnegie Mellon 'Pride Month' celebration includes lecture by 'queer, female' rabbi
Carnegie Mellon University featured an intersectional keynote lecture from 'one of the first African American, queer, female rabbis.'
Rabbi Sandra Lawson is affiliated with a group that affirms that '[t]he lives of our Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) neighbors and fellow Jews of Color matter.'
In celebration of “Pride Month,” a private university in Pittsburgh promoted its hosting of an intersectional keynote lecture from “one of the first African American, queer, female rabbis.”
Rabbi Sandra Lawson’s lecture, “Black, Jewish & Queer: Building Bridges Across Identities & Communities,” was just one part of Carnegie Mellon University’s Pride Month celebrations and was scheduled for June 11.
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Lawson introduces herself on her website as the Inaugural Director of Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Reconstructing Judaism.
“For Reconstructionists, God is understood, not as something (or someone) to be ‘believed in,’ but rather to be experienced in the everyday blessings of our lives and to be made manifest through our own loving and righteous actions,” the group’s website says.
Reconstructing Judaism also affirms that “[t]he lives of our Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) neighbors and fellow Jews of Color matter,” in addition to embracing “Inclusion.”
On Carnegie Mellon’s website, Lawson is described as “a thought-leader known for tackling difficult questions surrounding Jews and race,” who “develops anti-racist policies and trainings, and is a mentor to rabbinical students.” She took over the position of Director of Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion after leaving a position at Elon University in 2021.
An Elon University news story announcing that she was departing from the school imputes contributes her success partly to her “intersectional identity.”
A North Carolina Public Radio article claims that Lawson became “the first openly gay, Black female rabbi in the world” in 2018.
A 2022 New York Times piece, “‘Blackness Deserves a Seat at the Seder,” featured a quote from Lawson: “As a Black woman, I can totally embody the connection between the American slave experience and the mythological sort of slavery experience for Passover.”
Lawson’s talk at Carnegie Mellon University is not the first attempt on college campuses to blend religion with LGBT ideology.
The University of California, Berkeley will be offering a course this fall called: “From Perverts to Campy Queers: The Gender Troubles of Modern Jewish Culture.”
A 2023 course at the University of Chicago posed questions such as “Can God be an ally in queer worldmaking?” and “Is God queer?”
Campus Reform contacted Carnegie Mellon University and Sandra Lawson for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
