The Movement Makes Us Human: An Interview with Dr. Vincent Harding on Mennonites, Vietnam, and MLK

How is it that the person who created and defined the field of Black Studies and drafted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's prophetic Beyond Vietnam speech needs an introduction, even in movement circles today? In this provocative and poignant interview, Dr. Vincent Harding reflects on the communities that shaped his early life, compelled him to join movements for justice, and sustained his ongoing transformation. He challenges those committed to justice today to consider the enduring power of nonviolent social change and to root out white supremacy in all of its forms. With his relentless commitment to education and relationship-building across lines of difference, Harding never doubted the capacity of people to create the world we need.

Joanna Shenk is Associate Pastor at First Mennonite Church of San Francisco and co-producer of The Iconocast podcast.

Before moving to San Francisco, she worked for five years on the national staff of Mennonite Church USA, helping the denomination connect with movement communities and strengthen its commitment to undoing sexism and racism. During this time she was also a part of founding a co-housing community in Elkhart, Indiana, and a local history and organizing effort called the People's History of Elkhart.

Currently she lives in San Francisco's Mission District with her family where she participates in local activism and continues to learn the history of the Bay Area.

She is also author of Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship and has written articles for The Mennonite, The Christian Century, Geez Magazine, and Sojourners.