On September 29 and 30th, St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church and Pro-Cathedral and Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights in welcomed acclaimed author and creator of Black Liturgies, Cole Arthur Riley, to Brooklyn Heights and the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, for "Spirit and Flesh: Our Bodies, Our Blackness, Ourselves."
Cole’s stunning 2022 New York Times best-selling debut, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us, is an unforgettable book of stories and reflections on discovering the sacred in her skin. Writing memorably of her own childhood and coming to self, she boldly explores some of the most urgent questions of life and faith: How can spirituality not silence the body, but instead allow it to come alive? How do we honor, lament, and heal from the stories we inherit? How can we find peace in a world overtaken with dislocation, noise, and unrest? At once a compelling spiritual meditation, a powerful intergenerational account, and a tender coming-of-age narrative, This Here Flesh speaks potently to anyone who suspects that our stories might have something to say to us.
Cole is also the creator of Black Liturgies, a space that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body, and is a project of The Center for Dignity and Contemplation where she serves as Curator.
On Friday, September 29, at 7:00 pm, at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, 157 Montague Street, Cole headlined a Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Event, joined by fellow author Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts whose books Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience and Restoration and Then They Came for Mine: Healing from the Trauma of Racial Violence celebrate Black Americans’ resilience in the face of racially-motivated violence and explore paths to healing to prevent further trauma. The amazing East Coast Inspirational Singers kick off this spirited event. A reception will follow immediately afterward. On Saturday, September 30, at 12 noon at Grace Church, 254 Hicks Street, Cole gave a lecture and took questions facilitated by the Rev. Adriene Thorne, Senior Minister of historic Riverside Church in Upper Manhattan. A reception with a light lunch will follow.
September 29th Recording
