About the Conference

On the morning of September 15th, 1963 at 10:23 a.m. the fabric of the United States nation project was forever changed. At 10:23 am, a blast was heard across the nation as nineteen sticks of dynamite detonated, rupturing the edifice of the 16th Street Baptist Church, while simultaneously altering the lives of all African America. Ripped from the fabric were the lives of four Black girls, whose lives were claimed, and two boys: Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Denise McNair, Johnny Robinson, and Vergil Ware.
On September 15th & 16th, 2023 the Religious Studies Department at Yale University will commemorate this catalyzing and cyclical moment in United States history with a two-day graduate symposium entitled 10:23. This symposium seeks to engage with this catastrophe through two modes: Black Space and Black Childhoods. Together we will reimagine the historical, theological, artistic, ethical, and civic, imports of this historical moment for Black Religious Studies.

10:23 - 1963 - 2023

10:23 - 1963 - 2023