The Fordham University Theology Department’s Racial Justice and Equity Concerns Committee hosted a book talk by Assistant Professor of Religion at Colorado College Dr. Christopher Hunt on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the McNally Amphitheater at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. At the event, Hunt spoke about his book “Jimmy’s Faith: James Baldwin, Disidentification, and the Queer Possibilities of Black Religion,” which was published by Fordham University Press in December.
Hunt was joined in conversation by Dr. Rufus Burnett, an associate professor in Fordham’s theology department. At the book talk event, Hunt and Burnett spoke extensively about various facets of James Baldwin’s life and work and explained how his writing often deals with the intersections of race, sexuality and religion. They also discussed how Baldwin’s work shows that faith can be reworked to understand and communicate the realities of Black and queer life.
“Faith can still be a tool in this secularized reality,” Burnett reflected. “We see it being used for evil, for sure, but we don’t have to abandon it, because it can be just as effective in the other direction. I think that’s one of the takeaways from Hunt, is that Jimmy had a faith.”
Hunt explained that although he had been previously familiar with Baldwin, he didn’t begin seriously studying his work from a theological perspective until he was a Ph.D. student when a friend of Hunt’s recommended that he return to Baldwin’s work.
“The reason they told me to revisit Baldwin is they knew that here I was a Ph.D. student in a theology program who came to the realization that I was no longer a Christian,” Hunt said during the talk. “They were like ‘Baldwin would be helpful.’ They also knew that I was a Black queer person trying to make sense of myself as a former Christian in a theology program, and also a former teenage preacher, just like Baldwin.”
Hunt said his research went in the direction of Baldwin for years after that, and his book “Jimmy’s Faith,” was born out of that research. The text addresses Baldwin’s use of Christian symbolism to articulate stories about Black and queer liberation, a technique Hunt refers to as disidentification.
“Rather than identifying with Christian symbols and embracing them or counter-identifying which would be throwing them in the trash, Baldwin reworks them in this fascinating and beautiful way,” Hunt said. “You find this consistently throughout his work.”
Burnett said he initially learned about Hunt’s book through Facebook and was drawn in by the artwork on the book’s cover, a painting by artist Ingrid Yuzly Mathurin. Bringing in Hunt for a conversation about the book was important to Burnett, who studies Black religion and has taught Baldwin’s work previously.
Burnett also said that prior to his connection with Hunt, the Fordham theology department had already identified Baldwin’s book “The Fire Next Time” as a common text to be featured in future Faith and Critical Reasoning courses for undergraduate students.
“I think that books like Hunt’s help us to understand what’s at stake at the boundaries of even what we think is the most progressive understanding of faith,” Burnett said in an interview after the talk. “Just in the same way that the study of Black religion is being opened up through queer theory for Hunt, I think faith, in general, can be opened up as we get into the nitty gritty of alternative ways of living and being in the world, ways that are less visible, less respected or even violently marginalized.”
The talk was held by the theology department’s Racial Justice and Equity Concerns Committee, of which Burnett is the chair, in collaboration with the Fordham English Department, the American Studies Program, the Center on Religion and Culture, the office of the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and the Deans of FCRH, FCLC and GSAS.
The book talk was also preceded by a seminar-style pedagogy workshop earlier in the afternoon. Dr. Jeannine Hill Fletcher, professor of theology at Fordham, spoke about how enlightening the pedagogy workshop was for current professors in the theology department and beyond who are planning to teach Baldwin’s work.
“Being able to learn from a scholar who has spent his scholarly life really understanding Baldwin in his fullness, allowing us to see Baldwin in a new way, and then give us interesting ways to teach that text; that was the goal and I think it was a really successful pedagogy seminar,” Hill Fletcher said.
While the pedagogy workshop was primarily geared toward educators, the evening book talk was well-attended by students and faculty alike. Eleanor Smith, FCRH ’26, said she attended the event because she wanted to learn more about Baldwin, who is one of her favorite authors.
“Dr. Hunt talked a lot about how James Baldwin’s early life impacted his work, and I learned really interesting things about Baldwin that I didn’t know before, like how he converted to Pentecostalism at age 14,” Smith said. “I also liked learning more about the importance that Black music and art held for James Baldwin, who believed that one can hear Black history through Black music if they truly listen.”
Seamus Dougherty, FCRH ’26, who was also in attendance, thought the talk was a great beginning for future Fordham theology discussions.
“The conversation… was over too quickly, but promised an exciting start to an interdisciplinary, boundary-crossing conversation that is overtaking Baldwin studies at the university,” Doughtery said.
Makayla Bezzant, a first-year Ph.D. student working as Dr. Hill Fletcher’s graduate assistant also spoke highly of the event.
“I thought it was a really rich and engaging discussion of Dr. Hunt’s analysis of Baldwin and the dynamics that are at play in Baldwin’s engagement of Black community, of Black queer bodies and with whiteness and religion,” Bezzant said. “I think that what this book talk did really well was give us an overview of what he’s really trying to dive into in more detail in his [Hunt’s] book.”
“Jimmy’s Faith: James Baldwin, Disidentification, and the Queer Possibilities of Black Religion” is available for purchase at fordhampress.com and through other online retailers.
