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Jamila Bey

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Jamila Bey
Jamila Bey speaking at the CPAC in Baltimore in 2015
Born1976 (age 47–48)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationJournalist
Notable credit(s)The Washington Post, Voice of Russia, NPR

Jamila Bey (born 1976) is an American journalist and public speaker. She was host of a weekly radio program The Sex, Politics And Religion Hour: SPAR With Jamila on Voice of Russia,[1] and writes for The Washington Post's blog, She the People.[2][3] Before working for the Washington Post and the Voice of Russia, Bey spent around a decade working as a producer and editor for National Public Radio, including for Morning Edition.[3] She is African-American.

Bey is also an outspoken atheist,[4] who has publicly stated that she believes religion to be actively detrimental to African-Americans, suggesting that religion both contributed to the physical enslavement of African Americans, and continues to contribute to their mental enslavement.[5] She objects to the common characterization of the civil rights movement as a religious one, stating that although churches were significantly involved in the movement, "humans did all the work."[6] A 2012 campaign by African Americans for Humanism placed billboards depicting Bey and other contemporary activists and organizers alongside historically prominent African American humanists Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Frederick Douglass.[7]

In 2015 Bey became the first atheist activist to address the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual meeting.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Reminder: Black Atheists Actually do Exist". 3 October 2013.
  2. ^ "She the People - Blog contributors". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  3. ^ a b "Jamila Bey | Secular Student Alliance". Secular Student Alliance. Archived from the original on 2013-08-30. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Jamila Bey". Memphis Flyer. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  5. ^ Desmond-Harris, Jenee (4 December 2011). "On Black Atheism: Jamila Bey". The Root. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  6. ^ Brennan, Emily (27 November 2011). "The Unbelievers". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  7. ^ "Announcing the We Are AAH Campaign". aahumanism.net. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  8. ^ "In a first, atheist activist addresses conservative conference". The Washington Post. 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
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