Mandisa Thomas, famous for informative, gracious, and engaging talks and as a key organizer for atheism and nonbelief, will give us a talk called “We Still Have Work to Do!” on Sunday, March 10, at Atlanta Freethought Hall.
Thomas said about her talk will focus on “The atheist/secular community has expanded and made great strides in the past few years. We are seeing growing numbers of organizations, people of color, women and young people who are getting involved. Yet with these developments, there are still some improvements needed if we are to succeed.”
Mandisa Thomas, a native of New York City, is the founder and President of Black Nonbelievers.
Although never formally indoctrinated into belief, Mandisa was heavily exposed to Christianity, Black Nationalism, and Islam. As a child she loved reading, and enjoyed various tales of Gods from different cultures, including Greek and Ghanaian. “Through reading these stories and being taught about other cultures at an early age, I quickly noticed that there were similarities and differences between those deities and the God of the Christian Bible. I couldn’t help but wonder what made this God so special that he warrants such prevalence today,” she recalls.
Mandisa has a number of media appearances to her credit, including CBS Sunday Morning, CNN.com, and Playboy, The Humanist and JET Magazine. She has been a guest on podcasts such as The Humanist Hour and Ask an Atheist, as well as the documentaries Contradiction, My Week in Atheism, and Racial Taboo. Mandisa currently serves on the Boards for American Atheists, and previously for Foundation Beyond Belief and the Secular Coalition for America. She also is an active speaker and has presented at conferences/conventions for Freedom from Religion Foundation, Secular Student Alliance, and many others.
Mandisa has been named the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Freethought Heroine for 2019. She was named the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association’s 2018 Person of the Year.
As President of Black Nonbelievers, Mandisa encourages more Blacks to come out and stand strong with their nonbelief in the face of such strong religious overtones. “The more we make our presence known, the better our chances of working together to turn around some of the disparities we face. We are NOT alone.”
AFS generally meet at noon for socializing, and then the talk starts at 1:00. Afterwards those of us who want to talk more go to a local restaurant.
The facility is wheelchair accessible. Atlanta Freethought Hall is a former Primitive Baptist Church, built in 1866. Atlanta Freethought Society was founded in 1985, which makes it one of Metro Atlanta’s oldest secular societies. AF Hall is the meeting place for Fellowship of Reason, Freedom of Religion Foundation of Atlanta, as well as other organizations. We rent the building at reasonable rates. If you would like to rent the hall for an organization meeting, a party, a wedding, etc., please see a Board Member.