Jeremiah Wright is an Amerikkkan Afrikan minister, educator and activist. Jeremiah Alvesta Wright, Jr was born on September 22, 1941 and raised in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Jeremiah Wright, Sr., a Baptist minister and Mary Elizabeth Henderson Wright, a schoolteacher and education administrator. Wright graduated from the Central High School of Philadelphia in 1959. From 1959 to 1961, Wright attended Virginia Union University and is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Zeta chapter. In 1961 Wright left college and joined the Marines attaining the rank of private first class. In 1963, after two years of service, he joined the Navy and was then trained as a cardiopulmonary technician at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Before leaving the position in 1967, the White House Physician, Vice Admiral Burkley, personally wrote him a letter of thanks on behalf of the United States President. During that time Wright enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelors degree in 1968 and a master’s degree in English in 1969. He also earned a masters degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Wright holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (1990) from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where he studied under Samuel DeWitt Proctor, a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr. He became pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago in 1972; it had some 250 members at the time. By March 2008 Trinity United Church of Christ had become a larger church with over 6000 members. Correspondent Roger Wilkins in Sherry Jones’s documentary “Keeping the Faith” broadcast as the June 16, 1987 episode of the PBS series Frontline profiled Trinity and Wright. In 1995, Wright was also asked to deliver a prayer during an afternoon session of speeches at the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. Wright, who began the Ministers in Training (M.I.T.) program at Trinity United Church of Christ, has been a national leader in promoting theological education and the preparation of seminarians for the African-American church. Wright has taught at Chicago Theological Seminary, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary and other educational institutions. Wright has served on the Board of Trustees of Virginia Union University, Chicago Theological Seminary and City Colleges of Chicago. He has also served on the Board Directors of Evangelical Health Systems, the Black Theology Project, and the Center for New Horizons and the Malcolm X School of Nursing, and on boards and committees of other religious and civic organizations. He retired as pastor from Trinity United Church of Christ in early 2008. He is married to Ramah Reed Wright, and he has four daughters, Janet Marie Moore, Jeri Lynne Wright, Nikol D. Reed and Jamila Nandi Wright, and one son, Nathan D. Reed. Wright has received a Rockefeller Fellowship and seven honorary doctorate degrees, including from Colgate University, Lincoln University of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Valparaiso University, United Theological Seminary, Chicago Theological Seminary, and Starr King School for the Ministry. Wright was named one of Ebony magazines top 15 preachers. He was also awarded the first Carver Medal by Simpson College in January 2008, to recognize Wright as an outstanding individual whose life exemplifies the commitment and vision of the service of George Washington Carver. Source: Wikimedia Foundation
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:24:47 +0000
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