Biography

The Rev. Dr. Colin Bossen has served as First Houston’s Senior Minister since 2018. He earned his PhD in American Studies from Harvard University and an MDiv. from Meadville Lombard Theological School. He keeps a blog at www.colinbossen.com.

Crossroads Community Stories Fellows Project

Religion in Houston’s Pan-African Community

This project, undertaken with Sadé Perkins, will trace the intersections between Black religious life and Black radical politics in the fourth largest city of the United States. Over the course of a year, we will hold a series of public conversations with community leaders about their religious practices and beliefs, political commitments, and personal stories. Interviewees will represent the city’s wide diversity of Black radical traditions and the Pan-African community. Participants in the project will share their stories of political engagement and offer reflections on how they have been inspired by a wide range of religious traditions—including African, syncretic, Islamic, and other non-Christian religious practices—in their social justice work. The videos of the conversations will be recorded, posted on social media platforms, and will serve as the basis for a book of oral histories. The conversations will be held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston and other community and religious organizations located in the city’s Third and Fourth Wards.