Atheists of Color – A List

Greta Christina

Sikivu Hutchinson
Hemant Mehta
Debbie Goddard

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Hector Avalos
Anthony Pinn

Jamila Bey
Salman Rushdie
Arundhati Roy

David Suzuki
Maggie Ardiente
Simon Singh

Charone Pagett
Dan Barker
Taslima Nasreen

Donald Wright
Mina Ahadi
Sanal_Edamaruku

So here it is, as promised — a list of prominent atheists of color.

And, since it seemed relevant — here, also, is a list of organizations of atheists of color, and atheist organizations predominantly focused on/ participated in by people of color.

If you’re helping to organize an atheist conference, and you want your conference to be more diverse and more reflective of the makeup of the atheist community? If you’re an atheist writer or activist, and you want your quotations/ citations/ blogroll/ etc. to be more diverse and more reflective of the makeup of the atheist community? If you’re simply part of the atheist community/ movement, and you want to be more familiar with the work of a wider range of atheists, a range that’s more diverse and more reflective of the makeup of the atheist community? Hopefully, this list will help.

(Note: In case you’re not already aware of it, here, in a similar vein, is a large list of awesome female atheists, compiled by Jen McCreight at BlagHag.)

A couple of quick notes before the list itself. First, and very importantly: This is a work in progress, and I’ll be updating it regularly. So please feel free to make suggestions. If there are people who aren’t on this list who you think should be, or people who are on the list but you think shouldn’t be (because they’re not self-acknowledged atheists, for instance) — or if there’s information on the list that’s inaccurate or incomplete — please let me know, either in the comments, or by emailing me at greta (at) gretachristina (dot) com. And if you yourself are on this list and want me to either remove you or correct/ update your information, please let me know.

(Important note: If you make suggestions of people who should be included in this list, please don’t just tell me their name! I need their name, the URL for their blog/ website if they have one, and a SHORT list of credentials: books, blogs, publications they write for, achievements, etc. If you only give me their name, I have to do a bunch of Googling and editing, and it’ll take longer to get them in.)

Second: This is not intended to be a list of famous atheists of color throughout history. That would certainly be a useful project — but it’s not this project. This is meant to be a list af atheists of color who are alive and active now.

Third: I do not want to get into an argument here about why we need this list, or how we should just be color blind and ignore race altogether. In a perfect world, maybe we wouldn’t need it. We don’t live in a perfect world. Among other things, well- meaning people can unconsciously perpetuate racial bias without intending to… and we need to take conscious action to counter this unconscious tendency. If you think the atheist movement doesn’t need to make a conscious effort to be more inclusive, then please read these pieces:

Getting It Right Early: Why Atheists Need to Act Now on Gender and Race
Race, Gender, and Atheism, Part 2: What We Need To Do — And Why

And if, after reading those pieces — not skimming them or reading the titles, but actually reading them — you still think we don’t need to make a conscious effort to be more inclusive of people of color, then please make your arguments ON THOSE POSTS. Not here. Comments here arguing that we don’t need this list will be disemvoweled or deleted. This post is for people who will find this list useful and informative, and/or who want to make suggestions about keeping it accurate and up to date.

Finally: Yes, I’m aware of the ironies and potential pitfalls of a white person compiling and publishing this list. Most obviously and most seriously, I know that it’s problematic for a white person to be the “gatekeeper” of a list like this. Any time a list like this gets compiled, decisions have to be made about who to include and who not to include… and I get that it’s problematic for a white person to be the one making those decisions. If a list like this already existed, compiled by a person of color, I’d just link to it and publicize the hell out it. But I asked a whole bunch of people of all races if they knew of such a list, and nobody did… and the general response was, “Yeah, that’d be useful, someone should really do that, HINT HINT.” The general sentiment seemed to be that it would be really, really good for a list like this to exist on the ‘Net, and that I should just go ahead and do it already.

So I’m dealing with this potentiall pitfall in two ways. One: When in doubt, I’m erring on the side of inclusion. I did decide against some people whose names had been suggested (mostly bloggers who haven’t updated in months, plus some people who don’t seem to self-identify as atheist). But for the most part, if I was on the fence about including someone, I went ahead and included them.

Two, and much more importantly: For this post and this post only, I am relinquishing copyright. If you want to copy this list and re-publish it on your own blog or forum or website or whatever — and you want to add to/ subtract from/ make changes to it as you see fit — please do so. I’m not only okay with this: I actively encourage it. In fact, if you do so, please tell me about it, and I’ll link to your list here.

(Other lists, from people who have taken me up on this offer:
Lists of Atheist/Agnostic Contacts You May Not Have Considered, at The Word Of Me…)

So here it is, as promised — a list of prominent atheists of color.

INDIVIDUALS

Robert Affinis, founder of the freethought apparel line Affinis Apparel, creator of the “Revolution in Photography” project
Mina Ahadi, founder of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims (Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime) and the International Committee against Stoning
Jim Al-Khalili, professor of theoretical physics, science broadcaster, President of the British Humanist Association
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of Infidel and Nomad, activist, politician, founder of the AHA Foundation
Tariq Ali, historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, commentator
Norm Allen, author of African American Humanism and Black Secular Humanist Thought, editor-in-chief of Human Prospect: A Neo-Humanist Perspective, secretary of Paul Kurtz’s Institute for Science and Human Values, former head of African Americans for Humanism, blogger at Black Skeptics
Anti-Intellect, blogger at Black Skeptics, Twitter personality (@Anti_Intellect), gay activist
Maggie Ardiente, director of development and communications, American Humanist Association; editor of Humanist Network News (AHA’s weekly e-zine)
Diane Arellano, blogger, Black Skeptics
Homa Arjomand, coordinator of the International Campaign Against Shari’a Court in Canada
Hector Avalos, Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Iowa State University, speaker/ debater, author of The End of Biblical Studies, Strangers in Our Own Land: Religion in U.S. Latina/o Literature, Se puede saber si Dios existe? [Can One Know if God Exists?], and more
Siana Bangura, blogger, The Heresy Club
Donald Barbera, author of Black But Not Baptist: Nonbelief and Freethought in the Black Community
Dan Barker, co-president of Freedom From Religion Foundation, author of several books, including Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists and The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God
Jamila Bey, atheist comedian and journalist
Reginald Bien-Aime, founder, Haitian FREE Thinkers, blogger at Haitian Atheist
Peach Braxton, videoblogger, The Peach
Naima Cabelle, atheist activist and member of Washington Area Secular Humanists
Ed Cara, blogger at The Heresy Club, comedian, actor
Ian Cromwell, musician and blogger, The Crommunist Manifesto
Bree Crutch, founder, Minority Atheists of Michigan (@MinorityAtheist)
Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, founder, Maharashta Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samitee (Superstition Eradication Committee)
Heina Dadabhoy, blogger at Skepchick, speaker
Sanal Edamaruku, author and paranormal investigator, founder-president of Rationalist International, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, creator of The Great Tantra Challenge
Afshin Ellian, columnist for Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad and Elsevier; blogger; poet; law professor at University of Leiden
Mike Estes, Atheist Coalition of San Diego; public speaker
Reginald Finley, founder of Infidel Guy radio show
Walter O. Garcia-Meza, board of directors, Hispanic American Freethinkers
Bridget Gaudette, director of development for Foundation Beyond Belief, blogger at Freethoughtify, co-founder of Secular Woman, speaker (@BridgetGaudette & @freethoughtify)
Hemley Gonzalez, founder, Responsible Charity
MercedesDiane Griffin, blogger/ activist, founder /president of the Mercedes Parra Foundation for Women and Girls
Debbie Goddard, director of outreach at the Center for Inquiry, speaker, head of African Americans for Humanism
Jacques L. Hamel, Scientific Affairs Officer with United Nations, international science and technology policy expert
Mark Hatcher, founder of Secular Students at Howard University
Heather Henderson, podcaster at Ardent Atheist podcast, podcaster at Skeptically Yours podcast, lead female singer in Penn Jillette’s NoGodBand
Sundas Hoorain, blogger, The Heresy Club, political activist, human rights lawyer
Stanley Huang, Taiwanese-American singer, known for the song/ album “Atheist Like Me”
Sabri Husibi, speaker, Tulsa Atheist Group
Sikivu Hutchinson, writer and editor, author of Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics and Secular America, editor of BlackFemLens.org, Senior Fellow for the Institute for Humanist Studies, blogger at Black Skeptics
Leo Igwe, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Nigeria
David Ince, a.k.a. Caribatheist, blogger, No Religion Know Reason
Sam Jackson, Assistant Campus Organizer and Group Starting Specialist, Secular Student Alliance
A.J. Johnson, writer, speaker (@HappiestAtheist)
McKinley Jones, president, Black American Free Thought Association (BAF/TA)
S.T. Joshi, literary critic, novelist; author of God’s Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong and more; editor of Atheism: A Reader and more
Alix Jules, chair of diversity committee on the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition for Reason
Avicenna Last, blogger, A Million Gods
Naomi Love, Secretary, Black Nonbelievers
Kenan Malik, writer, lecturer, blogger, and BBC Radio broadcaster, author of Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and its Legacy, Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides are Wrong in the Race Debate, and more
Hemant Mehta, blogger at Friendly Atheist, author of I Sold My Soul on eBay
Ian Andreas Miller, blogger, Diaphanitas
Jeffrey “Atheist Walking” Mitchell, atheist street philosopher and member of Black Skeptics
Maryam Namazie, rights activist, commentator and broadcaster on Iran, rights, cultural relativism, secularism, religion, political Islam and other related topics; spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; blogger
Meera Nanda, writer, historian and philosopher of science
Taslima Nasreen, author and activist; blogger at No Country for Women
Ramendra Nath, professor and author; head of Department of Philosophy, Patna College, Patna University; author of Why I Am Not a Hindu, Is God Dead?, The Myth of Unity of All Religions, and more
First Nation, blogger, Native Skeptic
Kwadwo Obeng, author, We Are All Africans
Adebowale Ojuro, author of Crisis of Religion
James Onen, radio broadcaster, blogger at Freethought Kampala
Charone Paget, producer/host of LAMBDA Radio Report, WRFG, Atlanta; on leadership team of Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta; founder of Queer and Atheist of Atlanta
Ernest Parker, leader of African Americans for Humanism DC
Anthony Pinn, author of numerous books on humanism, head of Institute for Humanist Studies, Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University
Robin Quivers, radio personality
Robert Reece, blogger, Still Furious and Still Brave: Who’s Afraid of Persistent Blackness? (@PhuzzieSlippers)
Lorena Rios, board of directors, Hispanic American Freethinkers
Bwambale Robert, founder, Kasese Humanist Primary School, Kasese United Humanist Association
Sid Rodrigues, scientist, researcher, organizer of Skeptics in the Pub
Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things and more, activist
Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, Midnight’s Children, Luka and the Fire of Life, Grimus, and more
Amartya Sen, Nobel-prize winning economist
Alom Shaha, science teacher, film-maker, and writer; author of The Young Atheist’s Handbook
Ariane Sherine, creator of the Atheist Bus Campaign
Labi Siffre, poet and songwriter
Simon Singh, author, journalist, TV producer, libel reform activist
Mano Singham, theoretical physicist, blogger
Darrel ‘Reasonheimer’ Smith, author/editor, You Are Not Alone: “BlackNones”
Felicia Smith, Vice-President, Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta
Frederick Sparks, blogger, Black Skeptics
Greydon Square, atheist rapper and spoken word artist
Wafa Sultan, author and critic of Islam and Islamic theocracy
David Suzuki, scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster; co-founder of the environmentalist David Suzuki Foundation
David Tamayo, board of directors, Hispanic American Freethinkers
Red Tani, Filipino Freethinkers
Nicome Taylor, blogger, Black Skeptics
Mandisa Lateefah Thomas, co-founder and President, Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta
Harriet Thugman, a.k.a. Donnie McTwerkin, Twitter personality (@HarrietThugman)
Andrew Ti, Tumblr blogger at Yo, Is This Racist?, comedian
Xavier Trapp, blogger at The Rev Speaks, co-host of the SERIOUSLY?! podcast (@Rev_Xavier)
Kim Veal, Blog Talk Radio, Black Freethinkers
Maria Walters, a.k.a. Masala Skeptic, blogger, Skepchick
Naima Washington, blogger, Black Skeptics
Ayanna Watson, founder of Black Atheists of America
Wrath James White, author, blogger at Godless and Black
Clarence Williams, author of Truth
Donald Wright, author of The Only Prayer I’ll Ever Pray: Let My People Go, blogger at Black Skeptics
Lauren Anderson Youngblood, Communications Manager, Secular Coalition for America
Zhiyah, writer/blogger, The Affirmative Atheist
Indra Zuno, stage/ film/ television actress, Mexico and USA, appeared in “The Virgin of Juarez” and “The Violent Kind”

A note about Neil DeGrasse Tyson: When I was solicitiing suggestions for this list, Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s name was brought up several times, by several different people. However, as I understand it, while Tyson calls himself an agnostic and a skeptic, he does not identify as an atheist, and does not want to be associated with the atheist movement. If anyone has current information showing that he does, in fact, identify as an atheist — and can provide a citation — I’ll happily put him on the list. Until then, I’ll respect his right to self-identify as he chooses. (Ditto with Ibn Warraq, who identifies as an agnostic but not an atheist.)

GROUPS/ ORGANIZATIONS/ GROUP BLOGS

African Americans for Humanism
African Americans for Humanism DC
Atheist Association of Uganda
Black American Free Thought Association (BAF/TA)
Black Atheists of America
Black Freethinkers Yahoo Group
Black FreeThinkers social network
Black Freethought discussion group, Atheist Nexus
Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta
Black Skeptics
Buddhiwadi Foundation/ Bihar Buddhiwadi Samaj (Bihar Rationalist Society)
Central Council of Ex-Muslims (Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime)
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
Filipino Freethinkers
Freethought Kampala
The Grenada Free-thought Community
Harlem Community Center for Inquiry
Hispanic American Freethinkers
Hispanic Atheists of all Ethnic Groups
Indian Rationalist Association
Kasese United Humanist Association
Maharashta Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samitee (Superstition Eradication Committee)
Maharashtra Blind faith Eradication Committee, a.k.a. AntiSuperstition.org
Malaysian Atheists
Nirmukta
Secular Students at Howard University
South African Skeptics
Tarksheel Society (India)
Uganda Humanist Association

I hope people find this helpful. Again, if you have any suggestions for additions or corrections, please let me know: either in the comments, or by emailing me at greta (at) gretachristina (dot) com.

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Atheists of Color – A List

About the author

Greta Christina has been writing professionally since 1989, on topics including atheism, sexuality and sex-positivity, LGBT issues, politics, culture, and whatever crosses her mind. She is author of The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday Life, of Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, of Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, of Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and of Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More, and is editor of Paying For It: A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients. She has been a public speaker for many years, and many of her talks can be seen on YouTube. Her writing has appeared in multiple magazines and newspapers, including Ms., Penthouse, Chicago Sun-Times, On Our Backs, and Skeptical Inquirer, and numerous anthologies, including Everything You Know About God Is Wrong and three volumes of Best American Erotica. (Any views she expresses in this blog are solely hers, and do not necessarily represent this organizations.) She lives in San Francisco with her wife, Ingrid. You can email her at gretachristina (at) gmail (dot) com, or follow her on Facebook.
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62 thoughts on “Atheists of Color – A List”

  4. Mark O’Leary
    4

    Dan Barker is a person of color? OK, I guess beige is a color, but I had no idea the bar was being set that low. Am I wrong about this? He looks as white as Debby Boone to me.

  6. Anti-Intellect
    6

    Thank you for reaching out to me and including me in this groundbreaking blog post. The burgeoning atheist of color community truly has nowhere to go but up, and I am very proud to be apart of this movement. I looking forward to future dialogue with you and the many other atheists of color that I encounter.
    Thanks again!

  8. EMR
    8

    Interesting to see a comment about Dan Barker’s appearance being a gate to him not being sufficiently brown.
    I think this is why Greta said you should (Pro Tip) actually read before posting.

  9. Prefer not to identify
    9

    No offense, but many of these blogs don’t seem to be of high enough prominence or quality to warrant being on this list.
    The tricky part is that website traffic estimators need either the cooperation of the website-owner or for the website to be hosted at its own domain – so it’s not clear one can easily make an evidenced based case on the matter.
    But still the current selection of non-white atheist blogs strike me as arbitrary and unsustainable.

  10. Greta Christina
    10

    No offense, but many of these blogs don’t seem to be of high enough prominence or quality to warrant being on this list.

    Arguably. But as I said: When in doubt, I’m erring on the side of inclusion. I’d rather make the “mistake” of including someone who some people feel isn’t sufficiently prominent, than make the mistake of excluding someone who some people think ought to be included. And part of the point of this list is to help get more recognition to people who deserve it and don’t (yet) have it.
    However, as I also said: If you don’t like my list, I encourage you to make/ publish/maintain one of your own, using your own criteria. If you do so, and send me a link, I’ll include it in this post.

  11. thewordofme
    11

    Hello Ms. Christina,
    I have repeated your list on my blog. It may be found at thewordofme.wordpress.com
    Thanks for taking so much time to compile the list. This is the kind of stuff needed to bring the atheist community (is there such a thing?)together. Keep up the good work you do.

  12. Rieux
    12

    Good stuff! Now we just need to see more of these names (and the future additions to the list) on speakers’ rosters at meetings and conventions.
    Would a similar GLBTQ atheist list be meaningful and worthwhile? I suppose arguably the atheist community doesn’t have the same problems with (i.e., levels of) straight privilege that we do male and white privilege. On the upside, if Greta compiled that one she wouldn’t have to worry about playing the empowered-group-gatekeeper role.

  14. Jeanette
    14

    What a fantastic list! I don’t recognize the majority of people on it, but those I do are completely deserving. I look forward to checking out some of the others. Props for doing this, Greta (and props for your contributions to the atheist community, members of this list!).

  15. Timothy (TRiG)
    15

    “For this post and this post only, I am relinquishing copyright.”
    Please revise this. It is not actually possible to relinquish copyright in all countries. I would not be allowed, for example, to republish this list in Germany. Instead of “relinquishing copyright”, please release this post under the WTFPL license or the CC0 license.
    The WTFPL was designed for software, but works equally well for creative works or lists. CC0 was specifically designed for this sort of thing.
    And then badger me into writing that article I keep meaning to write about the history and philosophy of free licensing.
    TRiG.

  16. Greta Christina
    16

    Changes to this list, as of 3/21/11:
    The URL for Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta has been updated.
    Maggie Ardiente’s bio has been updated.
    Ralph Dumain has been removed from the list, per his request.
    Tarksheel Society (India) has been added to the list of organizations.
    Caribatheist, the blogger behind No Religon Know Reason, has decided to go public with his name, and is now listed under David Ince, a.k.a. Caribatheist.

  17. Greta Christina
    17

    TRiG: Can you please tell me (in, say, 100 words or less) what language I would have to use to release this post under the WTFPL license and/or the CC0 license, and how this would differ in any practical sense from relinquish copyright (other than it applying to all countries)? Would I have to do or say anything other than, “I release this post under the WTFPL license and the CC0 license”?

  18. mattheath
    18

    I’m pretty sure Ariane Sherine’s statement about not being “involved in atheist stuff” isn’t saying she has stopped being an atheist, just that she’s not working on atheist campaigns any more.
    The full sentence is “Ariane is no longer involved in any atheist stuff and has gone back to writing comedy”. With that context it’s clearly about how she spends her time, not what she believes.

  19. Karen Boyd
    19

    mattheath: I agree – I was one of the people who suggested Ariane. She is still a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and I’ve not read anything to suggest that she has recanted her atheism. I think the disclaimer is largely because she was so prominent in the Atheist Bus Campaign that she still gets a lot of media requests about it that should more properly be going to the very capable team at the BHA.
    However, Greta’s list, Greta’s rules, and I’m not going to bicker!

  20. DSimon
    20

    Greta, I think by CCo he means “Creative Commons”. You’d probably want the CC-Attribute-ShareAlike license, which means “Share it, and even improve it as you like, but do not remove my name or the license itself.”
    It’s better than relinquishing copyright (aka “public domain”) because it prevents others from pretending they created the list, and because it’ll work internationally. Also, CC is quickly becoming a big deal as part of a larger culture of knowledge sharing, i.e. it’s used by Wikipedia and recognized by search engines.
    To use it, just paste some HTML code into your article.
    100 words. 🙂

  21. Don Barbera
    21

    I drop past at least once a month and comment. Thank you for including me. I was going urge you to put Reginald Finley on, but I just overlooked him on the list. Thanks for the information.
    Don Barbera

  25. Jolo5309
    25

    Is Dr. Suzuki an atheist?
    “Almost ten years later, David Suzuki, in his book, The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature (1997),[6] makes the same urgent plea concerning the environment. Unlike Thomas Berry, however, who is a Catholic theologian, David Suzuki is a secular scientist. What is interesting in Suzuki’s case is that he too devotes a chapter to the need for a spiritual dimension to further combat environmental degradation. Like Berry, Suzuki has come to the conclusion that scientific narratives and warnings of environmental decay alone are incapable of generating a change in human behaviour and orientation toward nature. Scientific pronouncements alone do not have the motive power to radically awake us from our autistic slumber in the midst of the earth’s demise.[7] In this light, both Suzuki and Berry call for a re-visitation with wisdom traditions that honour spiritual values in nature. ”
    http://www.jesuits.ca/orientations/merton.htm

  29. Timothy (TRiG)
    29

    Greta,
    Just stick one of the following at the bottom of the list, depending on which rights you want to relinquish:
    1. CC0:

    This article is available under the <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/”>Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0)</a>

    2. WTFPL:

    This article is available under the <a href=”http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/”>Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License</a>

    3. CC-BY-SA:

    This article is available under the <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/”>Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)</a>

    ***
    The first two of these are very similar, and offer maximal freedom. They’re essentially the same as releasing your work into the public domain.
    The third option, CC-BY-SA 2.0 Generic, is perhaps better known (for example, Wikipedia uses this license for text content and for much, though by no means all, of its image content). It is a copyleft license, meaning that derivative works must be kept under the same license. If you license your list under CC-BY-SA, and someone else takes it and adds to it, you are free to take their additions and add them to your own version. If you license under CC0 or WTFPL, I can take your list and create a copyright derivative work which you can’t have back. However, I don’t think that’s a danger you need to worry about much, so you may as well stick with CC0.
    ***
    And here’s a fourth option, inspired by the wording on many images on Wikipedia:

    This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Greta Christina. This applies worldwide.
    In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so:
    Greta Christina grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

    ***
    And that should be two uppercase Cs followed by a zero (0). I don’t know why Typepad is turning the zero into a lowercase O.
    ***
    TRiG.

  30. Timothy (TRiG)
    30

    Also, you might want to be careful about releasing the text of the article. If you don’t own the copyright on the images, you can’t release them.
    (Was my previous post with suggested licensing terms lost in the spam filter?)
    TRiG.

  31. Greta Christina
    31

    Changes made as of 3/22/11:
    added Indra Zuno
    added Maharashtra Blind faith Eradication Committee, a.k.a. AntiSuperstition.org
    added Maharashta Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samitee (Superstition Eradication Committee)
    added Dr. Narendra Dabholkar
    added S.T.Joshi
    spelling corrected on Maryam Namazie’s name; URL added
    added Freethought Kampala
    added James Onen
    added Ariane Sherine
    added Kasese United Humanist Association
    added Robin Quivers
    added Mike Estes
    Trig: I’ll look at the assorted licensing things and see which one makes most sense for this situation.
    And those presenting objections to David Suzuki: I see your point. But he still, as far as I know, identifies as an atheist — and when in doubt, I am erring on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion.

  32. Tommorris
    32

    Hell yeah for Reginald Finley. He’s a smart and interesting and very patient guy and when his show was still going a great advocate for atheism and freethought. He doesn’t get nearly as much credit as he deserves.

  34. tenacitus
    34

    You really should add Reginald Finley (The Infidel Guy) to the list. He has had a radio show since 1999 and conducts interviews, hosts debates and done a lot for the free thought community. It is truly unfortunate that he has not been able to get financial success with all his talents and dedication.
    Its through the Infidel Guy that I moved to being a strong atheist his radioshows are at
    http://www.infidelguy.com/

  35. tenacitus
    35

    This is an excerpt from the Infidel Guy’s website “Since 1999, The Infidel Guy show has brought you uninterrupted freethought and science-minded guests such as Michio Kaku, Dan Barker, Ken Miller, Michael Shermer, Asia Carrera, Richard Dawkins, Massimo Pigliucci, James Randi and many others. At our site and on our show we take a truthful and investigative look at religious beliefs, political systems, social issues, economic systems, the paranormal, pseudo-science and scientific claims. We feature freethought news, an arcade, forums, chat room and free freethought downloads as well as paid memberships to all IG”
    http://www.infidelguy.com/

  37. Russell Blackford
    37

    I’m not sure how “prominent” they have to be, but I certainly think Prabir Ghosh and Sumitra Padmanabhan should be on this list. Prabir, in particular, is very publicly prominent in India. Arguably you should also include Peter Adegoke. Tauriq Moosa may also belong there.
    At a higher level of fame, I believe Wole Soyinka is an atheist, though sympathetic to his country’s traditional Yoruba religion.

  38. Micha
    38

    I think this is great post for thinking about diversity: http://neworganizing.com/2011/03/21/diversity-is-inefficient/ Too often groups approach this as a “what can diversity do for us” versus being interested in what people of color actually have to say.
    Finally I wonder if you see any connection between atheism’s problems with diversity and the fact that atheism seems to place a primacy on a certain type of dispassionate communication style which can be inadequate for talking about lived experiences like race and gender? There is also a ton of writing about the fact that this form of communication is strongly class based as well, though it often presents itself as the “neutral” norm. Off the top of my head I can think of writers like Bonnie Thornton Dill and Iris Chang who’ve explored this as it relates to deliberative democracy and Dill particularly thinks the testimonial lends itself much more readily to uncovering bias and encouraging inclusion.

  40. Kinana of Khaybar
    40

    Some commenters above have raised questions about Suzuki being appropriate, considering his stated views about “spirituality” etc. I was aware of that, but as far as I’m aware he does not actually believe in God or gods. That makes him technically an atheist. He also has a scientific worldview and has been a science broadcaster for about four decades. I don’t think he literally believes in spirits, etc. His views on “spirituality” as I gather are philosophical, and connected to his views on the environment. That said, I know that environmentalism is Suzuki’s primary focus, so I would guess that he is not likely to be someone to be called upon to gives talks on atheism.

  45. Benjamin Burchall
    45

    Probably an oversight…but, to toot my own horn, what about me – Benjamin Burchall – cofounder and Executive Director of Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta WITH Mandisa? I’m also forming a alliance of Metro Atlanta freethought groups to give us all greater visibility. I’m around. 😉

  46. Mriana
    46

    It took me a minute to figure out why you put Dan Barker in that list, but then I realized he is American Indian and then, being 1/8 American Indian myself, I was glad you added him to the list. Thanks for the list. I’m glad to see one.

  47. CanadianChick
    47

    I have now heard Anu Garg speak, and he should be on the list. His topic was “300,000 Gods and you still can’t choose” and it was funny. Deconversion stories from non-Christian backgrounds are especially relevant to increasing diversity.

  53. Someone
    53

    Great post Greta. I just wanted to warn that I stopped listening to Mr. Finley’s podcast because of some of his sexist comments. That’s all I will say for now.

  55. Mike Hunt
    55

    Wh ds nyn pst nythng n ths st ? Wh ds t mttr wht Grt Chrstn thnks ? Wld ll y k tpprs b gvng hr scnd glnc f sh ws htr clld Grtrd Gbbns frm ldhm ? Gt lf, fr fr Gd’s sk. Lv Grt t hr bhmn spctcls….

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