Reverend Claudio Carvalhaes, Ph.D., wore wings and played a guitar during his Keynote Presentation in the Hennessy Center.
The annual celebration of Founders Week got underway on Monday, September 25, 2017, with an impassioned, animated keynote address delivered by Rev. Claudio Carvalhaes, Ph.D., in the Hennessy Center.
This year, Founders Week focuses on the life and work of Antonio de Montesinos, O.P., a 16th century Dominican Preacher in Hispaniola who spoke out against the exploitation of the indigenous people under Spanish Conquest. Rev. Carvalhaes compared that struggle to the civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter, the fight against global warming, and the struggle to protect Native Americans’ land in the U.S.
Rev. Carvalhaes used props and videos as he shared the story of his childhood in Brazil in which his mother and the community gave him “wings” to fly. He even put on a pair of wings in the middle of his address and played the video of the song “Glory” from the movie Selma. Rev. Carvalhaes said that Montesinos had used his wings and sang a song of glory to help the indigenous people, and Martin Luther King had used his wings and song of glory during the Civil Rights movement.
Then Rev. Carvalhaes challenged the students, faculty and administrators in attendance, “Now it is to you and to me. Where are your wings? What are our songs of glory? “ he asked.
Rev. Carvalhaes is a theologian, liturgist, and artist, who is an Associate Professor and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 2017, he spoke at the 800th Jubilee of the Order of Preachers in Rome, Italy.
For a complete list of Founders Week activities, please click here: https://dc.edu/founders-week-2017/
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