The Thomas Paine Memorial Association (TPMA) is celebrating both the Jan. 29 birthdate of Thomas Paine and Black History Month, with an international event focusing on Paine’s significant anti-slavery efforts.
Black leaders, educators, celebrities, politicians, social influencers are scheduled to appear throughout the event. Guests include comedian Ty Barnett, Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY 16th District); Representative Shontel M. Brown (D-OH 11th District); poet Victor Harris; feminist/activist Dom Jones; emergency room doctor and nontheist activist Wil Jeudy; educator, author and historian Richard Newman; Professor Anthony Pinn; Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD 8th District); Smithsonian Museum Curator Teddy Reeves; Representative Victoria Spartz (R-IN 5th District); and Black Nonbelievers founder and president Mandisa Thomas.
TPMA has been charged by Congress with creating a long-overdue monument to this “forgotten founder” in Washington, D.C.
A bill sponsored by Representatives Raskin and Spartz was signed into law by President Biden in December 2022. TPMA is in the midst of finding a location and getting final approval for the monument. Raskin and Spartz now serve as the nonprofit group’s honorary co-chairs.
Also participating will be event planners TPMA President Margaret Downey, and History Professor Christopher Cameron, author of “Black Freethinkers: A History of African American Secularism.”
Musical performances by Cynthia McDonald, a member of Godless Gospel and leader of Chicago’s Black Nonbelievers chapter, will open and close the event.
Actor Ian Ruskin will recite a letter that Paine wrote to Thomas Jefferson, using the persona of an enslaved person to emphasize the urgency of ending slavery. The 1808 letter, written seven months before Paine’s death, reveals a frustrated and angry abolitionist who had lost patience with those who participated in the debauchery.
Thomas Paine expert Gary Berton, president of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, will introduce the letter from “A Slave” and answer questions.
“Thomas Paine stood for equality like no other Founder and more people should know his legacy,” said Downey.
“This event will prove that Thomas Paine’s legacy should be honored and recognized. A Thomas Paine monument in Washington, D.C. is needed to complete the story of the founding of the United States of America,” she said.
A post-event social hour will allow audience participation. Sculptor Zenos Frudakis will Zoom from his studio in Glenside, Pennsylvania, to show his clay statue of Thomas Paine.
Sponsors of the event are the Thomas Paine Memorial Association, Black Nonbelievers, the Secular Coalition for America, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Center for Inquiry, and the Freethought Society.
Pre-registration for the event, which begins at 4 p.m. on Jan. 29 is required. Register at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82980534952.
