LILY ANDERSON/ MANAGING EDITOR

JOSHUA FEINGOLD/ CONTRIBUTOR

Dr. Melvin Rogers gave a series of thought-provoking talks on campus during his time as the Social Sciences Knapp Chair of the Liberal Arts for the 2024-2025 academic year. The Knapp Chair title is awarded to an exceptional scholar from outside USD, who then spends one to three weeks of residence at the university. Rogers, a professor of political science and the Associate Director of the Center for Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Brown University, was selected for this honor. 

During his time at USD, Rogers led multiple discussions on the intersections of democracy, faith and African American political thought, examining how these areas shape an understanding of justice and equality. His conversations occurred in a variety  of   formats.  These included a public conversation, a lecture, a “Pizza  and  Politics” event   hosted  by   the political science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha and a discussion hosted by the Black Student Union.

Rogers’ talks were based on his recent book, “The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought,” as well as reflections on the work of James Baldwin, an influential African American writer and civil rights activist. His expertise and insights provided students and faculty with a deeper understanding of the critical role of African American thought in shaping democratic principles and political theory.

Rogers’  presence  on    campus was largely a result of Dr. Cory Gooding, a USD associate professor of political science and international relations and director of Africana studies, and Dr. Timothy Wyman McCarty, a USD associate professor of political science and international relations. Gooding and McCarty co-chair the Race, Ethnicity and Politics Speaker Series, hosted by  the political science department. McCarty explained that, when deciding who should come and be heard by the USD campus, Rogers was a clear choice.

“I am a fan,” McCarty   explained. “He is somebody that I have admired [along with] his work for a long time. I am persuaded by the moral force of his reading, and it’s his orientation  toward political  questions that  I really love.  He   is a critic   of  pessimism and  romanticism at the same time. The way that  he  is trying  to find a way to talk specifically   about   racial justice  and white  supremacy is in a way that I find incredibly compelling.”

The motivation of Rogers’ “The Darkened   Light  of     Faith” came about in response to a gap Rogers observed in the literature about how African American political thinkers have radically thought about democracy.

 “I had a selfish desire to write about the figures I wanted to read about,” Rogers stated while discussing his book with McCarty during the Public Conversation About Race, Democracy and the Darkened Light of Faith event. “Their  stories rose to the grandness  of a  philosophical epic.”

One of those stories was that of David Walker’s, whose 1829 pamphlet “An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World but in  Particular and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of America” was instrumental in igniting discussions on the abolition of slavery. Walker’s Appeal, written with fiery passion and urgency, led to anti-literacy laws that repressed the spread of abolitionist literature, prohibited enslaved  people from being taught to read  or write and  made  the distribution  of  insurrectionary literature  punishable       by    death. Despite such intense opposition, Walker continuously resisted slavery and the injustices faced by African Americans in the U.S..

A central question of Rogers’ work was: What justified the belief and faith in democracy amidst oppression and violence? Rogers argued that faith is not a naïve optimism,   but rather an inherent belief that humans can be better than they are and that the world can be improved.

The conversation about his book also touched on the debate between Martin Delany and Frederick Douglass, regarding faith in democracy.  Douglass, an African American abolitionist and speaker, maintained  faith in the possibility of  equal rights  despite his criticisms of the U.S.. In contrast, Delany, an African American journalist and physician, was more skeptical due to the lack of certainty. In his work, Rogers argued that faith is not inherently   dependent   on  the  certainty  of   achieving  a   specific  goal. 

Rogers also  explored  the concept of pessimism as a mobilizing force. While pessimism acknowledges the persistent failures of justice, he warned against  allowing it to become complacency. Instead, pessimism should generate an intensity of action, much like historical movements for justice. It is in this balance of optimism and  pessimism that faith flourishes.

“Faith is not a cockeyed optimism,” he noted. “Faith is not reliant on a certainty of success, but on markers of change.”

According to Rogers, faith is a commitment    that runs ahead of proof, an orientation toward aspirations for the U.S.. Rogers pointed out  that it is important to embrace an  aspirational  form of the people, meaning  imagining what is yet  to  be instead of simply  looking at a descriptive form of the people, which continues to  empower   those who are already enfranchised. 

Addressing contemporary challenges, Rogers acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining faith in democracy  in  today’s landscape. He pointed out that we live in a divided world where existential threats feel overwhelming, but this does not mean faith should be abandoned. Rather, it requires a deliberate plan to fix this divide.

Natalie Humphrey, a USD senior who attended the public conversation on “The Darkened Light of Faith,” resonated with the idea of maintaining faith. 

“What stood out to me was his explanation that  ‘there is no way to endure what we face without relying  on other people,’” Humphrey explained.  “Faith has always lived in other people. We need to cultivate more trust and openness with each other, and   pull   our     loved ones close.”

As the discussions   moved  toward  solutions,  Rogers  encouraged students, faculty and other guests to reflect on what they truly care about and what kind of future they want to build.  He  drew on historical struggles, noting that revolutionary   thinkers   and  oppressed communities have often had   to act without any  clear  indicators of success. Rogers persisted with a call to action, emphasizing the necessity of bipartisan dialogue and collective action. 

“Create a wider forum and serve as the loudest scorekeeper,” Rogers urged the audience. 

In Rogers’ lecture “On James Baldwin: Racial Progress Without Redemption,” he explored the roadmap James Baldwin created to understand how justice can be achieved in democracy.

Rogers explained that Baldwin was not interested in blame or guilt.  Instead, he was interested in responsibility.   Baldwin   believed   that   people are   inherently  responsible for  the society they belong to and that the best way  to approach issues of racial   injustice, or any injustice, is  by  accepting  the weight of history. 

“We’ve   got   all this  history bearing down on us,” Rogers  explained. “We need an account of responsibility — of   what   we owe to it.”

At the core of Baldwin’s critique is a system of evasions — a constant insistence on innocence — that distorts reality and keeps white Americans from confronting the darkness of history. By distancing themselves from the past, they end up estranged from it, and that disconnection leads to a kind of  deformation. The nation becomes unable to see itself clearly and is terrified of losing the damaged identity it’s built.

“The things we must attend to do not disappear because we close our eyes,” Rogers stated.

Oftentimes,  Rogers explained, the narrative spun is that racial progress requires a sense of redemption. However, redemption is not the answer. In fact, Baldwin rejected the idea of redemption within racial progress altogether. Redemption places too much value on victories and deforms people’s relationship to history. The answer is transformation. 

“Nothing short of a rebirth is required,” Rogers explained. “A reawakening of what the nation is. Americans must recognize their past and sculpt a collection of new responsibilities.” 

Rogers also acknowledged the current   political  climate,  particularly attacks on diversity, equity  and  inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and stressed  the importance  of  resisting complacency. According to Rogers, institutions    may   not always align with   justice   but  can   be challenged and  reshaped through  consistent work.  

“We measure the soul of a nation through the effort we’re putting into it,” Rogers stated. 

When   reflecting on how Baldwin would have approached the current status of DEI, Rogers explained that Baldwin   could     have  seen it as a threat against social and ethical progress.

Rogers explained that, in times like these,  it is more important than ever to lean on community. He described democracy as something that needs intimacy, such  as what’s found    in friendships and relationships, to function. This intimacy   and  connection allows people     to    imagine  a version of society    that     is   no   longer   fragmented.

Ultimately, Rogers’ message focused   on  resilience. Democracy, he argued,  is  built  on the idea that  no loss   is permanent and that  individuals always have the opportunity  to reorganize, rethink and try again. The struggle for justice is never-ending, but it is in this struggle that democracy finds its deepest meaning. 

Dr. Rogers accepting an award at Heidelberg University.  Photo courtesy of @ppecenteratbrown/Instagram