AYG Chats with Scholar/Activist Monica A. Coleman

In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week, The AYG List welcomes scholar and activist Monica A. Coleman.  Monica’s commitment to connecting faith and social justice is evident in all of her endeavors.  An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, she earned her A.B. in African American Studies at Harvard University, her Master’s of Divinity degree and Certificate in the Study of Religion, Gender and Sexuality at Vanderbilt University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion and Theology at Claremont Graduate University where she is currently Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religions and Co-Director of the Center for Process Studies.  

Monica, who lives with depression, is a mental health advocate who is dedicated to educating the public about the lives and rights of people living with mental illness.  In her most recent book, Not Alone: Reflections on Faith and Depression, she offers a 40-day devotional wrestling with depression in a spiritual context. 

AYG chats with Monica about our her own battle with mental illness and how the faith community can and should respond.