Howard Thurman (1899-1981) was hailed by Life magazine as one of the great preachers of the twentieth century. He was a nationally recognized theologian, distinguished religious leader, and prolific author whose radical nonviolent philosophy played a pivotal role in shaping the civil rights movement. As the first black dean of Boston University's Marsh Chapel, he became a spiritual adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. He wrote over 20 published books, such as Meditations of the Heart, With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman, and Disciplines of the Spirit.

Kelly Brown Douglas is an African American Episcopal priest, a womanist theologian, and the inaugural dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary. She is also the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral. She is the recipient of the Anna Julia Haywood Cooper Award, given by the Union of Black Episcopalians, in honor of her leadership and development in womanist theology in African American Christian faith. She is the author of The Black Christ, Sexuality and the Black Church, What's Faith Got to Do with It: Black Bodies/Christian Souls, Black Bodies and the Black Church: A Blues Slant, and Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God.