While the New Thought movement is primarily focused on personal well-being and the power of the mind, some of its leaders have also been involved in social justice work. Two prominent examples are Rev. Dr. Barbara Lewis King and Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon.
Bishop Dr. Barbara L. King was a global spiritual leader and the founder of Hillside Chapel International Truth Center in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to her work within the New Thought movement, she was an outspoken advocate for social change. She served as Dean of Students at Spelman College and as Director of the Emory Mental Health Center, where she worked to advance mental health and wellness within the community. Her congregation had predominantly African American leadership. She was involved in ecumenical, interfaith, and race relations work.
Often called the “First Lady of New Thought,” Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon was an ordained Unity minister who founded the Universal Foundation for Better Living (UFBL) and Christ Universal Temple in Chicago. Colemon was a pioneer in creating a space for Black spiritual leaders within the New Thought tradition and used her ministry to address issues of social and racial justice. While studying at Unity Village to become a minister, she wasn’t allowed to stay in the (then all-white) dorms but was given a broom closet to be converted into a room (which she shared with her mother, who wouldn’t let her go to the segregated environment alone). She was also not allowed in the community swimming pool. She was ordained in Unity, but soon started her own church in Chicago, which grew into an international Foundation, a de facto denomination. She ordained Barbara L. King to the ministry of New Thought.
Another New Thought minister very involved in the work of justice and reconciliation is the Reverend David Alexander, a Religious Science minister in Georgia (and formerly in Oregon). He is a blogger and the author of Freedom from Discord: The Promise of New Thought Liberation Theology. All three ministers were friends of the LGBTQ community, and Rev. Alexander remains a committed ally to the movement as well as to anti-racism work.
It is also worth noting that women were starting metaphysical denominations and schools before they had the vote in the U.S. (Mary Baker Eddy, Malinda Cramer, Myrtle Fillmore, Annie Rix Militz, Emma Curtis Hopkins), and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a before-her-time feminist and advocate for universal suffrage.
