Mark L. Chapman

Mark L. Chapman is Associate Professor of African and African American Studies and is currently involved in research about the black prison experience and its implications for black liberation theology. He seeks to contribute to a prophetic critique of the "criminal injustice" system, which has always incarcerated African American people at a highly disproportionate rate (blacks comprise roughly 13% of the U.S. population, but nearly 50% of the American prison population). While black theologians and church leaders have addressed many social, political and economic ills, they have not adequately confronted the incarceration binge and its impact on the African American community. His research seeks to address this crucial issue, paying special attention to the prophetic voices of prisoners themselves. Dr. Chapman is the author of Christianity on Trial: African American Religious Thought Before and After Black Power, and is the pastor of the North Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, NY.