Howard Washington Thurman was an African-American author, philosopher, scholar, and civil rights leader. He played an important role in many social justice movements of the twentieth century. His theology of radical nonviolence influenced several civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. Thurman was the grandson of former slaves and his grandparents stressed on education as a means of overcoming racial discrimination. He studied at Morehouse College and eventually went to Rochester Theological Seminary. He later served as the pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Oberlin, Ohio. Over the course of his academic career, he was chosen to be the dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University. He also served as the dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University. He received much acclaim for co-founding a major interracial, interdenominational church in US along with Alfred Fisk.
