- A memoir of history, faith & resilience
The story seldom told is resilience .
Most of us know the story of suffering. Crossroads tells the other narrative — the indomitable spirit that carried a people through, and the God who was present in it.
University of Delaware · Africana Studies
Howard University B.A. & M.Div.
Wesley Theological Seminary D.Min.
Founder, Peter Spencer Family Life Foundation
“We live in the intersections of life — with people and with events — and these are the things that connect us with our past. In the intersections we can also meet God.”
- 01
Embrace history, do not reject it
Can you imagine telling anyone else to forget what they survived? We rush through the intersections with too little attention to what actually happened — and to the humanity of those who lived it.
- 02
Resilience is the untold story
Most people know the story of inhumanity. The larger story, seldom told, is the dignity, strength, and character of the African American spirit wading through the murky waters of our past.
- 03
Self-determination for an empowered life
Black pride and self-determination — never hatred toward any other people. How we see ourselves, our communities, and our connection to the ancestors is ours to determine.
- A memoir of history, faith & resilience
Crossroads
- Places We Meet History, the Ancestors, and God
At the intersection of lived experience and divine intervention there is a sacred meeting place — where the ancestors’ resilience, the community’s ongoing struggle, and God’s undeniable presence converge.
Rev. Livingston braids personal memoir with Civil Rights history and theology, from childhood summers in the segregated South to Emmett Till, Orangeburg, and Fannie Lou Hamer. The sacred is not confined to church walls. It is in the whispered prayers of grandmothers and the quiet resolve of those who refuse to give up hope.
- 1
Emmett Till
Where does your narrative intersect with history?
- 2
The Orangeburg Massacre
Three students slain. Their killers were acquitted.
- 3
Fannie Lou Hamer
Sharecropping and faith confronting injustice
- 4
The Black Church
What spiritual inheritance are you carrying forward?
- 5
Come Sunday
A glorious day in the life of the Black Church
- 6
Grandma’s Hands
Black women, womanism, keepers of the flame
- 7
Our Inconvenient Hero
Martin Luther King, Jr. — now that he is safely dead
- 8
Recovering the Elder
Black men and the community elder image
- 9
Permission Not Needed: Rethinking the Black Experience and Culture
Empowerment is in knowing thyself.
“If there were a thousand Sundays, I always say, we were in church for at least 980 of them. It would need to be what seemed like a near death with illness to be excused.”
“We have lost the significance in our understanding of history because we rush through these intersections with very little attentiveness to the specific details of what actually happened, or the humanity of those who experienced it.”
- From the Preface
- Congregations & adult education
An eight-week series — one chapter per week, each ending in theological reflection and reader questions.
- Book clubs
Discussion questions built into every chapter: connection, historical awareness, theological insight, personal intersection, legacy and action.
- Classrooms
Pairs memoir with primary Civil Rights history for Africana Studies, religion, and American history courses.
- lack History Month programs
Chapter readings that work as standalone programs, with the author available to join by video or in person.
- Discussion guide available free · Request it
- 1
Emmett Till
Where does your narrative intersect with history?
- 2
The Orangeburg Massacre
Three students slain. Their killers were acquitted.
- 3
Fannie Lou Hamer
Sharecropping and faith confronting injustice
- 4
The Black Church
What spiritual inheritance are you carrying forward?
- 5
Come Sunday
A glorious day in the life of the Black Church
- 6
Grandma’s Hands
Black women, womanism, keepers of the flame
- 7
Our Inconvenient Hero
Martin Luther King, Jr. — now that he is safely dead
- 8
Recovering the Elder
Black men and the community elder image
- 9
Permission Not Needed: Rethinking the Black Experience and Culture
Empowerment is in knowing thyself.
“If there were a thousand Sundays, I always say, we were in church for at least 980 of them. It would need to be what seemed like a near death with illness to be excused.”
“We have lost the significance in our understanding of history because we rush through these intersections with very little attentiveness to the specific details of what actually happened, or the humanity of those who experienced it.”
- From the Preface
- Congregations & adult education
An eight-week series — one chapter per week, each ending in theological reflection and reader questions.
- Book clubs
Discussion questions built into every chapter: connection, historical awareness, theological insight, personal intersection, legacy and action.
- Classrooms
Pairs memoir with primary Civil Rights history for Africana Studies, religion, and American history courses.
- Black History Month Programs
Chapter readings that work as standalone programs, with the author available to join by video or in person.
- Discussion guide available free · Request it
D.Min.
Wesley Theological Seminary
M.Div.
Howard University
B.A. Journalism & Afro-American Studies
Howard University
- About
Dr. Lawrence M. Livingston
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies · University of Delaware
A life that overlaps the end of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights Movement gave him a particular vantage: he can see where our lives today connect with history. He traveled from Wilmington to South Carolina in the summers of his childhood, in the waning years of segregation — and he has been reading those intersections ever since.
He has pastored the historic Mother African Union Church and Ezion-Mt. Carmel UMC, in Wilmington, DE and served as Associate Council Director of the Peninsula-Delaware Conference and with United Methodist News Service in Washington, D.C. His doctoral work focused on revitalizing African American faith communities without apology for honoring Black history, culture, tradition, and identity. right next to the gospel.
He has been married to Frances McKinney for more than forty years. They have three adult children — Lauren (Chanse), Rachel, and Michael — and one grandchild, Caleb.
Peter Spencer Family Life Foundation
Founder · host of Delaware’s first CDF Freedom School
Coalition to Dismantle the New Jim Crow
Founder
Mother African Union Church
Pastor · the nation’s oldest Black-founded church
Delaware Historical Society
Board of Trustees · Mitchell Center for African American Heritage
Peter Spencer Family Life Foundation
Founder · host of Delaware’s first CDF Freedom School
Coalition to Dismantle the New Jim Crow
Founder
Mother African Union Church
Pastor · the nation’s oldest Black-founded church
Delaware Historical Society
Board of Trustees · Mitchell Center for African American Heritage
Invite Dr. Livingston to your congregation, campus, or conference.
Keynotes, Black History Month programs, adult education series, clergy retreats, and classroom visits — with a discussion guide for congregations and book clubs working through Crossroads together.
- Intersections
- Aug 2026
What Emmett Till Asks of Us Now
A boy the same age I was, in a summer I remember. The question is not what happened — it is where you stand in the story.
- 6 min read
- Intersections
- Aug 2026
The God Who Shows Up in the Fire
The sacred is not confined to temples or church walls. It is in the weary hands of protestors and the whispered prayers of grandmothers.
- 6 min read
- Intersections
- Aug 2026
Teaching History to Students Born in This Century
For those who have never lived outside the 21st century, Jim Crow can sound like fiction. Here is how I make it land.
- 6 min read
- Stay connected
Ubuntu — I am because we are.
One letter a month: a historical intersection, a theological reflection, and where I will be speaking next. No noise.
Speaking & media
lawrencelivingston@thecrossroadshcs.com
University office
Africana Studies · University of Delaware
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