Rev. Karmen Michael Smith, a Black Queer Theologian, Cultural Critic, and Vocalist, hailed as a progressive leader in the black queer faith-based community, has just released his first book “Holy Queer: The Coming Out Of Christ.”

Over 850,000 Black LGBTQ+ people identify as religious. Yet, out of the eight historically Black Christian denominations, none (ZERO) of them are LGBTQ+ affirming. This controversial and ground-breaking book explores the sexuality of Jesus Christ and unearths a long-lost affirming and inclusionary space within Biblical texts.

“This powerful and insightful book exemplifies a deep Black prophetic Christian witness that will touch souls, change minds, and transform the lives of all of us, whatever our color, gender, class, or nation! In the name of God’s salvific power manifest in Jesus Christ, Karmen Michael Smith makes available the all-embracing Love that grounds his queerness in the best of the Black Church!” - CORNEL WEST, author of Race Matters and Democracy Matters

“Holy Queer is beautiful, haunting, disruptive, prophetic, and healing—a luminous memoir of Black Queer Christian faith steeped in the liberation theology of James Cone, fashioned in the brave-as-hell style of bell hooks, and chock full of remembrances, images, and insights that stick in your mind and heart.”- GARY DORRIEN, author of The New Abolition: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Black Social Gospel

Readers who wish to experience this inspiring work grab a copy of “Holy Queer: The Coming out of Christ” online at: https://www.holyqueerbook.com.

Rev. Karmen Michael Smith lives in NYC, where he serves as Executive Director of the Center for Community Engagement & Social Justice (CCESJ) to advance the causes of social justice. In the legacy of civil and gay rights leader Bayard Rustin, Rev. Smith hopes to inspire the next generation of “angelic troublemakers” to believe that all things are possible.”

“It’s TIME!” – says author Rev. Karmen Michael Smith.