Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.
~ West African Proverb
Rev. Traci Blackmon is the Associate General Minister of Justice & Local Church Ministries for The United Church of Christ.
As a featured voice on many local, national, and international platforms, Rev. Blackmon’s life work focuses on communal resistance to systemic injustice through the redemptive power of love. Rev. Blackmon’s religious praxis is rooted in principled discipleship lived out through congregational and community engagement. Her response in Ferguson to the killing of Michael Brown resulted in national and international recognition, gaining her many audiences spanning the breadth of the White House to the Carter Center to the Vatican. Her work is now featured in several documentaries and print publications. Appointed to the Ferguson Commission by Governor Jay Nixon and to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships for the White House by President Barack Obama, Rev. Blackmon is a recipient of the NAACP Rosa Parks Award; The Urban League of St. Louis Woman in Leadership Award; and the National Planned Parenthood Faith Leader Award, to name a few. She is listed as one of Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 (2015), the St. Louis American’s Citizen of the Year (2017), and one of the 15 Faith Leaders to watch in 2020 by The Center for American Progress.
Rev. Blackmon is a graduate of Leadership St. Louis and is listed as one of St. Louis’ 100 most influential voices. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc and was inducted into the 33rd Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers of Morehouse College. Rev. Blackmon is both proud and grateful to have serve as pastor to both Simpson Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church and Christ The King United Church of Christ. She received her Bachelors of Nursing from Birmingham-Southern College, a Master of Divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary, and an honorary doctorate from the same. She serves on the board of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and recently joined the editorial board of the St. Louis American Newspaper. Rev. Blackmon currently resides in St. Louis, MO and is the proud mother of three adult children: Kortni Devon; Harold II; and Tyler Wayne Blackmon.
“I speak from the chorus of lions. And we are many!” ~ Rev. Traci D. Blackmon
