The late Dr. Vincent G. Harding was an associate of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and served as Professor of Religion and Social Transformation at Illiff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He was the author of numerous books, including Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero.

Before Illiff, Vincent Harding taught at Pendle Hill Study Center, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Spelman College.  Among his publications are The Other American Revolution; There Is a River, Vol. 1; Hope and History; Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero, and We Changed the World (with R. Kelly and E. Lewis). Dr. Harding had a long history of involvement in domestic and international movements for peace and justice, including the southern Black freedom struggle. He was the first director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta and served as director and chairperson of The Institute of the Black World. He was senior academic consultant to the award-winning PBS television series, Eyes on the Prize.

He served as co-chairperson of the Veterans of Hope Project: A Center for the Study of Religion and Democratic Renewal at Iliff, and as Vice President of Institutional Transformation.

Dr. Harding was a founding National Advisor to the Dorothy Cotton Institute, a dear friend and role model to all of us. During and after our 2012 DCI Delegation to the West Bank, Vincent’s deep compassion, love, wisdom and insight encouraged us profoundly.