Reverend Cassius L. Rudolph
The Reverend Cassius L. Rudolph is a voting rights activist, social justice leader, theologian and pastor. A native of Chicago, Illinois, he serves as senior pastor of Saints’ Memorial Community Church of Willingboro, NJ. Before serving as pastor, he served as the National Field Director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Special Assistant to the Reverend Dr. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., while simultaneously serving as National Chairman of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.’s “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” program. As National Chairman, Rev. Rudolph led revised branding and program curriculum, and he led the fraternity’s efforts to register 1 million Black male voters for the 2020 election.
In 2018, Rev. Rudolph served as the convocation speaker and distinguished lecturer at Tougaloo College’s historic Woodworth Chapel. The lecture, on James Cone: The Rise of Black Liberation Theology, reflects his formation under the late Dr. James H. Cone; Rev. Rudolph is considered a son of Black Liberation Theology and was a member of the last class to sit under Dr. Cone’s teaching. He has delivered sermons, lectures, and workshops across the United States and is frequently invited by colleges and universities, conferences, conventions, symposiums, and retreats.
His lecturing and research interests lie at the intersection of preaching, worship, social justice, liberation theology, and church and society. Rev. Rudolph was inducted into the distinguished Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College.
An ordained Baptist preacher, Rev. Rudolph is a member of numerous civic organizations, including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., One Hundred Black Men Inc., and the United Negro College Fund National Alumni Council. He founded the Association of Black Seminarians National Assembly. He currently serves as the National Chaplain of the Tougaloo College National Alumni Association, Alumni/ae Council Board Member at Union Theological Seminary, and Vice President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Kappa Iota Lambda Chapter. He was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, in 2022. Rev. Rudolph has been featured on programs such as Up Front with Jesse Jackson, the Rainbow PUSH Saturday Morning Forum, the International Sunday School Broadcast with Dr. Janette Wilson, Esq., and Another Perspective with the late Rev. Dr. Leon Finney.
Rev. Rudolph received his Bachelor’s Degree from Tougaloo College (Jackson, MS), his Master’s Degree from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, and attended Boston University School of Theology (Boston, MA). He received a certificate in nonprofit leadership from the Boston College Carroll School of Management and Wells Fargo. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Ministry at Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL.
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has purposefully made every decision with one goal in mind: protecting the civil liberties of those in underrepresented communities. As a public defender, civil rights attorney, State Representative, and United States Congresswoman, she has dedicated her life to public service—pursuing justice and ensuring equality for all.
Amid political turmoil, economic distress, and racial inequality, Congresswoman Crockett marched for justice and ran for the Texas House of Representatives. The sole Black freshman and youngest Black lawmaker in Texas during the 87th Legislative Session, she navigated one of the state’s most conservative sessions in history. Despite the challenge, she filed more bills than any other freshman, built coalitions to pass landmark criminal justice reforms in the House, and expanded accessibility and accountability in her office. She helped found both the Texas Progressive Caucus and the Texas Caucus on Climate, Energy, and the Environment; as a member of the Business & Industry Committee and the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, she fought for economic opportunity and reform. She was a lead architect of the 2021 Texas House Quorum Break that drew national attention to proposed voting restrictions.
Her passion for justice began with service as a public defender and as a civil rights and criminal defense attorney, focusing on protecting vulnerable people from exploitation in the criminal justice system. Starting in the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office, she worked to keep children safe and out of jail, reinforcing that criminal justice is an intersectional issue.
Following her legislative service, Congresswoman Crockett has served as the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 30th Congressional District since January 2023, succeeding the late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. In the 118th Congress she was elected Freshman Leadership Representative; in the 119th Congress she was appointed Vice Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight. She currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and she is Communications Task Force Co-Chair for the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Congresswoman Crockett earned her B.A. in Business Administration from Rhodes College and her J.D. from the University of Houston. She is licensed to practice law in Texas, Arkansas, and Federal Courts. She is the former Bowie County Democratic Party Chair, has held leadership roles within the legal community, served on the board of Dallas County Metrocare Services, and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.