On Tuesday my husband and I went to the National Urban League’s New York office to celebrate the publication of CNN contributor Roland Martin’s book, 50 Perspectives on Faith.

Terrie Williams, Susan McHenry, and Ken Smikle first introduced me to Roland at the Chicago National Book Club Conference hosted by Black Issues Book Review earlier this year. I was impressed that a busy CNN contributor would stop by a Black book club conference in his hometown, so I accepted the New York Association of Black Journalists invitation to the book party.

After his presentation this week at the Urban League, Roland asked for questions from the audience, and I asked him about the problem of religious fundamentalism across faith lines. It seems to me that there are Christian fundamentalists, Jewish fundamentalists, and Muslim fundamentalists whose essentialist, concretized ideas about religion polarize and divide. Roland responded that moderates across religious lines aren’t in the public conversation often enough. He urged folk to email media outlets and ask for more moderate voices, and he seemed to urge people of faith – any faith – who seek more harmony in discussions of the Divine to speak up.

Roland, whose wife is an ordained minister, compiled what he calls 50 perspectives on faith. His open discourse on personal faith was refreshing, as I’d only known him for his astute commentary on politics and culture on CNN. He also has a regular blog I’m going to start to check out on Essence.com.

In addition to politics and faith, Roland talked about selling his book on his own website as a way to empower himself and truly own his ideas, his work. It was, again, refreshing to hear him speak about self-publishing. So many self-published African American authors produce urban fiction with salacious sexual content as a way to get paid. What a waste of new technology. Folk finally have the opportunity to put whatever they want out there in book form, sell it, and support themselves, and too many regurgitate centuries-old stereotypes about Black life. It was wonderful to hear a professional brother talk about using new technology to share more substantive content with – and about – African Americans.