Robert Beckford

Robert Beckford (born 1965 ) is a British academic theologian and currently Professor of Climate and Social Justice at the University of Winchester, and has associate roles as a Professor of Black Theology at The Queen's Foundation, and a Professor of Theology at Vu University, Amsterdam.

His documentaries for both the BBC and Channel 4 have caused debate among the religious community, instigated policy change and won national and international awards.

Beckford was born to Jamaican parents in Northampton, in the East Midlands of England, and was raised in an African Caribbean diaspora church.

He states that his "white, middle-class" religious education teacher "turned me on in a big way to RE and sowed the seeds to think critically about religion and culture", while his maths tutor introduced him to theo-politics and activism of Malcolm X.

After taking A-levels, Beckford studied religion and sociology at Houghton College, New York.

He then studied for an MA in Biblical Hermeneutics at the London School of Theology, Middlesex.

After a year in community education, Beckford studied for his PhD at the University of Birmingham (UK) while also working part-time at The Queen's Foundation, Birmingham, where he became Britain's first tutor in black theology.

Professionally, Beckford is an activist scholar, working in both higher education and social justice campaigns in the UK and abroad.

He has spent his career in academia, beginning in 1999 as a research fellow at Birmingham University, then becoming a lecturer in African Diaspora Religions & Cultures.

For two years, he was Reader in Black theology and Popular Culture at Oxford Brookes University and then a visiting Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.

In 1999, Beckford participated in the first ever three-part Channel 4 documentary series on the history of slavery in the Caribbean and Britain.

The series was produced by Sir Trevor Phillips.

In 2001, Beckford made his debut as a presenter for the BBC.

Blood and Fire tells a 30 year story of Jamaican Independence.

In 2001, Beckfod presented a six-part BBC Religious Education series.

Each programme explores how the hardest teachings of Jesus are played out in diverse global contexts.

The Series won an Education BAFTA.

In 2003, Beckford presented a BBC 4 television documentary on the Britain's first dedicated colonial museum in Bristol, UK.

In 2004, Beckford presented a documentary called God is Black, which broadcast on Channel 4, which compared white and black people's interpretation of Christianity.

It was strongly criticized by conservative evangelicals in the Anglican Church who accused it of "racialising" religious issues.

In 2004, Beckford hosted a documentary called Who Wrote the Bible? broadcast on Channel 4 on Christmas Day.

The documentary explores questions surrounding the authorship of the biblical texts, exploring the impact that those understandings have on the course of politics.

Special attention is given to the impact of these understandings on American politics and on ongoing political and religious tensions in the Middle East.

In 2005, presented a Channel 4 documentary calculating the financial reparations owed to the English speaking Caribbean for its role in the trans-Atlantic chattel slave trade.

In 2005, Beckford explores the similarities between Scottish psalm singing and African American gospel music in this Channel 4 documentary.

In this 2005 two-hour Channel 4 documentary, Beckford examines the interplay of religion and film production in Hollywood.

In 2006, Beckford made the film Ghetto Britain for the television station More 4.

Through the course of the documentary, he composes a manifesto of change that he plans to put before the Commission for Racial Equality.

Beckford has also made films for the BBC analysing religion and Britain's colonial history, focusing on the role of Britain's African Caribbean community.

On 15 April 2006, Beckford hosted his second one-off documentary, called The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury on Channel 4.

This was Beckford's exploration of the history and the increasingly uneasy relationship between religion and the film industry, as well as the controversy that often arises as a result of any major religiously-themed film being released.

In this 2006 Channel 4 documentary, Beckford explores the hidden, multi-cultural and inclusive histories of some of Britain's patron saints.

In this 2006 Channel 4 documentary, Beckford explores the interplay of music and faith in America and Britain.

Beckford hosted a documentary called The Secret Family of Jesus on Channel 4 on Christmas Day]] 2006.

In this documentary, he explores the history and legacy of Jesus' family and presents historical evidence of Jesus' familial relationship to John the Baptist; his family unit consisting of four brothers and (at least) two sisters; his relationship with Mary Magdalene; and of Jesus' ministry being passed to his eldest brother James for the approximately 30 years prior to the destruction of the second temple and the subsequent diaspora.

On 2007 Christmas Day, Beckford's documentary The Hidden Story of Jesus premiered on Channel 4.

In 2014, he became the first Professor of Black Theology at a UK institution while working at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Since May 2021, Beckford has been Professor of Climate and Social Justice at the University of Winchester, with associate roles as a Professor of Black Theology at the Queen's Foundation in Birmingham and Professor of Theology at Vu University in Amsterdam.

In addition to writing monographs, Beckford has presented more than 20 television documentaries, a dozen BBC radio documentaries, co-written BBC Radio dramas and written and produced a decolonial contemporary gospel music album.

He has also worked as a BBC Radio presenter for BBC Radio WM.