For Immediate Release - Contact Zachary Moore, 817-823-7267

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www.dfwcor.org

Alix Jules

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diversity.dfwcor.org

June 15, 2011

The Dallas/Fort Worth Coalition of Reason (DFWCoR), an umbrella organization supporting local grassroots secular organizations, today announced the formation of a Diversity Council to recruit minority nonbelievers and raise awareness of existing diversity in the "New Atheist" movement.

"Since the days of Frederick Douglass, atheists of color have been a vital if often overlooked part of America's secular heritage," said Zachary Moore, Coordinator of the DFWCoR. "But today, though prominent celebrities like Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas openly question the existence of God, atheists of color and those within the LGBT community may not realize that local secular groups are available and seeking to increase their diversity."

Alix Jules, Assistant Coordinator of the DFWCoR, will serve as Chair of the Diversity Council. "Our purpose is to help secular individuals from different backgrounds know that they're not alone," Jules noted. "The mainstream secular movement appears homogenous, but we know that's not the case." The Diversity Council website features profiles from prominent grassroots and nationally-known secular activists, such as author and former Baptist deacon Donald Wright, journalist and comedian Jamila Bey, and blogger Hemant Mehta, of the website FriendlyAtheist.com and author of "I Sold My Soul On eBay."

Atheists of color and within the LGBT community are encouraged to visit the Diversity Council's website at diversity.dfwcor.org for more information.

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The Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason is a community of nontheistic groups in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. DFW CoR works to raise the public profile of and cooperation among all such local organizations.

The United Coalition of Reason is a nationwide network of local coalitions. It exists to raise the visibility and sense of unity among local groups in the community of reason by providing funding and expertise to help them cooperate toward the goal of raising their public profiles.