Talbert W. Swan II

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Talbert W. Swan II Biography

Talbert Wesley Swan II (born April 24, 1965) is an American prelate of the Church Of God In Christ serving as the Bishop of the Nova Scotia Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in Canada. The Church Of God In Christ (COGIC) is a Pentecostal-Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership with more than 12,000 churches and over 6.5 million members in the United States. The National Council of Churches ranks it as the fifth largest Christian denomination in the U.S. Swan is the fourth leader of the Jurisdiction and oversees COGIC congregations in the province. He serves the denomination as Assistant General Secretary and Senior Advisor to Charles Edward Blake, Sr., the Presiding Bishop.

Swan was ordained as an Elder by Bishop Louis C. Young on August 15, 1991. Swan served as youth minister at the Spring of Hope Church Of God In Christ before founding the Solid Rock Church Of God In Christ in 1994. In January 2009, the Solid Rock and Spring of Hope Churches merged and Swan was installed as pastor on May 31, 2009.

Bishop Swan was the lead plaintiff in a 1996 federal lawsuit against the city of Springfield, MA seeking to declare the at large representation system unconstitutional on the grounds that it diluted the votes of African Americans, Latinos, and other communities of color. The lawsuit sought to change the all at-large election of the city council to one including ward representatives. It also sought an injunction against the current voting scheme. Referring to Springfield’s at-large city council as a “bastion of privilege that systematically excludes residents from Springfield’s poor and non-white neighborhoods,” the Boston Globe brought national attention to Swan’s efforts to replace the voting system in a featured article picturing Swan in front of his church.

Swan, a longtime advocate for police reform, first came to national attention in the wake of receiving a harassing telephone call from Joseph Bradley, a Springfield, MA police officer. Bradley made the call from the Public Safety office of Western New England University and mocked the burning of black churches in the south. The call was made July 2, 1996, the day Swan was hosting a service to raise funds to assist southern churches that had been burned. After confirming that the racist call was made by Bradley, Springfield Deputy Chief of Police Daniel Spellacy apologized to Swan, his congregation, and the African American community, and Mayor Michael Albano vowed that the city would not tolerate such racist acts. Mayor Albano said that the call to Swan “borders on crisis” and announced the formation of a community coalition to deal with racial tensions.

A successful signature drive placed the question for ward representation on the November 1997 ballot. On election day, 58 percent of the voters were in favor of the question, which called for eight ward seats and three at-large seats. Although the ballot question received a majority vote, it fell short by 15,000 votes of the required number to become law. Swan, on behalf of the plaintiffs, offered to drop the lawsuit if city councilors agree to honor the will of the electorate and implement the ward system.

In January 1998 Mayor Michael Albano again filed legislation with the city council to change to a ward system but it twice rejected the proposal. Swan then contacted the U.S. Department of Justice who assigned an investigator to consider if voting rights laws were being violated.

Swan has served the Church Of God In Christ in the Office of the General Secretary since 2001. During that time he served as: Special Assistant to the General Secretary, Assistant General Secretary for Statistics, and currently as the Assistant General Secretary/Administration. Swan also serves the denomination as Clerk of the General Board, Associate White House Liaison, and Senior Advisor to Presiding Bishop Charles Edward Blake, Sr.

Swan made national headlines in 2003 by taking issue with the comparison of the fight to legalize same-sex marriage with the civil rights struggle. He is the editor of the controversial book Closing the Closet: Testimonies of Deliverance from Homosexuality, a book that details the testimonies of 23 individuals, including Darryl L. Foster and Alan Chambers, former president of Exodus International, claiming to no longer be homosexual as a result of their religious experience. Gay activist Wayne Besen criticized the book and accused Swan of taking material from his booklet, Finally Free, stating, “I am horrified that this book pilfered ‘Finally Free’ and twisted the original idea to support ex-gay propaganda.”. Swan, responding to Besen’s criticism, noted “First, I never even heard of his work ‘Finally Free’ until I read his obviously angry critique of ‘Closing the Closet’, therefore, how could I have ‘pilfered and twisted’ something I have never read nor ever knew existed?”

Swan is a police chaplain for the Springfield Police Department. In 2005 he organized the Rev. Theodore N. Brown Anti Gang Initiative. The effort was named in honor of Rev. Theodore Brown, a school counselor who was murdered by 17 year old Corey Ramos. In honor of Brown, Swan wrote a book, Addressing Violence in Springfield Schools: We Cannot Allow the Death of Rev. Theodore N. Brown to be in Vain. The book presents Swan’s analysis on school violence and several models of education. The anti-gang program trained street workers who frequented gang ‘hot spots’ trying to break through to young men and women involved in gangs, drugs, and violence or being drawn into such activity. Swan has worked with police departments and coordinated meetings at his church with witnesses to crimes in efforts to foster regular communication with law enforcement. Swan was appointed by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey to her Advisory Council on Racial Justice and Equity and by Springfield City Council President Orlando Ramos to the Committee on Police and Community Relations.

In 2006, Swan was one of several clergy that endorsed Deval Patrick for Governor of Massachusetts. After his victory as the first African-American governor in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Patrick selected Swan as one of the speakers at the Interfaith Prayer Service preceding his Inaugural. Swan again endorsed Patrick in his 2010 bid for reelection and hosted Patrick at an Urban Town Hall Meeting at his church in Springfield. Swan was again selected to speak during the Interfaith Prayer Service preceding Patrick’s second Inaugural.

Eventually, Mayor Charles V. Ryan and City Councilor Jose Tosado proposed a home-rule amendment that would expand the council to thirteen members including eight ward and five at large seats. The home-rule petition was adopted by the City Council 7–2, and was later passed by the State Senate and House and signed by the Governor. On election day, November 6, 2007, city residents voted 72% in favor of changing the all at large election of the City Council and School Committee to one including ward representation. On November 3, 2009, Springfield held its first ward elections in 50 years.

In October 2011, Bishop Swan joined with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, the ACLU and City Councilor Zaida Luna to send an urgent request to the US Department of Justice for intervention in the City of Springfield regarding widespread voter rights violations. The group cited multiple incidents and areas of noncompliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act and the Department of Justice’s 2006 settlement order with the City of Springfield. Teams from the US Department of Justice and the US Attorney General’s office arrived in Springfield on November 8, 2011.

Swan sought an independent investigation into the controversial 2011 shooting of 18-year-old Tahiem Goffe by a Springfield policeman, which was investigated by the Springfield police and ruled justified by the local district attorney. Swan urged District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni called to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the incident, “to ensure that proper police procedures were employed and that the investigation will not be compromised.” Swan argued the need for independent investigators in any cases involving a shooting by a police office. He noted that historically, the office of District Attorney has not been an effective instrument for insuring transparency. Swan has called for police accountability and the implementation of civilian police oversight. Calling police departments where civilian review boards only serve in an advisory capacity “a joke,” Swan has urged for boards with statutory authority. He has called for cruiser cameras and recorders to provide additional accountability. Swan was critical of an arbitration ruling in 2014 that continued to block the use of body cameras in certain Massachusetts cities. Noting that video cameras in cruisers promote officer safety and public accountability, Swan said those cities were “a little behind the times in terms of the advancement of this technology.”

Defeating his rival by a three-to-one margin in the 2011 election for president of the Greater Springfield NAACP, Swan’s election reportedly created anticipation of a resurgence of social activism in the region. The Valley Advocate noted that this led to a revitalization of the organization and its voice on critical community issues. Swan outlined the priorities of the branch as taking a renewed focus on education, health, economic empowerment, political action and social justice advocacy.

In August 2012, Swan met with Elizabeth Warren in a closed session with other clergy hosted at his church. Swan noted that clergy had a responsibility to meet with candidates to “ascertain their veracity, political competence, ability to effectively manage crises and inspire confidence through outstanding leadership and their ability to produce tangible results that serve the needs of our constituents.” Taking issue with her opponent Scott Brown’s heavy focus on calling her Native American heritage into question, Swan supported Warren. Swan’s meeting with Warren also garnered support for her by other prominent clergy.

On April 3, 2014, Swan was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Greater Massachusetts Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by Charles Edward Blake, Sr., Presiding bishop, and the General Board of the Church Of God In Christ. His appointment was ratified by the General Assembly and he was consecrated bishop on November 9, 2014 during the 107th Annual Holy Convocation.

Upon U.S. Senator John Kerry’s confirmation as Secretary of State under the administration of President Barack Obama, Ed Markey sought Swan’s support in his bid to win the vacated senate seat. Swan organized a meeting between Markey and area clergy and noted that the meeting was “substantive and informative.” Swan played a similar role in vetting the positions of candidates for Hampden County District Attorney and Hampden County Sheriff. During the 2016 presidential election, Swan reportedly joined more than two dozen national black leaders in challenging Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s stance on issues related to so-called “religious freedom.”

On June 6, 2016, Blake named Swan the third bishop of the Nova Scotia Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction. Swan oversees all member churches in the Nova Scotia province as well as congregations in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. He officially received his episcopal assignment during the 109th Annual Holy Convocation on November 13, 2016.

Swan was a speaker at the Massachusetts sister march to the People’s Climate Movement march held in Washington DC in 2017. He noted that climate justice and racial justice are closely related and that the most vulnerable and maligned populations get hit hardest by climate change. Swan is a member of the Grand Council and the National Chaplain of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., one of the largest predominantly African American fraternities in the nation a board member of the Conference of National Black Churches, a coalition of the seven largest African American denominations, and the author of several books.

Swan’s Twitter account was suspended in August, 2018, for what Twitter executives termed unspecified “hateful conduct.” Swan stated that he believes this was for a May tweet in which he used the term “coon” in reference to black conservative Candace Owens. After being banned for two weeks, Swan’s account was reinstated by Twitter. Swan gave credit to the advocacy of thousands of his followers, whom he said, tweeted to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Twitter Support, signed petitions, emailed, telephoned and pressured Twitter to reinstate his account. .

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