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Short notes black theology
Christian teachings for fighting racism
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Black Theology is a great theological perspective in which it allows us as a society to be aware of those who are being oppressed. It brings awareness to the minds of the oppressor to make them more conscience of the power they have in their actions. A great methodology of black theology, is that it uses scripture to bring oppression to light, but it fails by only taking certain passages that apply with its historical setting. The Word of God was not created for us to take bits and pieces from, but it was created for us to be whole and made new by the renewing of our minds. Black theology illustrates God as identifying with the oppressed. A lot of times we make the mistake of making God like us because he shares the qualities of love, forgiveness,
naked and drunken state and therefore mocks him. This action of Ham anger God and thus, God
While growing up in the midst of a restrictive world, education becomes the rubicon between a guileless soul and adulthood. In the excerpt from W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois provides a roadmap for African Americans to discover and understand themselves through the pursuit of knowledge, self-awareness, and authenticity. The excerpt is a significant part of the essay because it also speaks for the modern day pursuit of knowledge, self-awareness, and authenticity, an indispensable path into finding one’s self.
I recently read your article titled “Vodou Imagery, African-American Tradition and Cultural Transformation in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Your article mentions how Zora Neal Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God while she was collecting folklore on Vodou in Haiti. You proceed to discuss the Haitian Vodou imagery present in the novel as well as the influence that it had. You claim that Hurston’s use of Haitian Vodou doesn’t signal a rejection of modernity, but rather an acknowledgement of it (158). Although I disagree with your argument that Ezili is the predominant Vodou element in Their Eyes Were Watching God, I agree with your claim that Hurston’s use of Vodou not only empowers Janie to transcend the stereotype that black women had preordained constraints, but also gives the character of Janie a deeper meaning.
It is impossible for anyone to survive a horrible event in their life without a relationship to have to keep them alive. The connection and emotional bond between the person suffering and the other is sometimes all they need to survive. On the other hand, not having anyone to believe in can make death appear easier than life allowing the person to give up instead of fighting for survival. In The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, Aminata Diallo survives her course through slavery by remembering her family and the friends that she makes. Aminata is taught by her mother, Sira to deliver babies in the villages of her homeland. This skill proves to be very valuable to Aminata as it helps her deliver her friends babies and create a source of income. Aminata’s father taught Aminata to write small words in the dirt when she was small. Throughout the rest of the novel, Aminata carries this love for learning new things to the places that she travels and it inspires her to accept the opportunities given to her to learn how to write, read maps, and perform accounting duties. Early in the novel Aminata meets Chekura and they establish a strong relationship. Eventually they get married but they are separated numerous times after. Aminata continuously remembers and holds onto her times with Chekura amidst all of her troubles. CHILDREN. The only reason why Aminata Diallo does not die during her journey into and out of slavery is because she believes strongly in her parents, husband and children; therefore proving that people survive hardships only when they have relationships in which to believe.
When people choose to follow a religion they agree to practice the tenets and standards put forth by that religion. If a person is a practicing Christian they would need to follow the teachings of love and kindness that are given forth by Jesus Christ. Frederick Douglass in his work, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, and William Apess in his work, "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man" both disagree with the form of Christianity practiced and preached by their white oppressors. Although Douglass and Apess are from different cultural backgrounds, both men's works share the theme of the white mans perversion of the Christian religion.
I believe the best place to start this essay would be with an explanation of Black Power. Black Power according to James H. Cone “is an emotionally charged term that can evoke either angry rejection or passionate acceptance.” Critics see it as blacks hating whites, while advocates see Black Power as the only viable option for black people. Advocates see Black Power meaning black people are taking a dominate role in deciding what the black-white relationship should be in American Society. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. is preaching this right now. He sees that blacks need to go back to their blackness and no longer live their lives as the white society wants them to.
The black slaves in general held to a different form Christianity that was unbeknownst to traditional orthodox Christianity. As discussed in lecture on February 4, 2014, black slaves held to an interpretation of Christianity that placed emphasis on the Old Testament, and all of its hero’s and accomplishments. The slaves also reinterpreted Jesus Christ, figuring Him into the Old Testament context of an Old Testament King like King David, who achieved many victories upon this earth (Lecture 2/4/14). Due to the perversion of Christian teachings from slave master and their erroneous catechisms, the slaves reacted strongly against the New Testament and its teachings. In turn, the slaves would cling to the Old Testament, particularly due to the role that the Jews suffered in the midst of their captivity to the Egyptians in ancient times. (Covered in the Bible under the Old Testament books of Genesis and Exodus) The reality of God coming to the aid of His chosen people the Jews was a theme that encouraged and comforted the slaves, and they gladly adopted this similar idea of being God’s “chosen people.” Also, the slaves held to Old ...
Black Liberation Theology can be defined as the relationship that blacks have with God in their struggle to end oppression. It sees God as a god of history and the liberator of the oppressed from bondage. Black Liberation theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggle daily under the oppression of whites. Because of slavery, blacks concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved them. White Christians saw God as more of a spiritual savior, the reflection of God for blacks who came in the struggle for freedom.
The primary function of the Negro spirituals was to serve as communal song in a religious gathering, performed in a call and response pattern reminiscent of West African traditional religious practices. During these ceremonies, one person would begin to create a song by singing about his or her own sorrow or joy. That individual experience was brought to the community and through the call and response structure of the singing, that individual’s sorrow or joy became the sorrow or joy of the community. In this way, the spiritual became truly affirming, for it provided communal support for individual experiences. Slaves used the characters of the bible, particularly the Old Testament,...
The African Methodist Episcopal Church also known as the AME Church, represents a long history of people going from struggles to success, from embarrassment to pride, from slaves to free. It is my intention to prove that the name African Methodist Episcopal represents equality and freedom to worship God, no matter what color skin a person was blessed to be born with. The thesis is this: While both Whites and Africans believed in the worship of God, whites believed in the oppression of the Africans’ freedom to serve God in their own way, blacks defended their own right to worship by the development of their own church. According to Andrew White, a well- known author for the AME denomination, “The word African means that our church was organized by people of African descent Heritage, The word “Methodist” means that our church is a member of the family of Methodist Churches, The word “Episcopal refers to the form of government under which our church operates.”
In his narrative, Frederick Douglass shows how Christianity was used as a major justification for slavery and for the actions of slave masters, but he also shows how the religion provided hope for slaves themselves. In an appendix added at the end of the narrative, he draws a distinction between “the Christianity of this land” and “the Christianity of Christ,” saying that there is the “widest possible difference” between them. As he puts it, “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.” In other words, Douglass thinks that Christianity has been corrupted in America, where people hypocritically use it to justify their injustices.
"God of the Oppressed" is brilliantly organized into ten chapters. These chapters serve as the building blocks to the true understanding of Cone’s Black Theology. This progressive movement begins with an introduction of both him and his viewpoint. He explains that his childhood in Bearden, Arkansas and his membership to Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E) has taught him about the black Church experience and the sociopolitical significance of white people. “My point is that one’s social and historical context decides not only the questions we address to God but also the mode of form of the answers given to the questions.” (14) The idea of “speaking the truth” is added at this point because to go any further the reader must understand the reason and goal for Black Theology. Through the two sources in that shape theology, experience and scripture, white theology concludes that the black situation is not a main point of focus. Cone explains the cause for this ignorance, “Theology is not a universal language; it is interested language and thus is always a reflection of the goals and aspirations of a particular people in a definite social setting.” (36) This implies that one’s social context shapes their theology and white’s do not know the life and history of blacks. As the reader completes the detailed analysis of society’s role in shaping experiences, Cone adds to the second source, scripture.
?The Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, --a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world.? W.E.B. Dubois explains that the Black man is born with the gift of second sight meaning they can see themselves in the manor that White folks do. Dubois also states that Black people have no self identity, which means to me that they didn?t think they had as much power as the White people.
... understand. It has been a weakness of mind because of the way blacks and whites are portrayed on media; however that has turned into a strength by me fighting to see the world despite the truth of white privilege like in Mark 8:35-37. It has made me dig deeper despite racism being a taboo on Biola’s campus and in American culture. “Why don’t you forget the past,” they say or even worst, they claim colorblindness. It feels forgotten that all races are made in the image of God - imago Dei - and we are all his offspring according to Acts 17: 26-28. We all can’t “just get along,” if we don’t accept the differences for what they are and move past senses of entitlement. Biola has taught me many things on top of taking a Social Inequality class and being involved in Multi-Ethnic Programs and Development, but there’s still a long way to go-for myself and the University.
Black Consciousness movement is “revolution in consciousness that encompasses all black institutions, including the Black Church.”(2939) This movement was a much needed awakening in the conscious minds of Black people. For years they were subjected to dehumanization tactics, which resulted in loathing of self. Collectively, Black people are thought to have an immense dislike for everything which resembled that of the African. We were a “people who hated our African characteristics.” (2931) We hated our skin, we hated our hair, we hated our features, we found ourselves feeling imprisoned in our skin. Prisoners to an unjust society merely because of the hue of their skin. They were forever in bondage; no longer were they in physical chains, but now they were in mental chains. A shift in perspective in the 1960’s and 1970’s invoked a change in the mentality of the Black community. Their consciousness was roused with a “revolution” undertone. The people wanted change. They wanted an identity that no longer made them feel hostages in a foreign land, but one which embraced their h...