Black And Womanist Theology Analysis

Kelly Brown Douglas begins by posing a series of questions, including, “Who is the Black Christ?” and “Is the Black Christ Enough?” (6-7) For Douglas, the Black Christ, “…represents God’s urgent movement in human history to set Black captives free from the demons of White racism” (3). The question of “Who is the Black Christ?” is addressed in Chapter 3. The question of “Is the Black Christ enough?” is addressed in Chapters 4 and 5, as Douglas critically examines the relationship of the Black Christ to the Black community and ends with addressing what womanist theology is and why there is a need for it in understanding the Black Christ.

Since the arrival of African Americans in this country blacks have always had differing experiences. Consequently, African-Americans have had to forge a self-identity out of what has been passed on to them as fact about their true selves. History has wrought oppression and subjugation to this particular race of people and as a result, certain institutions were formed in order aid African-Americans, culturally, spiritually and economically. The African-American Church has served of one such institution. From the time of slavery, though outlawed, many slaves found ways to congregate and form their own "churches", away from the one-sided and bias lessons about the bible that they were being taught in the white church. The white ministers and

Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Ed. By Patricia Hill Collins. (New York: Routledge, 2000. ii, 336 pp. Cloth, $128.28, ISBN 0-415-92483-9. Paper, $26.21, 0-415-92484-7.)

wrongs of this theology must be shown and realized so that the true Black theology can be

Patriarchy’s Scapegoat: Black womanhood and femininity – A critique of racism, gender inequality, anti-blackness, and historical exploitation of black women.

Despite the women in this group that struggle and overcome adversity in a word that’s meant to suffocate them, there are a few black women who fail to realize there magic. Some of my sisters fall short due to negative public perceptions with professionalism which causes them to shy away from investing in their future. These few outsiders who didn’t get the unwritten code/norm of what a black woman must represent allows the degradation of our group to continue.

It is a wonderful read and very informative and enlightening. James H. Cone a mentor and advisor of Dr. Terrell's is also mentioned quite often in this textbook because of his vital role in her life. Cone offers a list of books in reference to his scholarly work. Just to name a few; For my People: Black Theology and the Black Church (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1984). “The Gospel of Jesus, Black People and Black Power,” Black Theology and Black Power (Minneapolis: Seabury Press, 1969; rev.ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1997), pp. 31-61

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

While black power focuses on the political, social, and economic condition of black people, Black Theology sees black identity from a theological context. Much of black liberation theology’s foundation comes from God's deliverance of Israel from oppression under the Egyptians. According to James Cone, “the consistent theme in Israelite prophecy is Yahweh's concern for "the lack of social, economic, and political justice for those who are poor and unwanted in the society."# The dominate view of Black Liberation theologists is “God in action, delivering the oppressed because of His righteousness. He is to be seen, not in the transcendent way of Greek philosophy, but immanent, among His people." God is "immanent”” because he is present in many historical moments that focus on liberation of the poor. Its derives it beliefs from the fact that in the bible, God often enters human affairs and takes the side of the oppressed, that god is heavily worshipped where human beings experience humiliation and suffering. Because of these beliefs, blacks adopted a gospel relevant to the uplifting of blacks and ending black struggle under white oppression.# Black theology places both our past and present actions toward black liberation in a theological context, eliminating all false Gods and creating value structures according to the God of black freedom.

James H. Cone’s God of the Oppressed is his examination of the origin, development, and significance of black theology as it relates to how he and the black Christian community view God. For Cone, in an America seemingly dominated by white theology and the white Christian community’s views of God, it is imperative to acknowledge and attentively listen to the voices of the theologies of other races and what God means to them, especially that of the black community. Cone asserts without hesitation that the God that is referred to in the Bible and black religion is a Deliver of those held captive by the bondage of oppression. Cone not only asserts this viewpoint of God as the Freer of oppressed people, but he validates this assertion through the use of Scripture, the black experience, history, and tradition. Overall, the central theme of this book is that a plethora of factors continually shape and construct a people’s theology and how that theology is significant in regards to how they see God, the world, and themselves.

These three perceptions are distinctly different, but ultimately speak to the contextual nature of Black theology—rooting worship, adoration, and discipleship within the notion a (conscious) living G-d. The first perception explored is the image G-d adored through the lens of Sister Sweet and Mother Darling. At first glance, these women appear different in life style and theology—different churches, different abilities, and different approaches to discipleship. But upon further examination, one discovers the same paradigm at work. Both have lost children to AIDS. Both have committed themselves to a praxis centered theology to process their loss. Mother Darling is street missionary and Sister Sweet is a disabled woman confined to a wheel that feeds the birds and attends to the needs of the Little piece of Heaven Church. Both have found peace in their personalized work for the Lord. Their G-d is a “shelter in a time of storm.” The second perception is the image of G-d as seen through Deacon Zee. This G-d is one of salvation and complacence for Deacon Zee. The “White Jesus” he prayed to for his assistance in finding his copy of the Wall Street Journal—a nuanced symbol for prosperity. This G-d speaks to the corporate nature and element of

“God of the Oppressed” is a history of the African American Struggle through the complex account of its author, James H. Cone. Written in 1975, “God of the Oppressed” is the continuation of Cone’s theological position, which was introduced in his earlier writings of, “Black Theology and Black Power,” (1969) and “A Black Theology of Liberation” (1975). This final account was put together and published as a response to the continuous dismissal of Black Theology. This response shows Cone’s use of personal experiences, knowledge, and faith to explain the actual God of the oppressed found in Black Theology. The importance of the chosen title is maintained through all ten of Cone’s chapters

Black women faced constant and consistent misogyny within the black liberation movement. The black liberation movement equated with manhood and the freedom of black people with the redemption of hyper black masculinity. The movement tackled one type of oppression which was racial segregation whilst simultaneously perpetrating violent misogyny. Both of the movements failed to see the different intersections of the black woman’s life.

With its extensive multidisciplinary coverage, The Womanist Reader was an excellent sort of one-stop resource for the information I needed to complete the midterm project for this class. In looking at race, sex, and gender, for my project, I noticed that works from major contributors to black feminist scholarship were associated with the womanist scholarship found in this volume. As a means of situating the course of Black studies, and why there is a need to understand the quotidian lives of women as a way of translating the humanity of people of African descent, this text offered connections that I had not fully considered.

Like many black womanist scholars, my life’s story is arbitrarily filled with the same idea of a girl meeting the world for the first time. My mother would often bore me with stories of my birth by explicitly describing how I emerged from her hollow womb that held my black skin captive for nine months. She would then expound me with tales of how she met my father in hopes of me seeking out the same life of domesticity that had been upheld in her family. As a nine year old, I knew better than to oppose my mother’s appreciation of the politics of respectability and the life of domesticity. I learned this after my mother punished my gender nonconformity with a Barbie guitar and baby dolls that I often used as boomerangs when arguing with my sisters. As I navigated through adolescence, my mother found it useful to give me the girl’s talk and to instruct me on a woman’s religious obligation to bear fruit. As she continued to rant, I could feel my lips spell out a phrase that helped me to learn that I was a feminist: I don’t want to have children. After receiving harsh criticism from my mother, I concealed my inner thoughts. It was not until college that I began to write in additional choices for my life. By being a member of university that celebrates an array of ideas in spite of society’s conviction of tradition, I decided to pursue a degree that has always been my passion: Gender and Race Studies. In turn, this fueled my desire to enter in the Women’s Studies program here at