There are a few topics that are dear to my heart, that I feel a need to speak on. Front and center to the presidential election of 2007-2008, which we got our first African American president, was a underlying point that wasn’t discussed. Obama’s home church became a hot bed of controversy when the Republicans wanted to use some of the supposed inflammatory statement Pastor Jeremiah Wright used to discredit Obama. This backfired it didn’t work on the electorate. The news got a lot of rotation and traction with it however this didn’t derail the election. It did help win the election for Obama in my opinion. How many people in America actually feel the way Pastor Wright did? How many have anger due to racial profiling for being Black or Brown? White America may have been afraid of the message but others felt sympathy. In a vain attempt to derail the election the focused on message that scared white America it didn’t work.
Why talk about it now you may ask? Its Black History month and I had this in my queue to work on and feel it’s a good time to talk about it without the election hostilities. I proudly voted for Barak Obama as the first African American non-white president. Is the work of racial equality over. Far from it there is so much more to go. For those of you who may wonder about the relevance of this. In 2010 CNN did a project called “Black In America Part 2” in which they showed children’s racial bias or preference and the stereotyping and preference of white over darker skin was about the same as it was in the 1950’s. As we’ve become more civilized in public, the stereotypes have been carried on and de-facto segregation or separation still happen everyday. There was another report recently that showed that African American’s are not represented equally in our census districts. That some 80 percent of Africa Americans live in 17 percent of the census reporting districts. The economic gap between white males and black males is still large. Some say dwindling but with the economic hard times and the gap widening between rich and poor this is in question.
Barak Obama credits the teachings of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights movement as bringing him to salvation in Yeshua. Now some question Barak Obama’s faith and even citizenship which is pure ignorance perpetuated by fear mongers who seek to control through fear and manipulation. I do believe in Barak Obama’s testimony, it rings true. I had been listening to a lot of Dr MLK Jr’s sermons at the time and found some interesting things in MLK’s speeches. MLK was for the redistribution of wealth, he believed that for the African American’s to have equality you had to have a redistribution of wealth. Affirmative Action sought to force white people to allow African American’s get more jobs they were shut out from. In the 80’s and 90’s people tried to loosen up the Affirmative Action laws and make it more about good workers. To me this was a step back to de-facto segregation. You may not believe in Affirmative Action or Redistribution of wealth, or reparations for that fact.
Reparations where promised to restore a community that had been taken from their homeland, stripped of rights and humanity. The point was to restore them to a state of equality. Making them work hard to get what was taken is selfish and yes people have to some degree overcome economic boundaries but not to the point of equality. I don’t per se believe that “Reparations” will ever happen I’m not advocating that. Just making the point that when you take from a people you need to restore them. The laws that Jim Crow in acted through slavery as stated by Jim Crow where to keep the African Americans oppressed for some 400 years, at least 200 after segregation ended. If you look at the rules of slavery as put out by Jim Crow you can see in media and entertainment a lot of the principles of segregation are still being perpetuated through pop culture. The entertainment industry still appears to be segregated and perpetuating old racial stereotypes. My question is how much has really changed over the last 80 years?
There has been progress and I’m not questioning that. My point is this. Why are many TV’s shows targeting towards mostly white audiences? Why is African American’s in TV relegated to BET? With a few exceptions. Why do we have to have a BET instead of culturally integrated shows? Outright hate and racism may have been abolished. Segregation at drinking and eating place may have been abolished. The economic, social and entertainment sectors of society are still showing sign’s of de-facto segregation. This is why we need to speak on out topics that relate. The government has a ways to go before it’s a truly representative government. When socially, economically and racially the government is run by white men who are ivy league educated, then their opinions will sway more towards that group. When more people of color are part of our government then we will see more diverse legislation.
As good intentioned as some politicians may be what they care about the most is what they will see to serve the best. If you are not from a low income inner city family and you we’re raised with money and training in a ivy league school then you don’t represent those who are not from there. Obama is our first non-white president. This is good but far from and end. The gap of economic and social disparity needs to be closer and we need a more representative government. Regardless of the empathy or compassion of a Caucasian aristocrat the struggle of Black and Brown black people who are profiled and have less income is not going to be a priority. The history of slavery and the slaughter native Americans is a stain on America.
“Black liberation theology maintains that African Americans must be liberated from multiple forms of bondage — social, political, economic and religious.” – Wikipedia
Black Liberation Theology is focused on freeing men from the “white man’s religion” while maintaining their “Christianity.” The Nation of Islam was a response to Muslim African American’s who have a problem with the white man’s “Christianity.” White southern “Christians” felt you could hold slaves and be a “Christian.” When proponents of a religion in the past would try to justify their policies those who suffered had issues with that religion. Even “abolitionist” had issues between the faith community. One such group was the Methodist who had churches in which both white and black people would worship. There was segregation, the women sat on one side and men on the other, and African American’s sat in the balcony. There was one such congregation that was having a revival and an African American congregant was worshipping after the music stopped. One of the Caucasian congregants asked this person to stop. Upon continuing to worship there was a division between African American Methodist and Caucasian Methodist. That is how we have the African American Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church of the United States of America.
“Sunday is the most segregated day of the week,” – Dr martin Luther King Jr.
These words still ring true today. America hasn’t fully recovered itself. America is still segregated, yes the hostility has been removed and progress has been made. However that progress seems marginal. With the affects of Jim Crow’s plan to enact principles of slavery for 400 years up to 200 years after slavery is ended are seen. As we see the affects of de-facto segregation. Some say economic segregation is the new segregation however that still includes a racial component. Yes Caucasians to some degree may have gotten caught in this new segregation and it may seem civil but it is affecting all facets of society. Discrimination is still here. The church should be a leader in desegregating society. However when you don’t have many friends of color or white people then you teach your children segregation by default. That is the shocking part that the CNN “Black In America” program showed. Those who believed they we’re racially integrated their children showed white bias even though it wasn’t verbally taught. Action’s do speak louder than words. You must lead by doing.
If you research the stories and deaths of Dr MLK JR, JFK, Bobby Kennedy and Malcolm X, you will find a common theme to their lives and deaths. They all were fighting for social changes, equality, affirmative action, redistribution of wealth and breaking the shackles that bind. The story of JKD is interesting, while in office his brother who a part of his administration was working closely with Dr MLK Jr for desegregation. Bobby Kennedy spoke with Dr MLK and was working on helping the cause. JFK spoke out against secret societies one year before his death and was seeking to abolish the private “Federal Reserve Bank” at the time of his death. It was this cause fighting to break the power of the rich white elite, seeking equality, social justice, affirmative action and redistributing wealth that caused his demise. Bobby Kennedy was more involved in the civil rights cause. This fight to break the power of the private bankers and financiers was what got them assassinated. Even Malcolm X quite hating “whitey” after going to mecca and finding a lot of white men who worshipped Allah. These four were fighting for equality, freedom from economic oppression and peacefully resolving the issues of the day. It is this mandate that got them martyred. The CIA director at the time seemed to be conspiring to keep the power elite, the financiers and establishment in power.
What does this have to do with Black Liberation theology? Everything. It’s the climate of the time that we must understand to see what created it. I was listening to Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s sermons recently and I found that he talked about the need of Redistribution of Wealth, Affirmative Action, Socialism and other ideals that seem to have been lost. MLK believed that for African American men to have equality it would require a redistribution of wealth and affirmative action to level the playing field. That white men would have to sacrifice getting good jobs so African Americans could have equality. This seems unfair to the white males would would lose prestige and income. That’s why by the 80’s and 90’s many were seeking to end Affirmative Action by focusing on getting people would where qualified so that they could get jobs that Affirmative Action may have hindered. They effectively removed a lot of the balance that Affirmative Action was creating.
The housing crisis we have now is a result of the economic plans of the 70’s to offer money to people who couldn’t afford homes or mortgages the ability to but a home. Yet, in the end they do not have the ability to keep them because the market went bust. The built in flaws would make one work to have something that in the end they would not be able to keep thus providing false promises. This tool of economic disparity has widened the gap between the haves and have not’s. In the end the rich white elite has kept power and taken wealth from the lower classes. This is an issue of contention. If those oppressed see you beholding to values that keep them oppressed then they will seek to differentiate themselves.
Black Liberation Theology in an sense was a reaction to the Nation Of Islam’s rejection of the “white devils” religion that condoned slavery, human rights abuses and segregation. African Muslim brought to American by white “Christian” slave owners hated the “white mans religions” and their European-Scandinavian looking Jesus. So they reacted by created a very hateful anti-white branch of Islamic faith. Black Liberation Theology is an attempted in the African American community to keep “Christian” faith and not be influenced by Euro-American thought. Black Liberation Theology focuses on the History of the African people and their connection to Christian faith. There is a focus on ancient Ethiopia and Kush, at the time when all of Africa was called Ethiopia. A reflection upon a time when Africa, Nubian and Ethiopia where centers of learning and knowledge. Way before European’s found the world was round. The ancient Nubian’s studied Astrology, the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, the rotation of the Moon around Earth, the three nearest planets (Mars, Venus and Jupiter), they knew the earth was round, built monolithic structures and had complex math. Europeans where more barbaric the Norse, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon’s where killing and conquering while the African’s were more peaceful and wise. Its this history that the Nation of Islam and Black Liberation Theology seeks to reestablish the dignity to descendants of the Africa while Caucasian American’s were devaluing them and teaching a Euro-centric view of world history. This is what later gave a rise to Rastafarianism and Black Israelites. The Nation of Islam were Muslim Separatist who wanted sent home or to be given their own state. The hate a hate for the “blue eyed devil’s” as they called them. The Black Liberation Theology sought to create a new Jesus who was not the white European Scandinavian one in pictures at the time. This is of course and over simplification. There is a lot more to it than that these points are the factors I want to explore.
Ancient Ethiopia was once all of Africa, the land of Kush and the Nubian people play keys rolls in this story. Part of the tale of Ethiopia is the story of Bathsheba and Solomon, and their son. Who was partially Jewish being the son of Solomon and Bathsheba as the story goes. The line of Ethiopian kings including Selassie (the prophet of Rastafarianism) are said to come from the lineage of Solomon. The Copt’s are a “Christian” movement said to come from the Ethiopian eunuch that Paul ministered to. The Copt’s are a blend of ancient Egyptian Religion and Orthodox Christianity. Much like Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox are a Greco-Romantic blend of Orthodoxy, Universalism, Mithraism and Platonism. The Copts are said to keep the Ark Of The Covenant, that Solomon’s son kept after his father gave it to him to hide it from those who would seek to take it. Whether this story is true or not, it is interesting to study. The Copt’s had an affinity for Mohamed and Islam. Mohamed was considered to be a prophet in the Coptic Church while the Roman Catholic Church sought to kill him as a heretic. Near the end of his life he was on the run from the Coptic Church as a heretic and false prophet. Its an interesting tale. The Moor’s were black Muslim’s who fought against the Catholic Church in Spain during the crusades.
You will find that many Black Liberation Churches work along side Muslims, like Jeremiah Wright who worked with Elijah Mohamed. This was one of the things that FOX news among others tried to use to discredit Obama. The solidarity between the two movements of Black Liberation Theology and the Nation of Islam are interesting. In no way do I endorse the Islamic religion but the principles of freeing men from a Euro-centric religion I can agree with. I do agree with Black Liberation Theology. Martin Luther taught on the two kingdoms, one spiritual and one civil. In this understanding we can work with Muslims, Secularist and others for the good of the community. While not compromising our faith and building strong faith communities. These idea;s are powerful once you understand them and their context and can be used for good. Separation of church and state IS safety. The Quakers, Puritans and Freemasons who founded America wanted the freedom to practice religion with out state influence or compulsion. The abuses of the Roman Catholic Church and other religions had lead to many abuses. The idea of Fornication Under Consent of the King to acquire tithes and taxes by Europeans was a problem to the Catholic Reformers and Protestants. There were a lot of abuses in Europe that early American’s didn’t want to see here. Many followed the Reformer Martin Luther’s principles very closely especially on the separation of Church and state. This idea wasn’t started with John Adam’s it started with Martin Luther’s teaching on the two kingdoms and the need from religious control or influence, upon the state or from the state.
Rastafarians believe Selassie who was the king of Ethiopia to be the 2nd advent of Messiah. This is another movement that focuses upon the centrality of Ethiopia to African’s. To them Ethiopia is the true Zion, Babylon is the world in which the European “white devils” rule. They may have been smoking to much refer when they declared Selassie to be the Messiah reincarnated. They share the common theme of the centrality of Ethiopia. The use Coptic claims of legitimacy to call themselves true Israelites is interesting. They claim to be more Jewish than European Ashkenazi Jews or Middle Eastern / Spanish Sephardic Jews. Yes the jewish people have lived in Diaspora for thousands of years, that doesn’t diminish there ancestry or connection to the biblical land of Israel or the lineage of descendants of Abraham. The Black Israelites are basically Messianic Jews who claim all Africans are Ethiopians and true Israel which is another for of replacement theology. We who accept Yeshua as messiah are all grated into the Household of Abraham and thus Israelites in that since but not to the exclusion of other groups we are one in Messiah. I do understand Black Liberation Theologies need to rid African men of European false worship of white men. I must point out though Yeshua was of the sons of Shem, Africans descended from Japheth and Europeans descend from Ham. So Jesus was neither white or black he was Semitic who look like anyone in the 10/40 window would look as they are all descendants of Shem from Israel to Manchuria.
This is part one of the Black Liberation Theology series. Keep it locked here to learn more about Black Liberation Theology, Rastafarianism and Black Hebrews.
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