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Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice Series Editors Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice Series Editors Dwight N. Hopkins University of Chicago Divinity School Chicago , Illinois, USA Linda E. Thomas Lutheran School of Theology Chicago Chicago , Illinois, USA Aim of the Series The Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice Series produces works engaging any dimension of black religion or womanist thought as they pertain to social justice. Womanist thought is a new approach in the study of African American women’s perspectives. The series includes a variety of African American religious expressions; traditions such as Protestant and Catholic Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Humanism, African diasporic practices, religion and gender, religion and black gays/lesbians, ecological justice issues, African American religiosity and its relation to African religions, new black religious movements or religious dimensions in African American “secular” experiences. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/ series/14792 Jawanza Eric Clark Editor Albert Cleage Jr. and the Black Madonna and Child Editor Jawanza Eric Clark Manhattan College Riverdale , New York , USA Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice ISBN 978-1-137-54688-3 ISBN 978-1-137-54689-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-54689-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016946227 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration © The Shrines of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am truly indebted to the many people who have provided inspiration and encouragement toward the completion of this book. They are too many to name. I am thankful to all the contributors who took great time, effort, and care to complete their excellent book chapters. In your own way, each one of you is living out the great inheritance left by the Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr. Each contributor offered a unique perspective and evaluation of this complex legacy. I am also indebted to the members of the Shrines of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church, the living testimony to the work of Rev. Cleage. So many of you, in every region (Detroit, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Houston, Texas; and Calhoun Falls, SC) have encouraged me to continue to develop my scholarship and pay homage to our founder. You are greatly appreciated for your work in helping this project come into fruition: Rev. D. Kimathi Nelson, Rev. Aswad Walker, Rev. Velma Maia Thomas, Rev. Olubayo A. Mandela, Rev. Kehinde Biggs, Rev. Mwenda Brown, Rev. Mbiyu Moore, Jilo Williams, Ayanna Abi-Kyles, Michael Amir Bannerman, Sondai Lester, James Tacuma Ribbron, Bakeeba Hampton, Ewa Ife Oma Oba, all the black women interviewed for the chapter on the black Madonna and woman- hood, and many, many others. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Jennifer “Miniya” Clark, who has provided unwavering support to me throughout this process and even assisted in the coordination of the contributors to ensure timely submissions. Thank you! This book is my honest effort to assess the legacy of Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr. and the enduring value of the black Madonna and child as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of that great unveiling. To God Be the Glory! v CONTENTS 1 Introduction: Why a White Christ Continues to Be Racist: The Legacy of Albert B. Cleage Jr. 1 Jawanza Eric Clark Part I Albert B. Cleage Jr.’s Theology and Politics 19 2 The Theological Journey of Albert B. Cleage Jr.: Refl ections from Jaramogi’s Protégé and Successor 21 D. Kimathi Nelson 3 Nothing Is More Sacred Than the Liberation of Black People: Albert Cleage’s Method as Unfulfi lled Theological Paradigm Shift 39 Jawanza Eric Clark 4 “We Needed Both of Them”: The Continuing Relevance of Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr.’s (Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman’s) Radical Interpretations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in Scholarship and Black Protest Thought 59 Stephen C. Finley vii viii CONTENTS 5 The Black Messiah and Black Suffering 77 Torin Dru Alexander 6 Politics Is Sacred: The Activism of Albert B. Cleage Jr. 97 Aswad Walker Part II Representations of the Black Madonna and Child, Christian Education, and Pastoral Care 115 7 The Black Madonna and the Role of Women 117 Velma Maia Thomas 8 Black Power and Black Madonna: Charting the Aesthetic Infl uence of Rev. Albert Cleage, Glanton Dowdell & the Shrine of the Black Madonna, #1 135 Melanee Harvey 9 The Power of a Black Christology: Africana Pastoral Theology Refl ects on Black Divinity 157 Lee H. Butler 10 Image is Everything? The Signifi cance of the Imago Dei in the Development of African American Youth 171 Almeda M. Wright 11 A Crucifi ed Black Messiah, a Dead Black Love 189 BaSean A. Jackson CONTENTS ix Part III The Legacy of the Black Messiah in the African Diaspora 207 12 The Crucifi ed City: Detroit as a Black Christ Figure 209 Kamasi C. Hill 13 Savior King: Re-reading the Gospels as Greco-Africana Literature & Re-imaging Christ as Messianic Pharaoh 227 Salim Faraji 14 He Is Black and We Are Queer: The Legacy of the Black Messiah for Black LGBTQ Christians 251 Pamela Lightsey 15 The “Black Messiah” and African Christologies: Pan-African Symbols of Liberation 269 Josiah Ulysses Young 16 The Quest for a Radical Black Jesus: An Antidote to Imperial Mission Christianity 285 Anthony G. Reddie Index 301 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Torin Dru Alexander is a scholar in the area of African American religion and religious experience. The interdisciplinary perspective expressed in his work is influenced by phenomenology, critical theories on race and gender, and post-colonial/post-structuralist studies. He is a former editorial assistant for Religious Studies Review and an assistant editor for The Encyclopedia of African American Religious Culture ( ABC-CLIO). He is working on a manu- script entitled Of Our Spiritual Strivings: Africana Subjectivity and its Relationship to African American and African Diasporic Religious Experience . The Rev. Lee H. Butler Jr. is Professor of Theology and Psychology at the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS). He joined the CTS faculty as Assistant Professor of Theology and Psychology in 1996. In 2006, he was promoted to the rank of full professor and became the fi rst African American to achieve this rank at CTS. A former interim vice-president for academic affairs and academic dean, former director of the CTS Master of Divinity program, and the founder of the Center for the Study of Black Faith and Life at CTS, he is an Africana pastoral theologian whose work focuses on honoring the cultural distinctiveness and the indigenous traditions of African-descended peoples throughout the Americas. He explores identity formation, African indigenous religions, American slavocracy, religiosity and spirituality, black and womanist theologies, psychological historiography, and health and healing. His current research projects focus on terror and trauma in America to develop healing rituals that will restore communities to a celebration of life. He is the author of Listen, My Son: Wisdom to Help African American Fathers (2010), Liberating Our Dignity, Saving Our Souls (2006), A Loving Home: Caring for African American Marriage and Families (2000), and numerous articles pub- lished in many books and professional journals on the subject of pastoral care and pastoral psychology. He is a past president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society for Pastoral xi xii LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Theology, and the Association of Black Psychologists. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University, Master of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, and Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy from Drew University. Jawanza Eric Clark is Assistant (Associate) Professor of Global Christianity at Manhattan College, Bronx, NY. He is the author of Indigenous Black Theology, a work of constructive theology that incorporates the traditional African notion of ancestor in the development of black theology, as well as other articles and book chapters on black theology and African religions. Clark teaches courses in the Philosophy of Religion, Comparative Theologies, and Theologies of Liberation. He received his BA from Morehouse College, Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, and PhD in Religion from Emory University. Salim Faraji is Associate Professor and former Chair of Africana Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is also the Founding Executive Director of the Master of Arts in International Studies Africa Program at Concordia University Irvine. He completed his Master of Divinity at the Claremont School of Theology and MA and PhD at Claremont Graduate University.
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