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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zoob flood Ann Aibor, MJchtyan 43100 74-24,360 i LEWIS, Myran Elizabeth, 1947- CLEAGE: A.RHETORICAL STUDY OF BLACK RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1974 Speech University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan S © 1974 MYRAN ELIZABETH LEWIS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. CLEAGE A RHETORICAL STUDV OF BLACK RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM DISSERTATION Presented in Partial F ulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School o£ T!he Ohio State University By Myran Eliz abeth Lewis, B.A., M.A. The Oqio State University 1974 Reading Committee: Approved By Dr. John J. Makay Dr. James L. Golden Professor Robert J. Stuljl ivisjir DenArtment* of Communicjftions ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My thanks to Dr. John J. Makay for his encouragement and unrelenting insis tence for hard work and scholarship. Also, ray gratitude is due Dr. James Golden and Professor Robert Stull who have supported and stimulated ray work and my skill. Their role as adv isors has been a statement of dedication and industry. Un dying gratitude to my mother, Lillian Lewis, for her patience, encouragement and tenacity all of which com­ bined into what h as indeed been an act of faith. Love to my grandmother, Juli a Dickerson, who gave me my watchwords. And, finally, my thank s to "the consecrated phone in the unused room" through which God and I established strong connections. ii VITA Name: Myxan E. Lewis Address: 125 West Dodridge Street, Columbus, Ohio 43202 Date of Birth: December 19, 1947 Place of Birth: South Charleston, West Virginia Marital Status: Single Secondary Education: East High School, Columbus, Ohio University Education: The Ohio Sbate University, 1965-1972 Bachelor of Arts Major in Classics and Sociology; minor in Philosophy The Ohio S:ate University, 1972-1973 Master of Arts Department of Communications Major :Ln public address and rhetoric with cognate study in Black history. Specialty area: Rhetoric of Black Americans. The Ohio Sl:ate University, 1973-1974 Doctor of Philosophy Department of Communications Major in rhetoric and public address; cognates: Black political science, Black history, and the rhetoric of[Black Americans. Specialty areas: Black religion ancl the Rhetoric of Black Americans. Thesis: (M.A.) The Rhetoric of Malcolm X Dissertation: (Ph.d.) Cleage: A Rhetorical Study in Black Religious Nationalism iii Work Experience: Teaching Associate, Department of Classics, The Ohio State University, September-March, 1972-1973, Teaching Associate, Department of Communications, The Ohio State University, March-June, 1973-1974. Secretary, Board of Trustees Office, The Ohio State University, 1973-1974. Academic Advisor, Office of Undergraduate Students, Department of Communications, The Ohio State University, 1972-1974. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................ ii VITA ................................................. ill Chapter I. CLEAGE A RHETORICAL STUDY OF BLACK RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM................................ 1 Introduction Statement of the Problem Need for the Study Purpose of the Study Specific Research Questions Background Literature Procedures II. BLACK RELIGION: A PERSPECTIVE ........... 20 In the New World From Hope to Despair The Way Made Ready Exordium The Making of A Slave Blacks-and-Body and Blood of Christ From Slavery's Pulpit Pre-Civil War Era Revolutionary Sway Rise of New Oniwasun Atata Black Sounds in Abolition Post-Civil War Era The Gilded Age No Law But Strength; No Justice But Power The Modern Era Black Christian Preacher With A Dream A Black Religious Angry Man In The Name of The Black Messiah Summary v Page Ill CLEAGE: PROPHET IN A VALLEY OF DRY BONES ............. 62 The Rhetorical Situation: The Context of Black Power Exigence: The Need for a Rallying Call Audience: The Nature of Cleage's Congregation Cleage: Rhetor in Rebellion Cleage's Rhetorical Strategies: The Attack on White Culture Cleage's Rhetorical Strategies: The Legitimation of Black Hope Cleage's Symbology: New Lives for A New Nation Constraints: The Boundaries of Black Prophecy Summary IV. TOWARD A TOTAL M I N I S T R Y .................. 106 Objectives in Service Mission of a Man and a Ministry Afro-Saxon Mind Syndrome of the Colonized Slave Mentality The Right-On Brother Summary V. IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS FROM RHETORIC TO RESOLUTION.............. 131 Summary: Together Under the Veil Conclusions and Implications: Some Harsh Challenges to the Black Nation A Coda on Future Research APPENDIX A ................................. 154 B ....................... 156 BIBLIOGRAPHY - .................................... 219 Vi \ In my estimation/ Cleage is a prophet. If you read the Old Testament, you will see good parallels. No, I find no prob lem with that notion at all. He is a prophet. Reverend James H. Cone Professor/ Onion Theological Seminary New York. February 24, 1974 vii CHAPTER I CLEAGE A RHETORICAL STUDY OP BLACK RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM Introduction There is strong opposition in some groups to the fuss being made about Black Nationalist, Reverend Albert B. Cleage, and his brand of Christianity. The Reverend Wyatt T. Walker expressed this irritation in Christian Century mag­ azine when he scoffed that Cleage is "almost over the edge," trumpeting his "ersatz Christianity."^ Of course, Walker is perfectly within his rights to chide Cleage if he honestly regards him as a misled prophet who is, in his turn, mis­ leading his people into a wilderness rather than out of one. But if Walker is only expressing self-righteous indignation at a radical whose greatest crime, he judges, is ecclesias­ tical bad manners, then Walker's over-statementB make him a kind of agent provocateur himself. While it is difficult, at this point, to reach a final judgment about Reverend Cleage, we are nevertheless challenged by Walker's judgment to fix our eyes on this "contemporary holy man" and to examine him find his work seriously. 2 Cleage rose to national prominence during the 1967 De­ troit rebellion when he held great sway over a people in the midst o£ social upheaval. Feeling duped, confused and angry, black people swelled his church, drawn by the magnetism of his message and the power of his presence. In the aftermath of the Detroit rebellion, Cleage's book The Black Messiah be­ came the published testament, incorporating some of the words spoken by the prophet during that civil strife. A short time later, under the scrutiny of a few reporters from national magazines, a wide audience came to think of Cleage as a prophet whose voice was raised to restore Christianity to its original identity, which he took to be a black identity. And recently, Cleage has begun to have a widespread influence as he continues to develop a Black Christian Nationalist Move­ ment that is actively working to bind black churches and black people together under black theology and black power. To appreciate what Cleage's gospel may mean to oppressed black people in their relationship to the larger society, we must confront Cleage eye-to-eye, pressing hard scrutiny upon him to understand his rhetorical force,-both in the religious activism of the 1970's and in the long-range movement for total liberation of black people. 3 Statement of the Problem Currently, Reverend Albert B. Cleage is responding to the need of that black movement by the formation of a revo­ lutionary religious expression called Black Christian Nation­ alism. The ultimate aim of this ministry is the total lib­ eration-physical, mental, and spiritual, of black people. Now teiking on major proportions in the religious arena, Black Christian Nationalism is propelled by its chief pro­ ponent, Cleage, and by a black nationalist theology that re­ interpret Christianity in light of white racism and black op­ pression. The omnipresence and omnipotence of God are not questioned. But Jesus Christ is seen again— as Cleage be­ lieves He was originally seen— to be the revolutionary lib­ erator of the poor and oppressed. Jesus, the Black Messiah, constitutes the basis of Cleage's ministry.