http://hellonegro.wordpress.com/2007/08/18/black-folks-fighting-outside-the-church/

That disturbs me deeply. My father charged me to work in the church because of my gifts. Daddy believes Black folks should have returned to the church to unveil what is wrong with our souls after the Civil Rights Movement. Because Black People “own” their tragedy this has never happened. Christians have been accurately portrayed as lazy in study, profoundly disconnected from Earth consciousness, and far removed from introspective development of the spirit, and the consequences of their belief-systems in relationship to politics, war, serial killers, predators, etc. Even Black Magic workers talk of these things explaining, to me over the years, how easy it is to infiltrate churches to undermine.

I see the contradictions of belief in the scriptures about women and their roles. A lot of things are transparent here. Worse things have happened off camera between pastors and women. In Fort Washington Maryland a minister beat up his mistress and raped her last year in a parking lot. There is a list just in the Washington DC area. Some I cannot speak of because the ministers have taken counsel with me. This problem is our problem. There is a lot to address. There is a lot to unlearn from every angle. Being an African here or anywhere in the Diaspora Christianity, misogyny and white supremacy affects us all. Those of us who have left the Church are still affected. Non membership does not exclude any of us from the dialog or this work and the work is hard.

Gregory E. Woods
Dawn Wolf – Keeper of Stories

Jesus was not from Europe. Am I correct? He was a man of color (some say African/Asian), but not a white man. If we believe in the truth of God, then we need to start with our images of Jesus. Our children need the truth from and in us. The very face of this picture is a lie. It has been only in the last four hundred years that the pictures of a white Jesus have replaced pictures of Jesus, a man of color. There is a reason why the picture of the Black Madonna and Child (Mother and the Baby Jesus) are the oldest pictures on record. The first Christian Church was in Ethiopia, and not in
Italy or France. Your Bible states that Jesus’ hair and skin were not the image of below. So help me out. Why use this white image? I am aware that you will say; “Well, it really does not matter.” I really think it does. Since White racists have had a hand in the development and promulgation of this image of today. Why have Black images when whites can see themselves and black folk seem not to care? So I believe black folks have a final emancipation before them. It is the emancipation of their minds, especially when it comes to issues of what they call the sacred and what they place in their mouths. If it is religion (and food, too), we tend not question for fear of being disrespectful to their faith tradition/culture. Even I tend to not want waste my time arguing about religion, until my back is against the wall (like this one). My belief that religion is the form (it is nothing but mythology/ritual), but your behavior around others is your context and measure of your spiritual depth. But the image of this white Jesus is nothing but psychological slavery. Black folks got to let go of this slavery. Similarly, it goes without saying that the absence of the female voice in Western Religions. Why would half of the human race have little or nothing to say about God, when the major influences of religion the homes are mostly women? Who taught you to pray? For me, it was my mother. It seems like something is wrong here when white men solely have a hand at things like, the Bible or religious symbols and images.
If your message is of truth and light, your image needs to be in line with the historical reality that the Christ stood for. Also, I really do not think that the truth is for some people and not everyone. Jesus’ message was global and not for a segregated few. So I guess I am not among the 7%. Let me hang with the 93% of the masses, and behave like I know Jesus would do in setting people free.

For your reading pleasure, check out books by:
Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan
African Origins of Major “Western Religions”
Black Seminarians and Black Clergy Without a Black Theology,
The Myth of Exodus and Genesis and the Exclusion of Their African Origins,
The Need for a Black Bible

Dr. Cain Hope Felder
Blacks in the Bible and in Bible Lands and Troubling Biblical Waters; Race, Class, and Family

BTW: I spent a total of 7 years in seminary and 4 year in a religious school. Luckily for me, I went to schools that followed a Black liberation/theological framework, plus, I did my research to learn what the seminary and church did not teach me. A few of my colleagues share these truths with laypersons in their churches. Unfortunately, I find most people are unaware of the historical reality of the faith that they profess they believe in. I believe that religion should, like any other intellectual endeavor, come under question and inquiry too. Why do we have to leave our minds at the door when it comes to the church? Just a few of my thoughts.

Peace to you!
Kristal