Black liberation theology applies Christian beliefs to address the subjugation of African Americans. Its founder, James Cone, was influenced by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Cone’s Black Theology and Black Power further articulated the reasons and methods for implementing the theology. The approach is similar to Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. The controversy surrounding Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons highlighted the theology’s focus on addressing oppression.
Created during the cultural upheaval of the early 1960s, black liberation theology attempts to apply Christian religious traditions and beliefs to directly address the long-standing subjugation of African Americans. According to its American founder, Christian theologian James Cone, the church combines and continues the spirit of several black leaders of different faiths, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. He believes Christianity’s primary mission should be to offer grace to the poor, subjugated and disinherited.
The current philosophy of black liberation theology owes its greatest debt to the work and words of Cone, a prominent theological academic who took to heart Malcolm X’s 1950s claim that Christianity was a “religion of the white man. Reverend Martin Luther King, whose many recorded sermons and writings attempt to apply the Christian faith to the oppressive conditions of blacks, is another major influence on those who adhere to this branch of mainstream Protestant theology. It was Malcolm X, whose power of activism and community building is widely credited with spurring Cone’s early writing and sermons. Cone, however, credits a melange of Christian theologians with creating the core of his Christian beliefs, including such influential white theologians as Paul Tillich and Karl Barth.
In 1966, Cone and 50 other pastors from across the nation had placed a full-page ad in The New York Times. The ministers — representing a variety of denominations, from Baptist to the United Church of Christ — called themselves the National Committee of Black Churchmen, aiming to use the Bible to end racism. Cone’s Black Theology and Black Power, written in 1969, further articulated the reasons and methods for implementing black liberation theology.
While primarily focused on the African-American experience, black liberation theology can easily be compared to the secular approach of A People’s History of the United States, a socially responsible history book by Boston University political science professor Howard Zinn, who died in 2010. copies, starting at 2,000,000, the book explores America’s key historical moments through the filter of various marginalized cultures, in contrast to the predominantly white, male, and power-conscious view of history that usually prevails. Black liberation preachers employ a similar mindset when preaching about Christian values, which throughout history have been presided over by the powerful and not the weak.
Leading up to the 2008 presidential election, media buzz focused on current President Barack Obama’s longtime minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Rev. Wright was recorded as telling congregants that “God Bless America” really should be “God Damn America” for the several centuries of oppression and subjugation. Some decried the spirit of the sermon, while many others appreciated the honesty.
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