God and Blackness

Race, Gender, and Identity in a Middle Class Afrocentric Church

Andrea C. Abrams

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780814705261
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Cristianesimo

Blackness, as a concept, is extremely fluid: it can refer to cultural and ethnic identity, socio-political status, an aesthetic and embodied way of being, a social and political consciousness, or a diasporic kinship. It is used as a description of skin color ranging from the palest cream to the richest chocolate; as a marker of enslavement, marginalization, criminality, filth, or evil; or as a symbol of pride, beauty, elegance, strength, and depth. Despite the fact that it is elusive and difficult to define, blackness serves as one of the most potent and unifying domains of identity. God and Blackness offers an ethnographic study of blackness as it is understood within a specific community—that of the First Afrikan Church, a middle-class Afrocentric congregation in Atlanta, Georgia. Drawing on nearly two years of participant observation and in‑depth interviews, Andrea C. Abrams examines how this community has employed Afrocentrism and Black theology as a means of negotiating the unreconciled natures of thoughts and ideals that are part of being both black and American. Specifically, Abrams examines the ways in which First Afrikan’s construction of community is influenced by shared understandings of blackness, and probes the means through which individuals negotiate the tensions created by competing constructions of their black identity. Although Afrocentrism operates as the focal point of this discussion, the book examines questions of political identity, religious expression and gender dynamics through the lens of a unique black church.

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The First Afrikan Way

Method and Context

The History and Hope of Afrocentrism

The term “Afrocentrism” was coined by the academic Molefi Kete Asante, who defines it as a “frame of reference wherein phenomena are viewed from the perspective of the African person. The Afrocentric approach seeks in every situation the appropriate centrality of the African person” (1991: 171). Afrocentric scholars of history, literature, sociology, psychology, and other disciplines have attempted to make African intellectual inquiry the center of understanding for persons of African descent.

Although strongly associated with Asante, Afrocentrism has deeper roots than his articulation, as it extends back to nineteenth-century African American intellectuals such as Martin R. Delany, Carter G. Woodson, and W. E. B. DuBois. In their work, these scholars investigated the achievements of various African cultures and sought to demonstrate what African descended peoples had contributed to human civilization. Delany, for instance, wrote, Principia of Ethnology: The Origin of Race and Color, with an Archeological Compendium of Ethiopian and Egyptian Civilization (1880), a comparative study of Africa and Europe in which he extolled the preeminence of Africa by citing its wealth and the antiquity of its civilization. Among Woodson’s prolific writings are African Heroes and Heroines and The African Background Outlined. For his part, DuBois focused not only upon the history of Africa when editing the Crisis newspaper and The Encyclopedia Africana but also upon the idea of an essentially African identity shared by all throughout the Diaspora. In The Souls of Black Folk, his notions of race, soul, and consciousness were borrowed from African metaphysics and, furthermore, were employed to argue for an African way of being based upon history and culture that inhered in persons of African descent (Rath 1997).

Although they wrote a considerable time before the term “Afrocentrism” was coined, these early scholars are considered proponents of Afrocentric thought as they labored toward the goals of the depiction of Africans as historical actors, the rehabilitation of the historical and cultural heritage of those of African descent, and the recognition of Africa as the foundation of knowledge about black peoples (Adeleke 2001). The works of intellectuals such as Delany, Woodson, DuBois, and many others “assumed a rehabiliatory, redemptionist and contributionist character” as they represented “Blacks as positive historical actors, people with a rich heritage of history and culture” (Adeleke 2001: 23).

Borrowing not only from these American intellectuals, Asante’s work is also built upon the scholarship of Senegalese theorist Cheikh Anta Diop. Diop’s key premise is that ancient Egyptians created the foundations of both African and European civilization through the contribution of significant aspects of astronomy, geometry, law, architecture, art, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy. A particular thorn in Diop’s side was the contention that Egypt was not in fact African, despite its obvious geographic location; his research “supports the idea of a White conspiracy of history to discredit or ignore Black civilization and advocates the need for proper knowledge of an African past in order to unify Blacks beyond simply the idea that they share a common oppression” (Early 1999: 709).

The recovery projects of these nineteenth-century scholars, as well as those of more contemporary scholars—including Asante, George G. M. James, Asa Hilliard, and Martin Bernal—assert that, in order to be a mentally and spiritually healthy person of African descent, one must know and privilege his or her Africanness above all else. Moreover, the Afrocentric paradigm considers it a political imperative that African-descended people articulate their own culturally specific perspectives about society: “By believing that our way of viewing the universe is just as valid as any, we will achieve the kind of transformation that we need to participate fully in a multicultural society. However, without this kind of centeredness, we bring almost nothing but a darker version of whiteness” (Asante 1998: 8). Therefore, Afrocentrism can be understood as an attempt on the part of African-descended peoples to redefine themselves as subjects rather than objects of history and to view the world from a perspective that is grounded in blackness (Cobb 1997).

Although a number of African Americans, including scholars, clergy, and political leaders, have privileged African history and culture in constructions of identity and community since the time of slavery, it was not until the 1980s and 1990s that African-centered thinking became a cultural movement. African Americans throughout the country adapted school curriculum, worship services, dress, hairstyles, naming practices, and other key facets of everyday life to reflect and celebrate African heritage. Proponents of Afrocentrism encouraged African Americans to reconnect with their African roots and exhorted the larger society to acknowledge the contributions of African peoples to the world and American society.

Significantly, the 1980s and 1990s also marked the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and their conservative agendas, which opposed significant portions of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, as well as many affirmative action policies. In addition, during the decade there were increasing rates of drug use, imprisonment, and poverty within many black communities. A major racialized event during this period was the Rodney King incident. In 1991, Rodney King, an African American man, was severely beaten by white police officers who were acquitted despite the incident having been videotaped. This outcome resulted in several race riots throughout black communities. It could be argued that, frustrated by the loss of progress since the Civil Rights movement, African Americans embraced Afrocentrism as a way to counter these sobering dynamics.

Afrocentrism posits that while white racism is responsible for many of the oppressive aspects of black life, its most deleterious impact is upon the self-esteem and cultural pride of African-descended people. Asante and other advocates of Afrocentrism put forth that, if black people had a better understanding of their history, traditions, and values as a people, they would be better equipped to counter the effects of racism. For example, they suggest that Afrocentric schools could provide children with pride in their African heritage, positive black role models, and a supportive environment that expected them to succeed. They argue that the public school system has provided few of these factors and that without them, black children, particularly boys, are more prone to do poorly in school, drop out, become teenaged parents, and participate in the drug trade.

In his critique of Afrocentrism, Algernon Austin contends that this perspective reflects cultural conservatism and middle class bias within African America. He writes, “Afrocentrism tends to the conservative position which attacks social problems by changing values, as opposed to the liberal position which attacks social problems by equalizing resources” (2006: 146). His argument is that Afrocentrism perceives black culture as the main problem rather than identifying the lack of resources and the barriers of institutional racism as the more crucial issues. More specifically, advocates believe that an African-centered ideology and lifeway could make black culture healthier by improving self-esteem and inculcating better family values among poorer African Americans. Austin sees this contention as the continuation of the project of the black middle class to uplift the black poor and a version of the American middle class immigrant success story: “Just as middle-class whites talk about how the cultural values of their immigrant ancestors pulled the family up from poverty, Afrocentrism can be seen as attempting to create the same ethnic success by following the same logic” (2006: 168). In this scenario, female-headed households, drug use, low educational outcomes, the dearth of black businesses, and increasing violence within poorer African American communities could be counteracted if black people retained and practiced their African cultural values in much the same way as Irish, Asian, and Jewish immigrants had.

While this Afrocentrist perspective ignores the disparate impacts of voluntary versus involuntary immigration, the assimilationist trajectories of all American immigrant groups, the historical legacy of differential access to social mobility based on skin color, and the problem of blaming the victim and his culture, it nevertheless had resonance within the black community. To different degrees, many did indeed embrace Afrocentrism as an avenue to empower and improve the black community. An increasing number of parents gave their children African or Muslim names, enrolled them in Afrocentric schools, and celebrated Kwanzaa as a family. I was in college in Atlanta during the early 1990s and clearly remember the popularity of Afrocentric iconography and rhetoric. Throughout the city were several Afrocentric bookstores, food venues, clothing stores, hair salons, and cultural centers. In certain areas of the city, one could feel quite conspicuous without a natural hairstyle or African-inspired piece of jewelry or clothing. It was during this period in the early 1990s that Reverend Lomax established First Afrikan Presbyterian.

An Experiment in Progress

First Afrikan was originally named Salem Presbyterian Church. Established in 1893 as a predominantly white congregation, Salem Presbyterian elected to dissolve the congregation in 1991 as the changing racial demographics of the area made it difficult to hold the church together or to retain pastoral leadership. In 1993, efforts were made to resuscitate the church, and Reverend Mark Lomax was appointed to the “New” Salem Presbyterian Church to serve the now predominantly African American congregation. By the end of the year, one hundred and fifty persons were interested in becoming members, and a decision was made to rename the church First Afrikan Presbyterian. As a cultural and political statement, the church’s name was spelled with a k as c is not a letter/sound found in most indigenous African languages.

Why did the church decide to become an Afrocentric congregation? The official history is that a steering committee of twelve people in cooperation with Reverend Lomax worked together to develop a mission and vision statement for the congregation. During discussions and debates, which took place over the course of several weeks, the idea of an Afrocentric-based theology was embraced by the majority. When I asked persons who were part of the founding congregation about the move toward Afrocentrism, it was reiterated that the decision was a collaborative effort between the membership and leadership. I posit that additional pivotal factors were the popularity of Afrocentrism in Atlanta during the early 1990s as well as the personal Afrocentric ideology of Reverend Lomax.

At the time of his appointment, Reverend Lomax was completing his doctorate at Union Theological Seminary in Ohio and decided to write his dissertation on the efficacy of a lectionary that sought to teach Afrocentric Christian consciousness. Completed in 1995, the dissertation, “The Effects of an Afrocentric Hermeneutic in a Developing Congregation,” included a thesis that stated that “an Afrocentric world view can liberate and empower African American Christians to love themselves more dearly, determine for themselves their God-given purpose for being in the world, and empower them to become active agents in the process of forming liberated and empowered families, churches and communities” (Lomax 1995:1). He chose First Afrikan to test his hypothesis.

Although Reverend Lomax was quite clear about and determined in his mission for the congregation, he encountered resistance. For example, just as the new congregation was attaining a measure of membership and fiscal stability, one of the more powerful female members lobbied to move away from the Afrocentric theology. Reverend Lomax recounts that “one of the elders who had a lot of power, not just formal power as an elder, but informal power as well, in terms of relationships and all, felt that we ought to switch back to a more Eurocentric presentation now that we had gotten the church to a certain point.” That point was having grown from 68 members to nearly 250 within the span of a few months. I asked Lomax how this elder expressed what he called a “Eurocentric presentation,” and he explained that she wanted to more fully employ the Presbyterian hymnal, to talk more about John Calvin, and to emphasize the Presbyterian polity. An argument ensued between the two, culminating in a claim by the elder, who was a lawyer, that the church was operating outside of the constitutional boundaries of the Presbyterian Church and that all members were now legally liable. This injected fear into the congregation, and the attendance dropped from 240 to 124. This woman was to eventually leave the congregation.

Later a contingent of professional women from the women’s ministry led a revolt in the opposite direction by arguing that the church should not be Christian at all but rather practice traditional African religions. Dialogue about this continued for six or seven weeks. At one point, according to Lomax, he asked, “Which one of you will sacrifice the first goat? Because when you talk about traditional African religion, you are talking about animal sacrifice. I don’t do that. I am a Christian pastor. So, which one of you will take the responsibility of preparing the sacrifice?” The women were not amused by his comments. Nor were they soothed by his articles for the church newsletter, Talking Drum, in which he talked about the definition of Afrocentric Christian ministry and the origins of Christianity in Africa. Things came to a head one Sunday in 1995, when the ministers processed into the sanctuary wearing blue Geneva gowns, a style of clerical vestments with wide sleeves first worn in Europe. “This group of sisters who were sitting together, got up and turned their backs in protest over the fact that we were wearing Eurocentric garb. Which was a powerful thing. It was very powerful. We talked about it, but the sisters and their husbands and children all left.”

According to Reverend Lomax, trying to find a workable middle ground between these two poles represented by the different camps within the church has necessitated caution and some experimentation. During its twelve-year existence, the demography of the First Afrikan community has been in rather consistent flux, as its ranks have swollen and shrunk. Reverend Lomax reflected that the current congregation is probably the fifth or sixth for the church, as people have come and gone, some for the usual reasons people join and leave congregations and others for reasons particular to the Afrocentric theology of this church. This book focuses on the membership of the church between October 2003 and August 2005 and on the content of the Afrocentric Christian theology offered by the leadership during this period.

Somewhat Native Anthropology

In October 2003, I met with the Reverend Lomax, explained my project to him, and asked permission to use the church as my study site. As part of my research, I conducted participant observation during Sunday morning services, Wednesday night Bible study classes, new member orientation classes, vacation Bible school, and other church events. When attending classes and other smaller church gatherings, I explained my project and asked the permission of participants to include the session in my research.

In addition, I conducted semiformal interviews with thirty members of the congregation and with the three senior members of the church leadership. I met with individuals in the classrooms of the church after service, at their homes after work, or at restaurants when we were both hungry. Each person with whom I conducted an interview was given a verbal explanation of my project and asked to sign a consent form that explained his or her rights as a subject in my study. Participants were asked both verbally and in the body of the consent form for permission to tape-record them.

It is important to note that, while I do use the real names of Reverend Lomax, Reverend Coleman and Elder Toure, with their permission, all other names of First Afrikan members are pseudonyms. In order to protect the anonymity of the church members, I have altered identifying details in my descriptions of their physical appearances, occupations, and locations.

As I am an African American woman, this project can be considered native anthropology. A native anthropologist studies her own community. In many ways, my blackness helped me to gain entrée and establish rapport within the church community. For one thing, I easily blended into the congregation with no one questioning my presence at services, Bible studies, or participation in conversations. For another, members often assumed that my presence in the church indicated that I either accepted or was open to Afrocentric theology. In fact, during many of my interviews, participants inquired how long I had been a member of the church, and I had to remind them that I was not a member but a visiting anthropologist.

This smooth transition raised concern about that special pitfall of native anthropology—one is so integrated into the community that significant moments are ignored because they seem natural and given. I grew up in Mississippi, and both of my parents are United Methodist pastors. Therefore, to be sure, despite my best efforts, I probably overlooked important dynamics that another not so familiar with the Southern black church would have not. And yet, the context was not so familiar to me because of its most distinguishing feature—Afrocentrism. I do not consider myself to be Afrocentric and, until my sojourn at the church, had only a rudimentary understanding gleaned sporadically from Afrocentric acquaintances and academic critiques. The African drumming and dancing, the use of the African language Kiswahili, the donning of African clothing, and the consistent rhetoric concerning Africanness in a church setting created a somewhat foreign environment for me. Consequently, there were key moments during my research when I was not a native anthropologist and required guidance in order to navigate this particular cultural context. Luckily, the church leadership had developed several strategies to teach Afrocentric ideology and theology to a novice such as myself.

An Afrocentric Curriculum

During my time at the church, Reverend Mark Lomax, Reverend Will Coleman, and Elder Itahari Toure provided the core spiritual leadership and African-centered teaching of the church. Reverend Lomax, the pastor, received a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, and served as the pastor of churches in North Carolina and Atlanta before coming to First Afrikan. In addition, he teaches at the Interdenominational Theological Center, a seminary in Atlanta, and his areas of specialty include African traditional religions and African American religious history. Reverend Coleman, the resident theological scholar, received his Ph.D. from Graduate Theological Union Seminary in Berkeley, California. Also a professor at the Interdenominational Theological Center, he specializes in the philosophy of religion, interpretation theory, and biblical spirituality. Elder Toure is the director of education and was completing her doctorate of theology during my time at the church. She describes her work at First Afrikan as an extension of her life, as she has identified as Afrocentric since the 1970s, has considerable experience with grassroots organizations, and was instrumental in founding three independent schools.

This well-educated leadership triumvirate strives to create an environment in which education is deeply valued. During sermons or Bible study classes, each is comfortable employing esoteric vocabulary and hermeneutic references. They frequently emphasize the academic basis for both their biblical and Afrocentric knowledge, and, on church documents, Lomax’s and Coleman’s names are often accompanied by both the “Rev.” and “Dr.” prefixes. The members, too, make reference to their spiritual and African-centered scholarship and are not shy to note their other academic achievements. This is a well-educated church and proud of it.

And yet the church does not have an air of academic elitism. Lomax, Coleman, and Toure are also just as likely to pepper their teaching with black vernacular and to employ the poetic and kinetic style associated with African American preaching. Knowledge gained from more organic sources, such as kinfolk and local communities, is just as valued as that from the ivory towers. Frequent yet smooth are the shifts from academic discourse to folk discourse by the leadership of the church. At key moments, each minister strategically uses academic speech to mark the middle class identity of the church and to validate the often marginalized African-centered perspectives discussed there. Black folk speech is employed just as strategically to reinforce notions of shared cultural experiences and knowledge as well as racial pride. This is the tenor of Sunday sermons and its Afrocentric pedagogy.

An important component of First Afrikan’s ministry is its Center for Afrikan Biblical Studies. The mission of the center is to “cultivate and promote communal and personal reflective journeys using Afrikan spiritual principles to deepen and enrich being and service” (www.firstafrikanchurch.org). As is predictable, considering the background of the leadership and as is usual in Presbyterian churches, much of the church programming has a collegiate format. Each year,...