By Carl McRoy
Faithing while Black
Dr. Esau McCauley, author of Reading While Black, contrasted one of the main features of the Black Church with a major point of contention in European Christianity. In a panel discussion with the Jude 3 Project, McCauley said, “In Protestantism, the origin point for the Reformation is ‘How am I saved?’”
While this traditional debate between Protestants and Catholics isn’t irrelevant to Black people, McCauley argues that the faith of Black folks has a more immediate challenge:
“The Black Church doesn’t begin with ‘How am I saved?’ The Black Church begins with the question of theodicy.”
Why is that? The survivors of the Middle Passage were confronted with the Christ of slaveocracy and had to question what they were hearing. McCauley paraphrases what many of our ancestors had on their minds:
“There is this God who my enslaver said, ‘It’s His will that I should forever be underfoot.’ How can I believe in a God who is being used to oppress me?”
This led enslaved Africans to either reject the faith in order to embrace their dignity and desire for freedom; or accept a faith that kept them subservient; or forge a faith strong enough to “wrestle that definition of God from white supremacy to a place of affirmation.”
No matter which choice was made, Black people in America never “had the luxury of being Christian without a hint of melancholy attached to it.”
Merry Melancholy Christmas
Much of the Black theological grappling to separate God from white supremacy takes place through oral traditions. This isn’t only due to the covalent cultural bonds between American and West African griots: it was a byproduct of a system that profited off of enforced ignorance. Dependence on oral communication was necessary for preserving wisdom throughout nearly 300 years of state-sponsored illiteracy inflicted on African Americans.
These oral traditions included song as much as speech. These sounds of Blackness have been historically hopeful, yet their lyrics are often laced with theodicy. Melancholy is even mixed into the merriment of the Christmas season. Whether it’s the spirituals, blues, gospel, soul, or reggae, many of the harmonies contain hermeneutics of suspicion. Let’s exegete a few examples below.
Is Christmas Really or Rarely Christmas?
Lou Rawls was a Grammy-winning singer who exercised his 4-octave vocal range over a 5-decade career. Rawls performed gospel, jazz, soul, pop, and R & B. Back in 1967, Lou Rawls released the album Merry Christmas! Ho! Ho! Ho! The track list includes commonly played songs like “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” There’s also the high-energy, early funk “Good Time Christmas” to fuel the festive spirit. However, there’s a bluesy piece that slows things down on the “B-side” (Sorry, Gen Z and Alpha: Google it or ask your grandparents). “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” is stated as an affirmation, but the song begs the question, “When has Christmas ever really been Christmas?”
When will the words “Merry Christmas” be “much more sincere”?
Mr. Rawls’ answer is “When hearts are filled with joy, instead of worry and fear.”
When does Lou Rawls say Christmas will really be Christmas?
It’ll happen “When people can live with each other” and “peace on Earth has come to stay.”
The implication is that Christmas has rarely been Christmas, because there’s always people being left out and driven out of the promises of what Christmas is supposed to be. That’s why Rawls urges listeners to “keep hoping and praying” for Christmas to really be Christmas. Perhaps while seeking divine intervention, we’ll open our eyes to see the things we can do on Earth as it is in heaven.
Keeping Christ in Christian?
Someone tried to coerce me into saying “Merry Christmas” a couple of years ago because I greeted him with “Happy Holidays.” He was making a political statement, while I was making a pluralistic statement. Since there was more than one holiday coming up, I wished him happiness for both of them. Besides, “holidays” comes from “holy days,” so that’s still a win, right? Once I saw how serious my friend was about it, I said everything except “Merry Christmas” for the pure mischief of it.
Does anyone really think intimidation makes anyone merry? If Jesus is who we Christians say he is, do “secular leftists” really have the power to take Christ out of Christmas? By the way, who put Christ in Christmas and when did they do it? Is “Merry Christmas” or even “Christmas” in the Bible?
Are we winning non-Christians to Jesus by pressuring them to say “Merry Christmas?” Will saying “Merry Christmas” really make our nation Christian again (if it ever really was)? Is “Merry Christmas” the new “sinner’s prayer” that converts people and confers salvation upon these new believers?
Does the Good Book say “Christ in Christmas, the hope of glory?” Isn’t the real celebration about the “mystery” that Christ could be in you and me (Col. 1:27, NIV)? Doesn’t his presence mean more in our hearts than “Christmas” appearing on a department store sign or coffee cup – both of which will be discarded on December 26th?
Kevin Burgess, aka “KB,” is a licensed minister, Dove award-winning hip-hop artist, and author of Dangerous Jesus. KB sums up the Christmas culture war with two lines in his song “King Jesus”:
“People don’t care you keep Christ in your Christmas,
If they cannot see that there’s Christ in the Christian.”
Who are we fooling?
Bob Marley might have more fame, but Peter Tosh’s talent was a key ingredient in making The Wailers what they were. In one of his songs, Mr. McIntosh pushed back on those who blame young people for societal problems. In “You Can’t Blame the Youth,” Tosh listed a number of hypocrisies commonly taught to the youth that leads them to challenge authority figures and the validity of their “truth” statements. His commentary basically says, “Don’t be surprised if the youth act in undesirable ways when you train them to admire historical figures that have pillaged our ancestors.”
Then comes this witticism about Christmas traditions:
“When every Christmas come
You buy the youth a fancy toy gun
So you can’t blame the youth
You can’t fool the youth”
Peter Tosh has been dead for nearly 40 years, but this element of the song has become even more relevant. Some conservative Christian politicians have made it fashionable to post online photos of their families, including small children, posing with real guns in front of their Christmas trees.
Where’s the peace on Earth and goodwill towards men and women in that?
Such is Christmassing while Black.
Happy holidays!
See original Article : https://threefifths.online/2024/12/09/christmassing-while-black/