Is Black Humanism a Religion?

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Ben_Alpers

(Editor’s Note: the following is a guest post from frequent contributor Chris Cameron — Ben Alpers)

As I get deeper into the research for my project on black freethinkers and closer to the point of publishing an article and applying for fellowships to start funding the study, one question has been continually on my mind: how should I categorize black humanism? Is it a religion, or more of a philosophy? Admittedly, humanism is not the only component of this project, but it is the largest, as I have encountered few black atheists (thus far) who do not also consider themselves humanists.

This question has very practical implications for anyone studying humanism, whether among Africans Americans or any other group. If a strong case could be made for humanism as a religion, then that opens up a number of funding opportunities that may not be available for someone studying black intellectual history. For graduate students, categorization becomes even more important, as how they market their dissertation projects will determine which types of jobs are open to them. Also, if I want to publish an article on black humanism, would I submit something to the new Journal of Africana Religions, or would I go with something such as Modern Intellectual History? Continue reading →

What is Unique about Black Freethought?

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Ben_Alpers

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Christopher Cameron’s series of Saturday guest posts. — Ben Alpers)

A question that I have been thinking about quite a bit over the past few months as I work on my book on black freethinkers is how their ideology and experience differs from that of the more mainstream (i.e. white) freethinking community.[1] There are of course many common beliefs we can point to among most freethinkers. Secular humanists, for instance, be they black or white, generally believe in the importance of scientific literacy, expanded access to education in general, practicing compassion toward other people, finding meaning and value in nature and human relationships, and working to benefit society. Black and white pagans generally hold non-theistic beliefs revolving around veneration or even a form of deification of the natural world. And of course atheism and agnosticism are the same beliefs no matter who holds them. Where the signal differences seem to lie, then, is in the manner in which these different groups have historically come to their positions and the ways in which they do so today. Continue reading →

The Death of God and African American Humanist Theology

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Ben_Alpers

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Christopher Cameron series of Saturday guest posts. — Ben Alpers)

In one of the first books written on African American Humanism, Norm R. Allen Jr. noted that black “humanism entails a belief in reason, science, democracy, openness to new ideas, the cultivation of moral excellence, a commitment to justice and fairness, and a belief in the inherent worth of humanity.”[1] Allen, the former director of African Americans for Humanism, believed that examining this topic would invigorate the study of Black history, especially by shedding light on the secular perspectives of civil rights leaders such as A. Phillip Randolph. He accordingly compiled short biographical essays on black humanists by various scholars, as well as essays by and oral interviews of black humanists ranging from W.E.B. Du Bois to Zora Neale Hurston to Charles W. Faulkner.

In the twenty-two years since Allen first published African American Humanism: An Anthology, not much progress has been made on our understanding of this vital intellectual tradition. Last year, however, Anthony Pinn published an important work that builds upon Allen’s definition of black humanism by articulating a fully developed African American humanist theology. Pinn, a professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, centers this new black humanism around the notion of “the end of God-talk.” Continue reading →

Slavery and African American Freethought

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Andrew Hartman

The following is the first in a series of guest posts from Christopher Cameron.

The study of African American freethought has been a seriously neglected topic in black religious and intellectual history. According to William R. Jones, African American humanism’s place within the study of black religion “parallels the predicament of the hero in Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man, who though flesh and blood, living and breathing, is treated as if he did not exist.” (1) The same holds true for other components of black freethought, including agnosticism and atheism. What little scholarship does exist has come from theologians, such as Jones and Anthony B. Pinn, and those involved in the freethought movement, such as Sikivu Hutchinson and Norm Allen Jr.

The reasoning behind this neglect is easy to see. There has been a wealth of scholarship discussing the historical role of the church in black cultural and political life dating back to the 16^th century. Historians such as Albert Raboteau, Michael Gomez, Sylvia Frey, Betty Wood, C. Eric Lincoln, and Milton Sernett, to name just a few, have demonstrated the significance of religion in shaping slave and free black’s agency and cultural production in the New World. The scholarship on this topic is so vast that it has been difficult for scholars to even imagine an ethical orientation for blacks not premised on belief in a transcendent reality. Continue reading →

Connection between Black Women’s Thought and Activism

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Lauren Kientz Anderson

In Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins argues that all African American women’s “intellectual work has aimed to foster Black activism.” When I first read that, I had the instant reaction of–that’s not the case. Black women think about many things, among them relationships like motherhood and beauty (the first two things that came to mind). Collins goes on to argue that when black women teach their children how to deal with racism, they are engaging in activism–so motherhood as a form of activism.

I was pondering beauty because Juliette Derricotte writes about it frequently in her letters (as I’ve written about before on this blog). Then I read this title passage from The Color Purple by Alice Walker:

“Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to get attention we do, except walk?
“I never truly notice nothing God make. Not a blade of corn (how it do that?) not the color purple (where it come from?). Not the little wildflowers. Nothing.”

Shug was teaching Celie to rejoice in nature’s beauty as a way of overcoming the abuse she was suffering at the hands of her husband. Natural beauty as a form of activism.

I don’t have time today to write more about this, but I am now looking for how Black women’s thought is connected to activism rather than trying to prove it is not. Or perhaps, I am still somewhere in the middle, where things do not need to be forced to be activism that are not, but neither am I neglecting things that are.

The Course of Black Women’s Intellectual History

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Lauren Kientz Anderson

I was asked to give a talk to undergrads about the historiography of race and gender in U.S. History. Given my interests, I have narrowed that down further to “The Course of Black Women’s Intellectual History” (since the Historiography of History was too much of a mouthful). See my prezi here.

I’m going to start with three questions:

What is historiography?
Who are intellectuals?
How have black women changed the historiography of U.S. Intellectual History?

In my prezi, I put these questions on the book in the picture to the side. This is my painting that is hanging in my office and I thought it was a nice symbol of black women’s intellectual history. Perhaps it is also slight self-promotion of my own artwork, but hopefully no one minds. Continue reading →

Ula Taylor’s lecture on the Nation of Islam

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Lauren Kientz Anderson

Ula Taylor

For the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Luther College, we had the privilege of welcoming Ula Taylor. She is an associate professor at UC Berkeley and author of The Veiled Garvey: The Life and Times of Amy Jacques Garvey, about Marcus Garvey’s second wife, who sustained the movement after his exile from the US and after his death. She developed the idea of “community feminism.” She defines community feminists as

“women who may or may not live in male-centered households; either way, their activism is focused on assisting both the men and women in their lives—whether husbands or sisters, fathers or mothers, sons or daughters—along with initiating and participating in activities to uplift their communities.

Despite this helpmate focus, community feminists are undeniably feminists; their activism discerns the configuration of oppressive power relations, shatters masculinist claims of women as intellectually inferior,and seeks to empower women by expanding their roles and options.”

She is now working on a book about women in the Nation of Islam. Her talk last night asked the perplexing question–why would anyone join the Nation of Islam after Malcolm X’s death? The unspoken recesses of that question are–the Nation of Islam was responsible for the death of beloved leader Malcolm X, so why would someone join the organization? She did an excellent job of aiming the talk at the diverse cross-section of folks who attended last night, so background material had to supplant much of her new conclusions. However, there were a couple that were intriguing.

She argued that many activists had become disillusioned with black power, particularly when national leaders began charging exorbitant rates for appearances, while Nation of Islam leaders would speak for free. She also argued that black consciousness and self-love did not fill bellies, while the economic programs of the Nation of Islam, which included restaurants, apartments, and farms, did. Finally, she argued that Elijah Mohammed’s leadership drew people in.

Continue reading →

Teaching Hip Hop

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Lauren Anderson

For my African American History class, I’m trying to decide if it is better to show “Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes” by Byron Hurt, which interrogates the idea of masculinity being portrayed in hip hop music (from a black man’s perspective) or “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” which is much more about black culture and the enjoyment of hip hop (but the musicians are more conscious artists than gangsta rappers). Chappelle goes back to his small Ohio home town and talks to white folks about coming to his block party in Brooklyn in a way that is both poignant and shows some of the cultural differences between rural whites and urban blacks–and it’s funny.

I’m leaning towards Chappelle. As my ethnomusicologist friend just noted–students can identify the misogyny in Hip Hop pretty well on their own. Although Hurt does do a nice job of connecting hip hop’s masculinity with the American masculinity of Westerns and other popular culture that make heroes out of violent men. But I think it would be better to show something that illustrates hip hop culture in a broader way, which recognizes its strengths as well.

We will also be discussing black conservatives through Ta-Nehisi Coates’ exploration of Bill Cosby’s speaking tours, “This is How We Lost to the White Man.” I’m wishing I had done more black power in this class. Black conservatism and black power have a relationship, but they are not the same thing. I will modify my syllabus in the future to spend more time on black nationalism and black power.

Added 9:50am CST: These are the questions I will have the students answer during the film.

What aspects of American life does Chappelle share during his Block Party movie? What does it mean to be black to him (there can be many answers—think creatively)?
In Chappelle’s film, what are the possible meanings of the “n-word?”
Thinking about Ta-Nehisi Coate’s article on black conservatives and Bill Cosby, do you think Chappelle is a racial liberal or conservative? Why?

Category Archives: African American history

Is Black Humanism a Religion?

What is Unique about Black Freethought?

The Death of God and African American Humanist Theology

Slavery and African American Freethought

Connection between Black Women’s Thought and Activism

The Course of Black Women’s Intellectual History

Ula Taylor’s lecture on the Nation of Islam

Teaching Hip Hop

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Tweet Blender