“Our hands were shackled, but our souls were free. For it was Christ who lived in me.”
My Background
For the past 13 years I have been walking with Jesus, over half of those years have been spent in white evangelical spaces. I was baptized in and grew up going to an all black Presbyterian (PC USA) church until I was 17. Then in 2006, I moved to Atlanta to attend Georgia State University. Two years after being drawn to and discipled in Chi Alpha (a campus ministry), I became a Christian in December 2009 and began a very arduous yet beautiful journey to untangle wrongly held beliefs about faith, culture, relationships, identity, and life.
One of those beliefs was about what it meant to now be a black woman who was a Christian: what was my identity now? I had no attachment to a solid spiritual foundation before my conversion and I also had no solid foundation or framework for what it meant to be black. So… what was next?
The Intersectionality of Faith, Ethnicity, and Gender
I love Jesus. I love being black. I love being a woman. Each comes with its unique challenges on its own, so of course there are going to be extensive challenges when combined. One example of this? DATING and trying to find a godly man who is suitable for ME and what I want for my life. Get me started!
I no longer read, apply, and live out the Scriptures from a white or completely westernized lens. My faith influences who I am and how I live as a black woman and who as I am a black woman also influences some aspects of my faith. It’s both/and, not either/or.
Because I am a Christian, my faith is going to influence:
how I live,
how I interact with and treat others;
my morals, values, and ethics,
what I want to do with my life,
how I view the world, culture, relationships,
etc.
Because I am black I am going to have more of a sensitivity to, apologetic for, and interest in what the scriptures say about:
The imago Dei
Blackness
Chattel Slavery vs bondservanthood
Justice
Racism
etc.
And because I am a woman, I am going to have more of a sensitivity to, apologetic for, and interest in what the scriptures say about:
The imago Dei
My true purpose as a woman
Ministry and service unto the Lord
My body, sex, and sexuality
Dating, relationships, and marriage
Motherhood and children
Etc.
This is an intersectionality of my faith, gender, and my ethnicity. Because I exist simultaneously as all 3, they can’t be separated. They can’t be disembodied from each other because they are all part of who I am and they do shape my identity.
Being black and a woman affects and shapes my experiences in America and the world at large. Being a Christians helps me make SENSE of my experiences; it comforts and encourages me, and helps me to trust God through navigating every aspect of life.
”Say It LOUD…”
Yes, Mr, Brown I will. “I’M BLACK AND I”M PROUD!” I am a proud black Christian woman and I will never separate nor be ashamed of God saving my soul or making me a black woman.
This is a clarion call to celebrate blackness in all its nuances simply because GOD MADE ME BLACK AND THAT IS TO BE CELEBRATED. And because He made me black on purpose, it has to be connected to God and who He is. No this is not a “God is black” soapbox (though we all know by now that Jesus was a middle Eastern man of color and certainly not white, but that’s for another post.)
There are many within the black community who are leaving and running from certain faith communities or the Christian faith altogether for very valid reasons. They feel at war within; as if they have to choose between their faith and their blackness. But why?
Where is the space to talk about their faith in God? How they believe Jesus died for their sins? How much Holy Spirit has convicted, changed, and walked with them. And where is there space to talk about their lives as a black woman or man?
Why are they not as free to talk about this as they are when it comes to their blackness since being black in this world has different implications than it does with being a white man or woman?
What Does It Mean to Decolonize Our Faith?
“Colonization is the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area; the action of appropriating a place or domain for one’s own use.” Colonizers were the invasive species - organisms that were not indigenous or native to us and our land that caused great economic and environmental harm - of our spirituality and culture.
In order to decolonize our faith, it means we must throw away any Americanized and Eurocentric views regarding:
Intertwining faith and politics to the point of deeming one party as “God’s party” or “closer to God”. Let’s be clear: BOTH parties have severe issues and BOTH parties are still dominated by the majority culture. Black people will always be in the minority (even if the majority of the total group votes a certain way.) A number of policies on both sides are majority culture serving and not good for us. *shrug*
How we worship and do church. Many black churches are expressive. Our music is different. Some of us speak in tongues. Some of us run around the church and/or fall out. Yes of course we are to test the spirits (1 John 4:1), but just because there’s a certain way of worshiping that’s different from what you are used to doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.
Women’s roles in teaching and leading in the church. The church in general has a much higher number of women than men. Since this is the case, oftentimes there are more women in leadership and teaching positions. Also, because of how black people have been treated in this country, we might not necessarily focus on someone’s gender but instead look at character and gifting from God since we have already had to deal with enough discrimination when it comes to our race.
Cultural views of gender roles as opposed to what’s actually biblical, in context, and where to use wisdom for what’s not explicitly addressed or black and white.
Idolizing marriage and children and making women’s identities and life purposes about being stay at home wives and mothers rather than children of God and disciples of Christ. Being able to have a season of taking care of a home and raising children while you walk in your purpose is a kind of privilege and choice that not many black women were and still are afforded for various systemic and personal reasons even if they desire this at some point in their lives. There’s also nothing in scripture commanding women to stay at home, have a lot of children nor have children at all. This whole movement is actually rooted in privileged racist ideologies and positive eugenics.
Demonizing and/or excluding those who are not married and/or don’t have children, Again, here we have the Scriptures being twisted to make a woman’s purpose to be a wife and mother instead of a faithful follower of Jesus.
Self-righteously imposing how they think a family unit should operate (mom at home, dad working is ideal and anything else will destroy your family)
Schooling: Christians should be homeschooling their children and if they can’t do that, a private Christian school is the next best thing. Here’s a fun fact for you: both homeschooling and private schools are rooted in segregation and racist ideologies. Google it. This doesn’t mean that those who homeschool or send their children to private schools are racist, but if you are making it a huge issue, then you need to check yourself.
Demonizing and policing cultural aspects of minority lives: The way we think, speak, act, dress, dance, and beliefs about legit liberty issues etc. should never be up for debate when they are NOT sinful but merely different cultural expressions.
Cultural policing: This involves trying to control and police our experiences and therefore our responses especially when it comes to injustices.
Navigating dating and romantic relationships: Courtship and purity culture has damaged so many people in so many ways and it wasn’t something that started in black churches and religious spaces…
Concerns about racial issues and the interconnectedness to other aspects of life and faith. America does indeed have a race problem and white evangelicalism has an even bigger problem with it.
This basically comes down to rejecting anything that majority culture has tried to make the standard when it’s not.
A theology that is permeated with and by whiteness will ALWAYS leave you feeling diminished in your blackness. It is a theology that must be rejected and replaced with one that is faithful and true to the Scriptures and also your personhood as a black image bearer.
Living Free
Diminishing who I am as a black image bearer of God is ungodly and from the pit of hell. God made me black on purpose and for anyone, including myself, to diminish that is to diminish the handiwork of God. Being black has shaped my life and experiences and influenced my views. If we don't recognize that, how can we say, “let’s look to God’s Word, voice, and ask Him how He wants us to use them for his glory, to navigate life, to bring justice to an unjust and wicked world.”?
Don’t tolerate any person or system that diminishes who are. ALL of you.
Decolonizing my faith from Americanized and Eurocentric views has been so freeing. ✊🏾
But make no mistake: I have not decolonized my way OUT of the faith. Jesus is God, the Scriptures are 100% God’s Word, and we all are in desperate need of Christ for salvation, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
What has your decolonizing of your faith journey been like? 😊
REFLECT AND APPLY
What has been your experience with being black, or an indigenous person of color, and a Christian?
Have you found it easy or difficult to find a space that welcomes your faith in Jesus AND your blackness?
