Conversion to the Rhythm of Blackness: Final Reflection Paper for Black Theology

One of the blessings of being a student at Union Theological Seminary, and also of the blessings of being able to continue on here as a doctoral student, is the living encounter with Black liberation theology. This is a hard blessing, and a challenging blessing, especially for someone like myself who is wrapped up in numerous layers of hypocrisy and privilege. My encounter with Black theology forces me to wrestle not just with my integrity as a theologian in the 21st century academic world, but more so as a human being on this Earth at a time in which our civilization is faced with an unprecedented moment of crossroads. It is not just that the murder of the body of the Earth herself makes the status-quo untenable. It is the murder of the black body and the murder of the Dalit body, and the murder of anybody who is oppressed under the heels of a global hegemony controlled by white supremacy and the rampant, immoral, unfeeling mechanisms of capitalism which makes our current situation one that cannot last. The warning of James Baldwin of a “fire next time” in the 1960's, if the boot heels of the oppressor are not lifted, are even more urgent today. Those of us who claim to speak from faith and for faith have no choice but to respond to this urgency, and in this sense the contexts of Black theology, both broad and particular, speak to us with an ever-new urgency today as well