Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Black Jesus

I've long viewed the "Black Jesus" movement as a statement that there is as much justification for this representation of Jesus as the traditional European depictions. I don't think anyone is actually arguing that Jesus looked liked this. I think the argument from blacks to whites has been if "you" can render the savior in "your" image, why can't we?

This Black Jesus looks like Morgan Freeman.



This seems to me to be a black Catholic depiction. Maybe it's being used by missionaries in Africa; that's where most of the church's growth is happening.



This Black Jesus is a pinup. This strikes me as overtly sexual and kinda wrong.




This is the identity politics I was talking about. Black Jesus ministering to black children.




Again. This strikes me as overtly sexualizing Jesus. Why go there?





This is my favorite Black Jesus. It's conceptually interesting and modern.
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2 comments:

Jeff said...

Black Jesus is what Bill Maher calls Obama -- sarcastically of course.

June 18, 2009 at 1:09 AM
E L Wiggins said...

I think this tendency to messiah-nize Obama is interesting. Some folks might see it as flattering, but to me it's just another way of saying he's an exception to the general rule for blacks ~ super spade. As opposed to being an exception to the rule for all people.

June 18, 2009 at 7:34 AM

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