Greetings!
This is An Advent Word is part of a five part series from Dr. Yolanda Pierce, Associate Professor of African American Religion and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. You can follow Dr. Pierce's Advent series on Kinetics Faith & Justice Network- www.Kineticnet.org .
I would also like to thank Dr. Iva Carruthers for extending an invitation to me to co-present a workshop on Media, the Message and Ministry at the 2011 Samuel DeWitt Proctor Clergy and Lay Leadership Conference in February. If you have not already registered you can find registration information below.
In love & service,
Jamye Wooten
Kinetics
info@kineticnet.org
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This Is An Advent Word (Part 1)
 By Dr. Yolanda Pierce
As the Advent season begins, I have been thinking deeply about recent news describing planned "celebrations" for the 150th anniversary of the secession of the former Confederate states during the US Civil War. What does it mean for us, as a nation, when cities plan to mark the anniversary of this event without acknowledging the enslavement and brutalization of African Americans? Without acknowledging that the major reason - not the only, but the primary reason for secession was in order to continue the systematic practice of forced labor borne by enslaved men and women?
So my Advent season begins with thoughts of cultural amnesia: how we are willing to selectively forget those aspects of our history that we cannot, or will not, reconcile with our current culture. If we "celebrate" the secession by deliberating omitting references to slavery's existence, we can pretend that the continuing legacy of racism, oppression, and injustice does not even exist - because we have erased the very source of this national horror.
This is an Advent word.
As we begin this season of waiting, expecting, and remembering the birth of Jesus, we cannot do so with the lens of cultural or religious amnesia. This is not simply the season to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world. It is a season that must take into account the historical specificity of this moment, so that we can truly understand the depth and breadth of this event.
We must remember the Creator who radically set aside the oligarchy, for it was the sounds, smells, and sights of a stable which greeted the newborn babe and not the splendor of a palace. No longer would princely wealth be the only marker of authority, so that even a child born on the very margins and fringes of society could become God-With-Us.
Read More
Follow Dr. Pierce's Advent Series on Kinetics Faith & Justice Network
Dr. Yolanda Pierce is a tenured Associate Professor of African American Religion and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. She holds a Ph.D. and a M.A. degree from Cornell University and undergraduate degrees from Princeton University. Dr. Pierce's research specialties include African American Religious History, Womanist Theology, African American Literature, and 19th Century American Culture.
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Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman
Study Group
On November 26th I had the pleasure to sitdown with Rev. Heber Brown, III and Sis. Chabria Thomas and begin to lay the foundation for the Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman Study Group. We will begin meeting in January 2011 and will meet every 3rd Thursday at Pleasant Hope Baptist Church. 
We willl launch on January 20, 2011 @
Our special guest for this eveining will be none other than M.K. Asante, award-winning author, filmmaker, professor and producer of Motherland.
 Motherland (Enat Hager) is the most powerful documentary on Africa. Fusing history, culture, politics, and contemporary issues, Motherland sweeps across Africa to tell a new story of a dynamic continent.
From the glory and majesty of Africa's past through its complex and present history. Motherland looks unflinchingly toward a positive Pan-African future. With breathtaking cinematography and a fluid soundtrack, Motherland is a beautiful illustration of global African diversity and unity.
Upcoming Events
Jan. 20th- Motherland (Video)
Feb. 17th- Community of Self, by Dr. Naim Akbar (Book)
March 17th- The African Origin of Humanity (Video) by Dr. Kyles
April 21st- The Black Woman: An Anthology- Toni Cade Bambara
Location Pleasant Hope Baptist Church
430 E. Belvedere Avenue Baltimore, MD 21212
For more information contact:Jamye Wooten
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Richard Allen Film
The world premiere of the new documentary on the life of Bishop Richard Allen will debut in February 2011. After viewing the sample clip, we invite you to join us as a partner in presenting the film online to a worldwide audience.
Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D.
52nd Pastor of Mother Bethel
http://www.motherbethel.org/allen/index.html
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Kinetics Faith & Justice Network mission is to provide the faith community with the tools to advocate and mobilize on local, national, and international issues, to build capacity to solve our own problems, and to use dialogue as a catalyst for social change. Members include clergy, scholars, lawyers, social justice advocates, and nonprofit and business professionals.
www.Kineticnet.org | |
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Hell Without Fires: Slavery, Christianity, and the Antebellum Spiritual Narrative
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Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman
(Rev. Albert Cleage)
During the 1960s, many religious leaders, led by Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, sharply criticized the methods and advances claimed by the civil rights movement. By far the most vocal Christian minister advocating a more radical approach to obtaining civil rights was Albert Cleage, Jr.
Albert Cleage was born in Indianapolis in 1911 and grew up in Detroit. He received his B.A. from Wayne State in 1942 and his Bachelor of Divinity from Oberlin Graduate School of Theology in 1943. Cleage was ordained in the Congregational Church in 1943.
After a brief-and disappointing-term as pastor at an integrated church in San Francisco, Cleage returned to Detroit in 1951 and served at St. Marks United Presbyterian mission. He soon clashed with white Presbyterian leaders over issues of how he should lead his black congregation. In 1953, Cleage and a group of followers left to form the Central Congregation Church. They were committed to ministering to the downtrodden, and offered several programs for the community's poor.
Throughout the 1960s, Cleage was active in issues of education and black political leadership. By the late 1960s, his vision of Christianity had radicalized alongside the disappointments of the civil rights movement and rise of Black Power. He launched the Black Christian National Movement in 1967, which called for black churches to reinterpret Jesus' teachings to suit the social, economic, and political needs of black people. That Easter, Cleage unveiled an 18-foot painting of a Black Madonna, and renamed Central Congregational the Shrine of the Black Madonna.
In 1968, following a year of racial unrest in Detroit, Cleage published The Black Messiah, which detailed his vision of Jesus as a black revolutionary leader. In 1972, he published his second book, Black Christian Nationalism, and inaugurated the Black Christian Nationalist Movement as a separate denomination. The name was later changed to the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC), and Cleage changed his own name to Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, meaning "liberator, holy man, savior of the nation" in Swahili. The PAOCC includes churches in Atlanta, GA, and Houston, TX, several cultural centers, bookstores, community service centers, and a working farm.
Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman died on February 20, 2000. The PAOCC continues his mission to uplift and liberate the Pan African world community through the teachings of Jesus, the Black Messiah.
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About Us
... You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. (Isaiah. 58:12)
Kinetics mission is to develop new ideas that work to strengthen social movements within the African-American community; bridging the gap between church and community and providing them with the tools and skills to pursue justice and better address the needs of those whom they serve.
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