All the reasons why I need my Jesus to be Black
Welsh artist John Petts designed this stained glass window, which was donated to the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala. On a Sunday morning in 1963, white supremacists bombed the church, killing four young congregants. The right hand of Jesus resists oppression, while his left hand offers forgiveness. (Stained glass window by John Petts)
All the reasons why I need my Jesus to be Black, Including the fact that a white Jesus helps erase Canada's history of slavery
by Alydia Smith | March 19, 2021, from Broadview
Slavery existed across British colonies, but often white Canadians, both in and outside the church, talk about enslavement by fixating on the Underground Railroad. Alydia Smith through her own experience in church culture, addresses this misconcpetion.
My mother loves to recount the heroic story of how she and other Black moms camped out in shifts at a Scarborough, Ont., Simpsons to get my Cabbage Patch doll in the 1980s. I love that Cabbage Patch. Her name is Renee, and we share the same button nose and beautiful brown skin tone. When I was in congregational ministry in downtown Toronto, I would swaddle Renee and lovingly place her in the crèche every Christmas. “Why is our Jesus always Black?” asked a seven-year-old congregant one year. “Well, because it is my Jesus,” I answered.
My Jesus has always been Black, but I don’t remember articulating it until that day. Jesus is my redeemer: his teachings have liberated me from oppressive ideologies, and his ministry has opened life-giving paths. Jesus is also my closest and most trusted confidant. When I am at my lowest, I talk to Jesus in my prayers. In order for Jesus to be my redeemer and my brother, I need him to be Black.
“Ultimately, I believe Jesus transcends race, a social construct of a broken world. In my ministry, I ardently attempt to work toward a mended society without the sin of racism and other forms of oppression. Until that day comes, my Jesus needs to be Black.”