Oh, if I had a dime for every home, flea market, African American heritage festival, and church that I’ve seen this image or similar images in…I’d be wealthy. Very, very wealthy.
Black people love Black Jesus. This might be better stated as “Black people who love Jesus love Black Jesus”, but I don’t have time for that discussion today. LOL
I say “Black Jesus” because it’s about visualizing Christ in a form similar to ours in a world that devalues and degrades “Blackness”. If the Christ, the Savior, the one who would save the whole world is a Black Man, that connects Black people to his suffering and sacrifice in a unique way. Black people say things like “They talked about Jesus too, ya know”. Preachers use painful examples from Black history (lynching for example) and juxtapose them against stories of Christ in the gospels (Jesus hanging on the cross). Add to that the strong Black affinity for church. It’s a given that Black folk would want to worship a kinky-haired, dark-skinned Jesus vs. a blond, blue-eyed one. Black Jesus links African Americans to the divine source and raises the self esteem of believers.
This concept is more uplifting that 20 Tyler Perry films featuring an all black cast. Better than a good show with a black cast and black creator actually making it more than a season on NBC. Better than finding out that your favorite “fill in your favorite sport” player is really black, he’s just really light skinned. Even better than Tiger Woods finally admitting that he’s cool with just being “mixed”. It boosts our egos to see an image of Black Jesus with copper feet and bronze skin just like ours.
BlackJesus.com asks…”Was Jesus Black if you apply the 1% drop of Black blood rule? Why does Jesus continue to be portrayed as white, blond and blue eyed, when there is sceintific proof that he was a man of color with wooly hair?
I don’t think it would matter. Black folks would still love Black Jesus. Each person would envision the Christ as they see fit. In my opinion, it’s more about perception and preferences than the truth of Jesus’s racial makeup. Some might say that we want Jesus to be like us…maybe a little more than we want to be like him.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I The Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6 KJV)
11 responses so far ↓
1 Claire // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:49 am
“Black people who love Jesus love Black Jesus”, but I don’t have time for that discussion today. LOL”
Is this a Muslim reference? You do know that Muslims love Jesus, too? They just know that he is not God. God is God. Jesus is Jesus. That is one of the fundamental differences.
Anyway, this post started off funny because it’s true. Black people really do love the idea, the hope of a Black Jesus. Also, this post was not funny.
2 AUTUMN // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:06 pm
OMG AMAKA! This was sooo about to be my next post. Great minds think alike. I think you captured the subject very eloquently and precisely. It’s true….we love us some BLACK JESUS. Everything else is just MEDIOCRITY!
3 amaka // Mar 12, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Claire, why would you think there is a Muslim reference? There are no references to Islam in the whole post. I just wanted to acknowledge upfront that not all Black people love Jesus.
I think some of your comment is funny and some is not.
4 www.anythingblack.wordpress.com // Mar 16, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Black Jesus, smh I’m black and I don’t know. I think its kind of….i dont know. dont like it. jesus was jesus, black or white.
5 coooleyhigh // Mar 21, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I can’t stand black Jesus, white Jesus…and I would love to see a Chinese Jesus so I can hate on it, too.
People need to give it a rest and stop disrespecting the Son of GOD… you have never seen him, I have never seen him and neither have any of those ‘artists.’
Everybody who has seen Jesus the Christ face-to-face is probably dead…probably.
- http://borderlineracist.wordpress.com
6 buena717 // Mar 26, 2008 at 9:01 pm
This brings me to the obvious next question… The feminists have slept on this.. Since there is a Black Jesus, wouldn’t that mean there is also a Black Mary out there that people haven’t posted up and sold on every corner, as well? I mean, if the Angel impregnated her and Jesus was Black, he had to have a Black Mama….
7 27thfloor // Mar 30, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Hilarious!
8 TheAdlerian // Mar 31, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Blacks who think Jesus was black do not like Jesus at all.
If he was a real being, then he was like one of the people called Jews. Jews from the mideast are genetically identical to Arabs. Some of them can have blue eyes, which means that at one point they came from eastern Europe.
Anyway, Jesus accepted anyone and advised even accepting one’s enemies and hanging out with them to be a good influence. So, blacks who cannot accept a white Jesus are in fact Satanic, as they’re living an opposite philosophy to that of Jesus.
Wanting Jesus to look like you is to not accept him while being very narcissistic about it. Satanism is about narcissism.
9 Bullshit // Apr 19, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Well Jesus also was a Satanic figure. He condoned slavery. Nowhere once, in the bible does Christ show any anger or indignation against slavery. Jesus was fake. Sorry.
10 Maddywoo // Jul 14, 2008 at 6:25 pm
MUslims don’t believe in the same God we do. They believe in ALLAH, Not our God. Our God teaches to love our enemies while ALLAH teaches them to strike them down. I have no clue where they stand on Jesus though.
P.S. I thought jesus was Hebrew, even though he was killed by them. That would explain the wooly hair, ever hear of the Jew fro? lol
All in All I this site is awesome!
11 imhotep // Jul 23, 2008 at 8:27 pm
White Jesus is the “official” Jesus. Even though the Jesus image is a logo not a rendering. You heard of “image of the beast”? Well that’s it folks!
An invented character, with an invented image that brings people closer to the religion of White Supremecy and not closer to God. Black Jesus just puts a more attractive face on the same ole, same ole. God doesn’t need a middle man.
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