Gayraud Wilmore Black Consciousness Summary
Gayraud Wilmore’s Black Consciousness: Stumbling Block or Battering Rami is a piece that explores the intersection of Blackness as identity and its role within the Black Church. Wilmore explores the notion Black spirituality being the carrier of Black identity; while at the same time flirting with the idea that Black (pop)culture is a force contrary to the authentic ontological structure of Blackness. He reduces the artists who engage in the art of rap music or “gangsta rap” as he calls it as “hucksters” (81). He paints the world of hip-hop as vehicle that only seeks to “exploit Black youth” (81). However, he does not deny that this world of black pop culture has a “… a spiritual bond between the poor and deprivilege African Americans and the
religious institutions that first gave them the soul-force to resist dehumanization” (81). Basically, Black pop culture stresses too much of the self and not the mission of divine through adhering the mission of the church.
The fundamental argument that Wilmore is asserting is that “Blackness” maybe a stumbling block to a united church. His article contribution is built upon three major sections: The meaning of Blackness, Religion and Color Symbolism, and Reconciliation prematurely. The meaning of Blackness section explores the social perception of Blackness from African-American and white perspectives, eventually concluding with the idea that contemporary black theology (a theology that stress the Black context) “challenges” the biblical mission of the Church. The Religion and Color Symbolism section explores how “color” (race) has played in the conscious of America. Particularly, through the vehicles of language, media, and artistic expression. He alludes to the argument that if blackness as a construct has always been influenced by racist premises (recognizing that even the bible has been utilized to perform this action), then the contemporary understanding of Blackness is ultimately destined to be aggressively against the bible because of the men and systems that have misconstrued its teachings. Lastly, in the section on Reconciliation Prematurely he explores the need to have unified Christian movement and the politics at work with that discussion.
religious institutions that first gave them the soul-force to resist dehumanization” (81). Basically, Black pop culture stresses too much of the self and not the mission of divine through adhering the mission of the church.
The fundamental argument that Wilmore is asserting is that “Blackness” maybe a stumbling block to a united church. His article contribution is built upon three major sections: The meaning of Blackness, Religion and Color Symbolism, and Reconciliation prematurely. The meaning of Blackness section explores the social perception of Blackness from African-American and white perspectives, eventually concluding with the idea that contemporary black theology (a theology that stress the Black context) “challenges” the biblical mission of the Church. The Religion and Color Symbolism section explores how “color” (race) has played in the conscious of America. Particularly, through the vehicles of language, media, and artistic expression. He alludes to the argument that if blackness as a construct has always been influenced by racist premises (recognizing that even the bible has been utilized to perform this action), then the contemporary understanding of Blackness is ultimately destined to be aggressively against the bible because of the men and systems that have misconstrued its teachings. Lastly, in the section on Reconciliation Prematurely he explores the need to have unified Christian movement and the politics at work with that discussion.