REBUILDING THE FRACTURED AFRICAN IDENTITY - IS JESUS WHITE OR BLACK??

REBUILDING THE FRACTURED AFRICAN IDENTITY 

IS JESUS WHITE OR BLACK??

The human infant is creative genius. Who taught them how to emit stress by crying and shouting in order to attract care? You might think they are making meaningless/annoying sounds while infact they are trying communicate. Just like some many other animals you see and hear making funny noises to each other and trying to communicate through sounds, chemical and mechanical signals. Scientifically, what is actually happening is because of the absence of a well articulated language, the mind is trying to transfer the images it has accumulated to a second party. The brain of a child thinks basically in pictures. This is why we still fall back to images when we want to entertain our minds. And even though we do not consciously try to store the information, we tend to remember it for a long time.

When the child finally grows and learns a new language, he/she can finally use the language as a stitch to give form and life to this images. Think about it, when you are communicating/thinking, its pictures you have in your mind. Just like when we were learning basic mathematics, we first learnt about 2 oranges plus 3 oranges equals to 5 oranges before we learnt 2 + 3 = 5.

You need to understand how fundamentally images matter to our cognitive and realistic appreciation and interaction with the world. These images has distinct attributes and properties. So many ideas that are encoded in images has formed the fabrics that hold our culture together including our ideas of a divine creator.

The concept of God seems too generalistic and vague to have a distinct conceptual image in our minds. But it actually does. Which we think about God, there is an image that comes to mind which is why every culture that has served deities has an imaged description of it they can relate to.

The form and distinct qualities of this image create a lot of cultural extensions that shape the society. Eg;
1. Male dominance and patriarchy; The image of God as a Male has been the cultural roots why this has persisted for centuries.
2 white supremacy; Because the image that ME and YOU have about God and especially Jesus is white, the cultural subjugation of black people has persisted.

Thank God the bible didn't point any particular reference to the raciality and color of Jesus. We only know he was from a Jewish background and because of the time and location in which he walked the earth, there is more stronger scientific evidence that he was black skinned. But none of that matters because he is God. And God who is omnipresent does not have the ability to be prejudiced. But then this godly attributes gives him the ability to come to a people the way they can understand him. (Like one of them).

Unknown to many, Africa has one of the oldest and richest legacy of christianity in the world. The modern day Ethiopian civilization and ancient kush civilization (sudan) all knew Jesus and their graphic description of him was black. (Google it).

It is understandable why our Jesus is a white man with long hairs. We were evangelized by the Europeans. But then so was the Europeans evangelized by others (the Jewish Christians). Christianity didn't start with them. But then they adopted Jesus in their tradition and imaged him like themselves.

Without any need for pretense, you and I know that the image of Jesus that we all have in our head is that of a bearded, fair-skinned man with long, wavy, light brown or blond hair and (often) blue eyes that looks anglo Australian (plus every other divine personalities).

While Christ Jesus transcends skin color and any form of racial prejudice, a white Jesus has real cultural consequences. In all likelihood and circumstances, if you close your eyes and picture Jesus, you’ll imagine a white man. Without conscious intention or awareness, many of us have become disciples of a white Jesus. Not only is white Jesus inaccurate, it also can inhibit our ability to honor the image of God in people who aren’t white.
CHRISTENA CLEVELAND

Lupita Nyong'o who won an oscar in 2013 said that lots of the inferiority she suffered as a young woman was because of the images of beauty she saw around her was of light skinned women.
It was only when she saw the fashion world embracing Sudanese model Alek Wek that she realised black could be beautiful too.

If we can recognise the importance of ethnically and physically diverse role models in our media, why can’t we do the same for faith? Why do we continue to allow images of a whitened Jesus to dominate our culture?

Question is; Can you stand a black Jesus; a man with short curly hairs, flat nose and thick lips.

Remember that he has to come in what we consider more valuable and sovereign in our cultural imagery. If he comes as a black man to most of us, we would reject him.

Don't listen to anyone that says that it doesn't matter. The divine utility doesn't matter. But the physical expression of that divine utility actually does matter. Because until we can stand a black God especially Jesus or Yeshua, its going to be really difficult to stand a world dominating black man.

No wonder when the black African man makes money he never saves it in his currency. How can he have faith in himself when we are all disciples of a white God.

If you can stand a black Jesus, I would love to hear from you. How can we change this imagery in our generation.

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