According to a PBS documentary,
"James Cone was born in Fordyce, Arkansas in 1939 and grew up in the small town of Bearden. There he experienced the life-affirming community of the black Church alongside the soul-crushing reality of white racism. Through sermons, songs, and prayers that called on God's concern for their well-being, the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church taught Cone "how to deal with the contradictions of life and provided a way to create meaning in a society not of [his] own making."
"Bearden, Arkansas had a population of 400 blacks and 800 whites. The whites in Bearden, as Cone explains, "tried to make us believe that God created black people to be white people's servants." White racism led to "separate but equal" schools, segregated movies and restaurants, beatings and arrests, and political and economic inequality. Cone continually questioned how the whites in his town could consider themselves good Christians, and devised - "but never enacted out of fear" - plans to disrupt their Sunday services and test their commitment to the Gospel."
James Cone went on to college, a master's program and then earned the Ph.D. in theology from Northwestern University. In his academic teaching, he found himself in a time of social struggle which called for a new understanding of faith.
James Cone faced a crisis of faith as he heard the message of Malcolm X that "Christianity was the white man's religion" while also hearing the message of God's reconciling love through the preaching of Martin Luther King, Jr. Cone discovered in his theological work and spiritual life a new way to understand God in the crisis of the Civil Rights Movement. Cone has written several influential books. One of the most well known is "God of the Oppressed," in which he speaks of the reality of Black Theology. In later years, he has written a remarkable book: "Martin and Malcolm," in which he interprets the life and work of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. relating their analysis of American life to each other. This book is particularly penetrating in its analysis as it bears the marks of a man who worked out his on salvation both personally and professionally by struggling with the meaning of Malcolm and Martin.
I highly recommend "God of the Oppressed" and "Malcolm and Martin." Also, Cone has written a very good book on African-American music and its role in faith. I had this book called "The Spirituals and the Blues." I think I loaned it to Mr. Goins. I need to go by and see Mrs. Goins. She was wanting to donate some of Mr. Goins' books to our church library. I may find it in that collection.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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