Prevent the rise of a black messiah
Madness or revolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21493541 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hlulani M Mdingi (0000-0002-5866-1560, University of Pretoria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-14 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0259-9422 • E-ISSN: 2072-8050 |
| Publisher | AOSIS (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.4102/hts.v78i1.7816 |
| OpenAlex | W4311524028 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 9 |
In the late 1960s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a United States of America (US) intelligence agency, developed what is famously known as Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). Its mission was to surveil, misinform, misdirect and subvert or destroy black ‘subversive’ militant groups. The main intention of COINTELPRO was to ‘prevent the rise of a messiah’ who could ‘unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement’. This insight is important as it reveals how those outside of black life (FBI) would invoke biblical language to define the possibility of revolution. This article through Black liberation theology seeks to present the idea of messianism as both an experience of Africans and oppressed peoples in the Global North and Global South. The idea of messianism is part of biblical reception in Africa and the African experience of colonialism. In South Africa, messianism would be observed from the perspective of African Christianity, while another form of messianism would be seen from Nat The Prophet Turner as well as the radical identity of Christ in Black liberation theology. The article will not take lightly the idea of surveillance of black militant groups in the same way as the priestly class surveillance Christ ministry. At the same time, the article would reflect on why lunacy is associated with those that seek to subvert oppression. This article seeks to discuss the role of messianism and militancy in Black or African Christianity and highlighting biblical reception and African affectivity. Contribution: This article explores the imaginative ways the Bible or its themes have been used by both the oppressor and the oppressed, often the latter using the Bible for its prerogative, namely, revolution and liberation
Messiah · Messianism · Militant · Nationalism · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Christian Theology and Mission · Education, Philosophy, and Society · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Theological Perspectives and Practices
Slave religion
Black theology and black power.
The Church Struggle in South Africa
Prison, Where Is Thy Victory? A Black Panther Theology of Mass Incarceration
Theology's Great Sin
Nat Turner’s Rebellion as a Process of Conversion
The Caged Panther
The Shadow of the Soul Breaker
Black Messiahs and Uncle Toms
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |