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26/7/05
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Page 43
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As Jesus beats Beckham for the top spot of ‘superhero’ in a poll of
8 to 12-year-olds, Dr. Robert Be ckford reminds us that Jesus still
matters in black popular cul ture.
H
ip hop saviour Kanye West tells us that
‘Jesus Walks’ with drug dealers and hustlers
implying that none are immune
to divine influence. Jamaican reggae-dancehall star
Sizzla is interested in the ‘racial’ features of the black
messiah insisting that only a black God can ‘bless
Sizzla.’ Turning to black visual culture the followers
of Jesus get a mixed press in film. In ‘Spike’ Lee’s
work is an argument that the black Muslims offer
the best nationalist and progressive politics for black
America1. In contrast, hip-hip video supremeo Hype
Williams’ debut gangster redemption movie, Belly
offers an alternative view of black Christianity to Lee.
In the final sequence it is a black nationalist
Christian pastor who is depicted as the messiah for
wayward black youth. All of this interest in Jesus and
“ It is a black nationalist Christian
pastor who is depicted as the messiah
for wayward black youth.”
Christianity reminds us of the inuring presence of the
Christian tradition in black cultures but also a need
to constantly remake Jesus in our own image. Jesus
has always been reworked in black Atlantic cultures.
Unlike the ridiculous sequence in Steven Spielberg’s
Amistad we did not see pictures of Jesus and think
he was a good guy we should follow.
Instead, we were presented with a distorted image
of Jesus as the enslaver of black people. After all one
of the first slave ships sent from England was
christened ‘Jesus.’ The idea of Jesus and the image
of Christianity did not bother most slaves until
nearly one hundred-and-fifty years into Caribbean
slavery. It took that long to convince slave owners
that converting slaves to Christianity would create
more docile, hardworking chattels. However the oneand-a-half century gap enabled African traditions »