"Black, Queer, and Christian": Exploring Sexuality as an Emerging Contour of Black Theology. Issue 4 (25th November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Adera, Godfrey Owino
• Is Part Of: Ecumenical review. Volume 74:Issue 4(2022)
• Page Start: 658
• Page End: 670
• Publication Date: 2022-11-25
• Subjects: Black theology -- blackness -- queerness -- Black consciousness -- Black queer bodies; Ecumenical movement -- Periodicals; 280.04205
• DOI: 10.1111/erev.12723
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-0796

Abstract

Abstract: This paper contributes to the panoply of theological discourses in Africa that seek to identify the role and the place of Black theology in post‐apartheid South Africa and the broader context of postcolonial Africa. This task is premised on two assertions. First is the argument of Alistair Kee that Black theology would have become redundant with the end of apartheid if racism remained its only subject of critical analysis. Second, Kee's assertion corroborates Allan Boesak's observation that beyond its goal to support the end of apartheid, Black theology is an ongoing discourse to rediscover and reclaim human dignity and identity. These two arguments underscore the need for a reassessment of South African Black theologies, redefining this theology's foundational ideals and casting new visions for emerging theological concerns today, including for the wider African context. The paper therefore explores the intersecting identities of "black, queer, and Christian" as an imperative for Black theologies' discourses in Africa today. Using a queer Black consciousness as a theoretical lens, these identities are examined through the eucharistic ritual of an LGBT church in Kenya where the phrase "this is my body, " on the institution of the eucharistic meal in the gospels, has become concretized and performed as a liberative praxis for people who identify as LGBT. As such, it is argued that the eucharistic ritual becomes a symbol, an art, and an act of resistance in Africa, where LGBT people continue to assert and affirm their identity and dignity of blackness, queerness, and faith (Christian).