Albert Cleage Jr. and the Black Madonna and Child

Jawanza Eric Clark is Associate Professor of Global Christianity at Manhattan College, USA. His first book, Indigenous Black Theology, is a work of comparative and constructive theology that incorporates the indigenous African notion of ancestor in the development of a new Black theology for the church.

• Introduction: Why a White Christ Continues to be Racist: The Legacy of Albert B. Cleage, Jr.; Jawanza Eric Clark.- Part I: Albert B. Cleage Jr.’s Theology and Politics.- 1. The Theological Journey of Albert B. Cleage Jr.: Reflections from Jaramogi’s Protégé and Successor; D. Kimathi Nelson.- 2. Nothing is More Sacred than the Liberation of Black People: Albert Cleage’s Method as Unfulfilled Theological Paradigm Shift; Jawanza Eric Clark.- 3. “We Needed Both of Them”: The Continuing Relevance of Rev. Albert B. Cleage, Jr’s Radical Interpretations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in Scholarship and Black Protest Thought”; Stephen Finley.- 4. The Black Messiah and Black Suffering; Torin Dru Alexander.- 5. Politics is Sacred: The Social Activism of Albert B. Cleage Jr.; Aswad Walker.- Part II: Representations of the Black Madonna and Child, Christian Education, and Pastoral Care.- 6. The Black Madonnaand the Role of Women; Velma Maia Thomas.- 7. Black Power and Black Madonnas: Charting the Aesthetic and Cultural Influence of Albert B. Cleage, Jr. and the Shrine of the Black Madonna, #1; Melanee Harvey.- 8. The Power of a Black Christology: Africana Pastoral Theology Reflects on Black Divinity; Lee Butler.- 9. Image is Everything? The Significance of the Imago Dei in the Development of African-American Youth; Almeda Wright.- 10. A Crucified Black Christ, a Dead Black Love; Basean Jackson.- Part III: The Legacy of the Black Messiah in the African Diaspora.- 11. The Crucified City: Detroit as a Black Christ Figure; Kamasi Hill.- 12. Savior King: Re-reading the Gospels as Greco-Africana Literature & Re-Imaging Christ as African Sacrificial King; Salim Faraji.- 13. He is Black and We are Queer: The Legacy of the Black Messiah for Black LGBTQ Christians; Pamela Lightsey.- 14. The “Black Messiah” andAfrican Christologies: Pan-African Symbols of Liberation; Josiah E. Young.- 15. The Quest for a Radical Black Jesus: An Antidote to Imperial Mission Christianity; Anthony Reddie.

“The publication of this collection of 15 essays coincides with the 50th anniversary of Albert B. Cleage Jr.’s unveiling of the mural of the black Madonna and Child … . This collection of essays is vital for understanding not only Cleage’s theology and activism but also the history of contemporary Black theology in the United States. The collection fills a large void.” (Frederick L. Ware, Black Theology, Vol. 16 (1), December, 2017)