Living Black Theology

Abstract Living Black Theology is a constructive theological appraisal for a radical mode of socio-political engagement that both acknowledges and speaks to the current cultural and intellectual contestations with which many societies are wrestling. This book offers a liberationist and postcolonial articulation of Black theology that addresses the historic legacy of slavery and colonialism. It creates a dynamic, interdisciplinary critique of the underlying constructs and social forces that have led to a world of endemic, systemic racism. It provides a unique and innovative approach to these contested legacies, by means of historical research, theological reflection, and cultural analysis. Drawing on James Cone’s outstanding final memoir, Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody, which states that all scholarly theological work is some form of autobiography, this text argues for a process of decolonizing intellectual knowledge, based on contextual narratives. In this text, the author demonstrates how the development of a Participative approach to Black theology is that one that can offer us creative ways of impacting on the lived experience and intellectual and emotional formation of students and scholars alike. This text is a sequel to the author’s landmark book Theologising Brexit. Like that volume, this book offers a Black Liberation theology approach to interpreting the past, in order that we rethink the present and ultimately create a better future for all those who are presently crucified on contemporary crosses shaped by systemic racism. This is the first book written for Oxford University Press by the first Professor of Black Theology in the history of the University of Oxford.