Healing as a Praxis of Freedom: Exploring Black Liberation Theology to Inform Critical Praxis

• In Event: Critical Pedagogies of Healing: Curriculum for Human Thriving in Times of Struggle

Abstract

In the late James Cones’ (2011) seminal work, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, the theologian contends with the symbolic and material violences of both the lynching tree and the burning cross to expose the Christianization of racial oppression against Black lives. As the father of Black Liberation Theology (BLT), which seeks to “teach people how to be both unapologetically black and Christian at the same time” (NPR, 2008), Cone’s taking up of these charged symbols has opened up powerful possibilities for the tensions of being both Black and Christian by disrupting the violent White hegemonic history of Christianity and prioritizing the liberation and healing of the oppressed, as Christ did throughout scripture. These possibilities hold deep implications for Black realities broadly, since the tensions and inherent contradictions of being both Black and *insert white-dominated institutional affiliation here* saturate Black experiences daily. At its core, BLT rejects the white-dominated construction of Christianity and works to heal the violences of this history by repositioning Christianity through the lens of the oppressed in both the theorization and implementation of Black Christian practices. Thus, it positions the work of healing (racial) violence as a necessary praxis of the liberation that it offers. Rooted in personal narratives around being Black and Christian and Black and full-time professor—given that Black women make up only 3% of full-time faculty in the United States (NCES, 2017)—this paper draws on 7 years of research on racial justice in education to explore the capacity of this critical spirituality and healing offered by BLT to shape critical praxes in education.

Author

• Jamila Lyiscott, University of Massachusetts – Amherst