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Tribal Talk: Black Theology in Postmodern Configurations
By Will Coleman

"When we began our conversations in 1988, we had no idea of the vision we would see or the call to which we would eventually respond. Our purpose, then, was simply to meet in order to discuss how we could work together as scholars, and especially as young African American men, who found ourselves in the academy, far away from our communities of origin. During the course of many conversations, we hit upon the theme, as if inspired, of 'writing our way back home. ''Home' became a metaphor for our deepest yearning to return . . . to the psychological, emotional, and spiritual heritage of our African American presence within a predominantly Euro-American environment. I remember well the day we made that collective affirmation in my apartment. We did not know at the time that we were soon to discover that our ancestors were listening in on our conversations."

DURING THE FALL of 1988 I entered the Ph.D. program at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Two friends of mine were already in the Bay Area: Dwight N. Hopkins, teaching at Santa Clara University and George C. L. Cummings, at the American Baptist Seminary of the West. We had first met years earlier while we were seminary students, I at Columbia Theological Seminary and Dwight and George at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Over the years, Dwight and I remained in close contact, and it seemed natural for the three of us to form a group to discuss theology on a regular basis. It was the beginning of a discovery of a collaborative style of dialogue, research, and writing that I choose to describe as "tribal talk." For a period of three and a quarter years, we met regularly in my apartment for theological conversation, and during this time, James Noel of San Francisco Theological Seminary also joined our group, which we eventually named the BT Forum.

Will Coleman is Instructor in Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. Cofounder of BT Forum, a research, writing, and consulting partnership concerning African American religious life, he has written Children of Lazarus: A Handbook for Ministry with the Homeless (1988) and contributed a chapter to Cut Loose Your Stammering Tongue: Black Theology in the Slave Narratives (1991), edited by Dwight N. Hopkins and George Cummings.

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I

When we began our conversations in 1988, we had no idea of the vision we would see or the call to which we would eventually respond. Our purpose, then, was simply to meet in order to discuss how we could work together as scholars, and especially as young African American men, who found ourselves in the academy, far away from our communities of origin. During the course of many conversations, we hit upon the theme, as if inspired, of "writing our way back home." "Home" became a metaphor for our deepest yearning to return (at least through our research and writing) to the psychological, emotional, and spiritual heritage of our African American presence within a predominantly Euro-American environment. I remember well the day we made that collective affirmation in my apartment. We did not know at that time that we were soon to discover that our ancestors were listening in on our conversations.

As we continued to meditate on the meaning of "writing our way back home, " a series of inexplicable events occurred that confirmed the fact that we were on the right track. On one day, Dwight, George, and I engaged in a heated debate over the nature of African American religion and the African American church. We were especially divided over the issue of how the church organized itself around and articulated its version of Christian doctrine. Although we achieved no resolution on that day, it marked the beginning of a search in primary sources. We began to consider the prospect of doing research on African American folklore, spiritual songs, sermons, and slave narratives as a point of departure. Soon afterwards, we received a contract to write a book on a subject we had not yet researched: the theology in African American slave narratives. At one of our weekly "tribal" gatherings we looked at each other in astonishment and concluded that both God and our ancestors were calling us to give an accounting of our bold statement. Now was the time for us to begin "writing our way back home."

The BT Forum represents a tribal style of collaborative cooperation through dialogue, debate, and decision-making that eventuated in several projects, including the writing, with Cheryl Sanders, of Cut Loose Your Stammering Tongue: Black Theology in the Slave Narratives (Orbis Books, 1991). This text presents a way of doing theology, especially black theology, that can be effectively executed by young religious scholars who are committed to further redefining theological discourse in the future within a postChristian, postmodern, and pluralistic context.

What we learned about collaborative tribal work during the process of writing this book is as important as the constructive theological proposals we present in the text. These insights came in the form of two crucial messages. First, and most important, we learned that in spite of all the negative cultural codes and stereotyping, young African

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American men can work together. We can think, debate, and create, even in the midst of being encoded, inscribed, and described as a dangerous and endangered species by Euro-American strategies for signifying our cultural alienation and possible extinction. Collectively, we learned how to decode this false message and re-encode it with an affirmation to engage in emotional intimacy and intellectual productivity. Second, we discovered how to work organically as a tribal master mind. Ironically, the more we debated and played the devil's advocate with each other, the more sharply focused our insights became and the more we received "inspirations" from God, our ancestors, our theological elders, the struggles of other people of color, African American women theologians, and a few nontraditional Euro-Americans. At another level, we were even inspired by resistance from guardians of the cultural/classical/traditional canon(s).

II

In this literary "conversation," I would like to extend an invitation to the reader to engage in the construction of a narrative called "Tribal Talk: Black Theology in Postmodern Configurations." This designation signifies how the BT Forum views the present challenge for developing a contemporary, constructive black theology. The lead phrase is intended to evoke the image of a council of persons representing different voices gathering around a common concern. The ensuing phrase (after the colon-pause-we have gathered) calls attention to a particular style of doing theology within a racialized and fragmented social context. And finally, the concluding prepositional phrase represents that theology's constructively configured response to a contemporary problematic-postmodernity-with all of its controversial and ambiguous meanings.

In order to make my contribution toward the construction of this narrative (which you have the responsibility of completing), I will use additional compounded phrases as leads into a description of certain aspects of a contemporary, constructive black theology. These phrases represent two dialects. One is informal, the other, formal (as in, black:theology). This way of designating the following subdivisions is an object lesson about how most people of color have had to learn to live and to speak pluralistically and multiculturally (on the colon separating their indigenous discourse from that of their oppressors). It is also a clue to so-called white people (?), especially intellectuals, who hope to make sense of the declining attention given to the archaic ideology of white supremacy by people of color around the world. "Black theology in postmodern configurations" will be able to speak relevantly in the future reconfiguration of social constructs, precisely because it has been carved from an ancient tree that represents the ongoing struggle of persons of African descent to achieve full humanity and liberation within this global village. The present narrative

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pertains to one dimension of the intellectual and theological development of this journey into the future.

In a sense, this conversation is a reconfiguration of tribal talks we have had within the BT Forum. In other words, it is a condensed reconstruction of the organic and informal exchange that comes from thinking through contemporary trends within black theology, while simultaneously thinking about its future. Like all good (episodic) narratives, this story begins with our elders.

III

Talking about our Elders. The Origin and Development of Black Theology. Since the late 1960s, black theology has developed as a theology of liberation. As such, it was born out of the crucible of contemporary African American theologians' attempts to explicate the significance of the Christian message in the modern world (that is, the relation between Christ and a racist culture). Out of necessity, it has provided a critique of theological discourse rooted in cultural assumptions regarding the alleged superiority and inferiority of human beings on the basis of ethnicity, social status, and gender. Now, one of its constructive tasks is to provide a complementary analysis and explication of this message by drawing from indigenous sources within its own tradition as foundational for future theological reflection, while utilizing interdisciplinary techniques. For the BT Forum, these sources include a full range of African American cultural expressions, which will be mentioned later on in this conversation.

Black theology is a theology of witness and liberation. Like womanist and feminist theologies, Latin American liberation theology, and other Third World theologies, it attempts to discern and proclaim God's presence in liberating those who suffer under various forms of sin and oppression. These oppressions include racism, sexism, classism, and imperialism. Every theology, including those constructed by European and Euro-Arnerican men, has its own particular point of departure and focus. For black theology, this focus is upon the analysis, interpretation, and proclamation of how God liberates African Americans (and other oppressed people).

Black theology developed primarily out of the social and religious history of African American people in North America, and its development can be divided into four phases. First, it emerged as a conscious discipline during the mid-1960s, when radical African American ministers began to reflect on the meaning of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements within the African American communities of the United States. It underwent a second phase roughly between 1970 to 1975, when African American theologians took their case to Euro-American colleges, universities, and seminaries. It began a third phase when it focused on global issues in relationship to

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African American communities in the United States.¹ Now, it has embarked upon yet another phase, namely, the utilization of indigenous sources along with interdisciplinary strategies in its theological discourse.

Since the publication in 1969 of his ground breaking text Black Theology and Black Power, James Cone has consistently written on the theme of black theology. More than any one else, he gave nascent black theology its characteristic focus on liberation and specific christocentric claims. Other major contributors to the earliest developments of black theology, however, must be honored as our elders along with Cone. They include, Joseph R. Washington, whose book Black Religion initiated the debate over the authenticity of African American religion in relation to Euro-American Christianity; J. Deotis Roberts, who has written as a constant dialogue and debate partner with Cone (Liberation and Reconciliation); and Gayraud S. Wilmore, who has stressed the importance of turning to West African cultural roots for resources in doing black theology (Black Religion and Black Radicalism).

In addition to the above patriarchs, African American women theologians have also had a significant impact upon the subsequent development of black theology. Matriarchs such as Jacquelyn Grant, Delores Williams, and Katie Cannon have provided a major critique both of nascent black theology and the black church with respect to their sexism. This critique was the beginning of what later became known as womanist theology.

On the one hand, black theology in its earliest stages provided one of the most formidable critiques of racism within the Euro-American church and North American society, and it presented the challenge of discerning the meaning of the gospel in relation to the social situation, while issuing a clarion call to liberation from oppression. On the other hand, it allowed its reaction to racism to control too much of its discourse. Hence, it was unable see other forms of oppression clearly (for example, sexism, classism, and imperialism). Also, it was sidetracked from moving on to its own constructive agenda. Nevertheless, it has been both critical of traditional theology and self-critical during the course of its development. Consequently, it did lay the foundation for the constructive task of a contemporary generation of African American theologians.

Thus, since its inceptions in the late 1960s, black theology has been the center of much debate and dialogue. At times, it has been denounced outright. Nevertheless, it has survived, as have other liberation theologies, to become viable alternatives to traditional Eurocentric theology. Now it is in a position to move in some new directions.

There are at least four areas of concentration for the ongoing

¹ James Cone, For My People (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1984), pp. 24-27.

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development of black theology: (1) the globalization of black theology; (2) womanist theology; (3) the utilization of indigenous sources; and (4) the appropriation of interdisciplinary strategies.

IV

Talking with Other People of Color.- The Globalization of Black Theology. Black theology has now become an international theology, no longer confined within the continental United States. Instead, through contact with Third World theologians, and with an acceptance by some European and Euro-American ones, black theologians have developed a broader audience. Furthermore, its affinities with other liberation and indigenous theologies have formed a basis for discussions about collaborative research, writing, and praxis. During the 1970s and 1980s, several conferences were held that culminated in the publication of several volumes of literature, including Theology in the Americas and The Challenge of Basic Christian Communities, edited by Sergio Torres and John Eagleson; Asia's Search for Full Humanity, edited by Virginia Fabella; Theology in the Americas: Detroit II, edited by Cornel West and others; Irruption of the Third World and Doing Theology in a Divided World edited by Sergio Torres and Virginia Fabella and African Theology en Route, edited by Kofi Applah-Kubi and Sergio Torres. Collectively, such texts have become the basis for creating a corpus of literature that challenges, subverts, and revises the traditional, Eurocentric theological canon. They also underscore the pluralistic context out of which any contemporary theology has to be spoken.

Despite differences in history and culture, black and Third World theologians have discovered common ground to provide critiques of oppression and to speak on behalf of liberation of oppressed peoples. In certain cases, the kinship between black theology in the United States and other liberation theologies elsewhere has proven to be stronger than might seem apparent. For example, in South Africa, black theologians have developed a style of doing theology very similar to their counterparts in the United States. Although much remains to be done in South Africa, this form of theological discourse has had a significant impact upon dismantling the ideological underpinnings of the apartheid regime. The eschatological urgency of this unfinished task necessitates ongoing tribal talk between black theologians in the United States and South Africa.²

On a much broader scale, the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians continues to be a vital forum for engaging in tribal talk among its representative theologians. In the future, African American theologians should continue to engage in dialogue with

² See The Challenge of Black Theology in South Africa, edited by Basil Moore (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1974); Allan Boesak, Black and Reformed, edited by Leonard Sweetman (New York: Orbis Books, 1984); and Dwight N. Hopkin's discussion of this parallel development in his book, Black Theology USA and South Africa (New York: Orbis Books, 1989).

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other Third World theologians (as well as with sympathetic Europeans and Euro-Americans) towards developing further a linguistics for the praxis of liberation and to stimulate the development of "critical" theological perspectives that can speak with more relevance in our present pluralistic, postmodern, postChristian, and global context.

But even as we make progress in deepening our understanding of global oppression and strive to attain additional linguistic resources in the struggle against it, our attention is also called, in a very poignant way, to the response of those who personally experience multidimensional oppression; namely, women of African descent.

V

Learning from the Stories of African Women: The Significance of Womanist Theology. Womanist theology is continuing to blossom both within and alongside black theology, the African American church and community, and the broader society. As the specific discourse of African American women, it is distinct from both black and feminist theologies. On the one hand, unlike black theology, chauvinistic in its nascent form, womanist theology was never limited to a critique of North American racism. On the other hand, unlike the initial articulations of feminist theology, which held a myopic view of racism and classism, it is not restricted to a critique of sexism or patriarchy. Instead, African American women are articulating insights from their unique experiences of sexism, racism, and classism within North American society. Moreover, they are developing a paradigm that is not confined to either traditional theological language or categories. In addition to their own experiences, they often turn to the writings of African American women novelists like Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God), Toni Morrison (Beloved) and Alice Walker (The Color Purple). Alice Walker actually coined the word " womanist" in her book In Search of Our Mothers' Garden. For womanist theologians, the writings of these authors suggest different ways of talking about manifestations of God in human experience. Consequently, their novels have inspired womanist theologians by their unique representations, through their imaginative use of language, of the reality of African American women (and men).

In light of the above considerations, womanist theological discourse, to its credit, is much more poetic and thematic than it is analytical and systematic. Also, since womanist theologians affirm that God is experienced everywhere, they attempt to break down any sense of duality or dichotomy between the so-called sensual and spiritual aspects of human experiences. As a consequence of this radical move, they have developed a thoroughgoing erotic spirituality. The Spirit moves through flesh. Furthermore, womanist theologians continue to stress the importance of community-building within an individualistic society. For these reasons, as they continue to make their voices known, they will contribute much to black theology, but the implica-

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tions of their work are even more radical and far-reaching. As womanist theologians continue to write their own theological narratives, the entire discipline of theology will be impacted by their unique critiques of oppression and proposals for liberation. In other words, they will participate in the reformulation of all theological languages.

VI

Listening to Our Ancestors: The Utilization of Indigenous Sources. Contemporary African American theologians are at a crossroad. For me, the term crossroad is a significant metaphor because it alludes to Eshu Elegbara, the West African spirit who has to be approached in order to open the (linguistic) gate of opportunity for communion between humans and the spiritual world. African American theologians stand at a point before Eshu, as it were, where they can enter into new opportunities of reading the testimonies of African Americans from previous generations with a new set of eyes. This means, for example, that African American folklore, songs, sermons, and narratives may be analyzed in a different theological context for their potential contribution to a constructive, contemporary black theology of liberation. Given this present context for engaging in constructive theological discourse, resources from within black theology's own cultural heritage can truly be incorporated into a multidimensional theological style of reflection. In other words, since black theology no longer needs to be defended for its very existence as theology or focused exclusively on either criticizing or appropriating traditional Eurocentric theology, now its theologians can concentrate on the constructive task of drawing from the full range of religious experiences and articulations of African American people, past and present, non-Christian and Christian. Furthermore, African American theologians can research the religious past of their people for expressions of faith that may be translated into the present.

Moreover, writing that is inspired by source material engenders a greater appreciation of African American religious language. For example, the unique expressions of the religiosity of the slave culture contribute to research and writing in the area of African American religious scholarship informed by the words of ex-slaves themselves as distinct from the interpretations of their masters or of racist scholars.

This opportunity also offers African American theologians a chance to develop new interdisciplinary tools. Just as they were encouraged in the 1970s and 1980s to come to terms with Marxist social analysis (especially at the suggestion of Cornel West and Latin American theologians) now it is necessary to develop other interdisciplinary skills in order to examine and appropriate multi-layered discourses within the cultural history of African American people. These would include the largely overlooked rhetoric of folklore and slave narratives. This is important because an interdisciplinary approach gives the contemporary African American theologian a wider range of sources for the

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hidden meanings and significations that have been buried in previously neglected (and repressed) cultural expressions.

I would commend the tribal model to others as a counter to the illusion of the so-called solitary scholar and social critic, and I want to draw out some implications of this narrative on tribal talk or black theology in postmodern configurations as they have developed within the BT Forum. A major challenge for the contemporary African American theologian is the task of seeing and naming how people who have been traditionally marginalized will maintain a language of faith and liberation in the midst of major paradigm shifts that are occurring within society. One response is through the use of symbols and metaphors that speak to the situation of oppression in all of its demonic forms. Furthermore, this language should inspire the oppressed to struggle against future oppressions as they arise. Historically, African Americans have had to discover and rediscover the power of liberating "tribal talk" and pass it on to the next generation. Repeatedly, this has been done against overwhelming odds. The future recovery of this ongoing legacy is in the hands of those who are willing to work at all levels, on all fronts, and by whatever means necessary in order to achieve the unfinished task of liberation for all people.

VII

Mastering Pluralistic Ways of Speaking.- The Appropriation of Interdisciplinary Strategies. The BT Forum is currently engaging in dialogue with several African American literary critics. The immediate purpose of this theological and literary conversation is to explore the story of African American religion via folk culture, art, and narratives (both historical and fictional). Beyond this more immediate concern, though, there is the desire to come to terms with the deep structures of African American discourse (broadly understood as multitextual). That is, this dialogue seeks to grasp the ways in which African American people have anticipated postmodernity (for example, by attempting to make sense of their fragmented reality) since their encounter with the negative fallout of the hegemonic ideology of the (European) "Enlightenment," namely, its corresponding shadow side: the (en)forced benightedness of non-Europeans. Another way of saying this is to suggest that the colon I insist on placing between the informal and formal lead phrases that appear throughout this conversation is a way of signifying the indispensable bi-linguisticality (and bi-culturality) that African Americans have had to appropriate in order to survive under the ideology of an alleged white superiority. As a case study, the story of African American religion provides an opportunity for members of the BT Forum and several literary critics to come together and further to develop "pluralistic ways of speaking" through interdisciplinary strategies.

Second, through ongoing critical dialogue and debate, members of the BT Forum have come to realize the importance of mastering

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multiple ways of speaking theologically. We have come to see why interdisciplinary strategies are crucial for the constructive task of a contemporary black theology. We have developed a wide range of interests, including (1) systematic theology, from the Enlightenment to the present; (2) theological hermeneutics, especially with respect to contemporary interpretation theories and strategies; (3) specific theological themes such as God, christology, anthropology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, and eschatology; (4) black theology, considered as a cultural phenomenon; (5) the utilization of indigenous sources for a contemporary, constructive black theology; (6) the political and religio-cultural analysis of African American folk tradition; and (7) African American religious thought, considered cross-culturally.

Thus, the BT Forum is constantly seeking multidimensional ways of speaking theologically through the appropriation of interdisciplinary strategies of interpretation and communication. The utilization of these diverse techniques provides new opportunities for thinking constructively as well as critically about the role of the contemporary African American theologian in a world that is far more complex than it ever has been before. And yet, we are also all too aware of the fact various forms of oppression (racism, sexism, classism, imperialism) persist. Therefore, black theology remains relevant both as a critical and prophetic voice that can draw from past experience while speaking of hope for the future in the present situation.

The challenge of doing theology today is one of learning how to remain relevant under rapidly changing circumstances. If contemporary African American theologians strive to broaden the circle of participants in their tribal talk, they will not be reduced to speaking irrelevant esoterica. If, in a pluralistic context, so-called white people (?) can learn from the tribal talk of others, perhaps there will be no further need for that agonizing colon that separates their respective realities.