Date of Project

4-23-2021

Document Type

Honors Thesis

School Name

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Theology

Major Advisor

Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty

Abstract

In July 2020, the New York Times reported an increase of 15-26 million people across the United States engaging in #BlackLivesMatter protests. Blackout Tuesday, a social media movement aimed at showcasing solidarity with the movement for racial justice in America, amassed a total of 24 million posts on Instagram, making it easily one of the top hashtags of 2020. There is no doubt that 2020 was the year the Black Lives Matter movement witnessed the most engagement of white Americans since its inception in 2013. Despite this fact, there remains an inability for many white Christians to engage in the movement for Black lives in America. This investigation considers what white Christians can learn from Black social mysticism, Womanist theology, and Queer and Indecent theologies about the integral role that Christian faith plays in the fight for racial justice. The writings of Howard Thurman, Katie Geneva Cannon, Jacquelyn Grant, Keri Day and Marcella Althaus-Reid will illustrate the importance of Christian thought in solidarity protest movements and the pursuit of freedom from the days of chattel slavery to the Civil Rights Movement to #BlackLivesMatter. From their guidance, lessons for the 21st century white Christian concerning the necessity for embodied social action in the #BlackLivesMatter movement are laid forth.

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