The Explainer: The ‘Curse of Ham’ – how people of faith used a story in Genesis to justify slavery
PAUL HAM, a lecturer in narrative history, looks at how “a grotesque misuse of the very words of the Bible” has been used to support the idea of slavery…
In the US, PBS documentaries depict Frederick Douglass’ and Harriet Tubman’s paths of freedom, faith
United StatesRNS Frederick Douglass called the Bible one of his most important resources and was involved in Black church circles as he spent his life working to end what he called the “peculiar institution” of slavery. Harriet Tubman sensed divine inspiration amid her actions to free herself and dozens of others who had been enslaved […]
Sight-Seeing: Black history can’t be told without the Bible
Rev NICOLE MARTIN, vice president of church engagement and executive director of trauma healing at American Bible Society, says the Bible has been a source of “healing, hope and refuge from danger” for Black Americans…
US SLAVERY ANNIVERSARY: FROM NEW YORK TO ALABAMA, BLACKS WORSHIPPED IN OWN SPACES BEFORE ABOLITION
As the US marks the 400th anniversary of the forced arrival of African slaves in Virginia, ADELLE M BANKS, writing for Religion News Service, reports on how black communities gathered in their own churches in the years before the official abolition of slavery…
SIGHT-SEEING: WHY A 2,500-YEAR-OLD HEBREW POEM STILL MATTERS
As Jews around the world mark Tisha B’av, commemorating the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem, DAVID W STOWE, professor of English and religious studies at Michigan State University in the US, reflects on the enduring power of Psalm 137 and how it has inspired activists and artists all over the world…