African American religion and theology

That's a course I teach every year. Here are the required texts. I know I'm boring and minimal in my posts but such is life these days. Well, life is not boring, I just have no time to do anything but go from this to that.

Katie Geneva Cannon, Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community
James Cone, Black Theology and Black Power
Samuel Freedman, Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church
Larry Murphy, ed., Down by the Riverside: Readings in African American Religion
Anne H. Pinn and Anthony B. Pinn, Fortress Introduction to Black Church History
Marcia Riggs, Plenty Good Room: Women vs. Male Power in the Black Church
Richard Brent Turner, Islam in the African American Experience

If you want to dip into this field and get just one book, get Murphy, which has a little of everything in short essays by very good authors.

Good class tonight... (This one meets once a week* all evening -- I actually like that and it's good for the adults commuter students but the young 'uns come too.) Also lots of student meetings, lots of pastoral work, and some late night meetings yesterday and today to get some things ready for Convention. We have a table for the diocesan Anti-Racism Committee I chair (in the exhibit area) and we arranged to have it next to the Hispanic Ministries Committee and the Environmental Ministries folks and the Christian Social Concerns committee. I'm into building social justice coalitions :-).

* Actually I have this class twice a week but it's because for the first time I am teaching two sections of the same course; meaning I teach the class Wednesday nights to one group and Thursday nights to another. So two of my courses this semester only meet once a week. Same amount of homework to correct, though, 'cause I assign the same darn amount of work.

More on Convention above, though perhaps not tonight, because on the advice of Paul, my beauty consultant (see below in the Comments), I must attend to some beautification projects, like maybe doing my nails. Last year I wore bright turquoise on with black and grey, and I think this year we're going for bright red. (I wear a lot of purple but I think red is the thing. But I may change my mind by morning.)

Click to enlarge the beautiful picture above. It is a mural by the late Cameroonian Jesuit artist and theologian Engelbert Mveng and is located at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Chicago. All the scenes are biblical and have angels in them! African angels, as you can see. (Including Black heavenly host above the Nativity scene.) Detailed explanation of the mural here. (Small mistake -- the book is called Revelation with no "s.") Home page of Holy Angels Church here.