Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE

Teaching Black Biblical Studies in the UK: Special Issues for Consideration and Suggested Hermeneutical Approaches

Author: Lynette Mullings

Journal Title: Discourse

ISSN: 2040-3674

ISSN-L: 1741-4164

Volume: 8

Number: 2

Start page: 81

End page: 126

Return to vol. 8 no. 2 index page

Black theology as an academic discipline can be said to have had its roots within the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements in 1960s America and the radical efforts of Black clergy in the struggle for freedom.1 James Cone, the father of Black theology, in his groundbreaking works Black Theology and Black Power2, A Black Theology of Liberation3, and God of the Oppressed4, took the bold and unashamed step of articulating what God means to African Americans.

Through racial and social oppression, it became important for Black people of America to articulate their experience in the light of God and the people of Israel as illustrated in the Bible. The Israelites' lives were blighted with the peril of slavery and suffering. For Blacks, they too had undergone slavery and were still suffering through racial discrimination and injustice. It was no longer adequate for Blacks in America to accept the theology of a dominating culture that upheld the inferiority of Black people by asserting they were somehow less than human, and as such, not subject to the same rights as Whites, nullifying their experience of faith in the process. Tired of their situation, the development of Black theology became the voice of an oppressed people affirming their faith in God who identified with their struggle. Black theology became a theology of liberation. It is the faith of Black Christians in America that Cone sought to place under the spotlight of critical reflection in order to rigorously defend an understanding of God through the lens of the Black Church. This understanding is rooted in the perspective that God is Black, because of the very fact that he is on the side of the oppressed. Black in the sense that he understands the language of suffering as experienced through Black people in slavery. As Black theology emerged, the central focus became seeing the gospel of Jesus as essentially one of liberation.5 Jesus identified himself with the poor who were at the heart of his mission.6 A mission that proclaimed freedom to the captives as seen through the account of Luke 4.16ff. For Black people, being able to reflect on the plight of their struggle in light of the Jesus tradition reinterpreted, was a means of seeing Jesus as present with them in their contemporary situation. This provided the source of empowerment needed to fight for freedom and justice. Jesus became liberator, an affirmation of Black power. Power to demand to be treated as human beings, power to fight to be accepted in society, power to be treated with dignity and respect.

Since the early works of Cone and other theologians7 who represented the prophetic voices of the 1960s, Black Theology in America has gone on from strength to strength with a new generation of scholars who have developed the discipline further like Dwight Hopkins8, Kelly Brown Douglas9, and Delores Williams.10 Furthermore, for more than two decades now, we have also seen the development of Womanist Theology through notable exponents like Williams11 and Douglas12 again, Katie Cannon13, Jacquelyn Grant14, Emillie Townes15, and Karen Baker-Fletcher16 to name a few.17

It is the demand of these African American scholars to articulate their faith through their Black experience that gave rise to emerging voices across the Atlantic on British shores. Although having a shorter life existence than its African American counterpart, Black theology in Britain gained particular momentum in the late nineties through the particularly vocal writings of Robert Beckford in Jesus is Dread18, Dread and Pentecostal19 and God of the Rahtid.20 What Beckford did through his works was focus our minds on what it is like to be Black living in Britain in light of Christian faith and critiqued it through Black popular cultural optics. In recent years, we have seen the expansion of voices on the subject, in particular, through the prolific works of Anthony Reddie.21 He has sought to cast a particular look at Black God-talk through the life experience of Black people in Britain. Emmanuel Lartey22, Michael Jagessar23, Mukti Barton24, Mark Sturge25, Joe Aldred26, Kate Coleman27 and Lorraine Dixon28 are also notable names, who have in various ways provided new theological insights on Black British life. However, what has been largely missing from these writings is a focused and systematic treatment of the biblical texts in light of Black experience.29 It is Aldred himself, who, in his article 'Paradigms for a Black Theology in Britain'30 asserts the need for engagement with the biblical text in order to arrive at any kind of Black British theological paradigm. He writes:

Biblical models are crucial for Black Theology in Britain because the Black Christian community, especially the Black-led churches, is a biblio-centric community. Any theology therefore that does not engage in a primary way with the biblical text will find itself ipsofacto divorced from the Black Church with which it seeks to engage.31

Given the centrality of the Bible to Black Christian faith in Britain, it is essential that a critical reading of Scripture through the lens of Black British experience be developed. Herein lies the context for introducing Black biblical hermeneutics. If there is to be any meaningful discourse on matters of faith as lived through the lives of Black people in Britain, if 'Black God-talk' is to be truly effective, then the cultural distinctive must be realised and brought to the foreground. How this underpins the reading of the biblical text becomes of crucial importance. African-American Hebrew scholar Randall Bailey outlines the way in which the Bible has been interpreted from a colonial and dominant perspective. His expressed concern in his essay 'The Danger of Ignoring One's Own Cultural Bias in Interpreting the Text'32 is that,

unless one is aware of one's own cultural biases and interests in reading the text and appropriating the tradition, one may be seduced into adopting another's culture, one which is diametrically opposed to one's health and well-being. 33

Against this backdrop, the matter of reading the biblical text in light of one's own culture is to be taken very seriously. What this essay seeks to address then is the need for the development of a form of biblical scholarship that applies a reading strategy that is distinct to a particular aspect of Black culture. I want to make a case for the use of Black vernacular and vernacular hermeneutics for critical dialogue and interpretation of the Scriptures through an assessment of the Bible Society of the West Indies' work, 'A Who Run Tings?'34—translated passages of the Gospels into Jamaican (otherwise known as patois)35, in audio form, and subsequently the Bible Society's effort to build upon this seminal work in a bid to translate the entire Bible into Jamaican. Through this, I want to bring to the fore how the application of Jamaican to the biblical text can be appropriated within the teaching of under-postgraduate programmes of study in Higher Education institutions that open up the way for serious reflection on issues surrounding discourse and power that give space to unheard voices and the integrity of their experience. This I believe is a key aspect to theological education and training if we're to produce the kind of ministers, leaders and biblical scholars at the cutting edge of their ministry and field.

Black vernacular and vernacular hermeneutics

For decades African Caribbeans in Britain have been expressing their world view, their selfhood, through their own developed verbal power and word music.36 The Black vernacular has been the uniting force of Black communities37 that have struggled to maintain their cultural identity in a White dominated society. R.S. Sugirtharajah points out that 'Etymologically, 'vernacular' connotes the language of household slaves, hence of ordinary people, rather than that of the masters or the elite.'38 It is in essence the means in which a once colonised people endeavour to recapture a sense of their local identity in ways which communicate their distinctiveness and give validity to their existence.39

As the vernacular in this connotation reflects the language of the poor, it has particular significance to the Black community that from history they have reflected an impoverished class. Sugirtharajah notes that the definition of what is vernacular largely depends on the context.40 From the British context, the Black vernacular can be described as 'Black language' in Britain. This language employs Caribbean Creoles. Marlon Winedt in his article, 'A Survey of Creole Language Studies'41 provides a working definition of a Creole as '...a contact language whose lexicon is predominantly derived from a lexifer language, but whose syntax is at least partially derived from another (substrate) language.'42 In the case of Caribbean Creoles, it can be said that their origin dates back to the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries when Black people from many different parts of West and Central Africa were thrown together on the Caribbean plantations and so created their own new social networks which emerged new common languages.43 An emergence which would have arisen abruptly and out of urgency.44

Although a variety of Creole languages are employed by a number of Black people in Britain, particularly the youth, the most influential of Creoles is Jamaican.45 It is this creative stability and variation in the tension between Jamaican and English that has provided a vehicle for the ordinary Black communities in Britain to express their own experiences; a vehicle that has been expressed through the realm of music, poetry and within the religious sphere. More will be said about how and where the language has been used as a creative expression of cultural identity later, however, it is important to say at this point that given the strength of the Black vernacular within Black communities in Britain being in the spoken word, it is crucial that any study that seeks to bring to light the experiences of Black culture through the biblical texts must centralise its investigation within interpretations that have a vernacular reading. Such hermeneutical practices aim '...to overcome the remoteness and strangeness of these biblical texts by trying to make links across the cultural divides by employing the reader's own cultural resources and social experiences to illuminate the biblical narratives.'46

Biblical Scholarship from a cultural perspective

Before we consider the translation work of BSWI, it is important to say a brief word about what biblical scholarship from a cultural perspective currently looks like globally. Exegetical work from a particular cultural lens has been going on as exemplified through African biblical scholarship. Musa Dube47 and Itumeleng Mosala48 are two notable scholars in the field. There is also the landmark publication of the Africa Bible Commentary.49 In his essay 'Academic Biblical Interpretation among African Americans in the United States', Randall Bailey named all the African Americans with doctoral degrees—there were forty five (twenty one in Hebrew Bible; twenty four in New Testament).50

Although not an official or comprehensive list, it gave us a good indication as to the developments of biblical scholarship across the Atlantic. In 2007, with the groundbreaking publication of the first ever African American New Testament commentary entitled True to Our Native Land,51 this list was built upon with a total of forty names of African Americans holding doctorates in New Testament alone. It is evident then that African-American biblical scholarship is continuing to grow. Furthermore, there is a growing recognition within biblical studies of the importance of scholars reading with people at grassroots level in a way that identifies with them culturally and socially. This is something that Gerald West and Musa Dube set in motion in 1996 with the Semeia 73 publication of ''Reading With': An Exploration of the Interface Between Critical and Ordinary Readings of the Bible,'52 where their aim was to bring to particular attention African voices and the various techniques they offer in 'reading with' 'ordinary readers.' The recent publishing of Reading Other-wise: Socially Engaged Biblical Scholars Reading with their Local Communities53 is in fact a follow-up project of the first conversations of the 1996 Semeia 73 publication but this time widens the geographical field to include scholars from around the world (South Africa, India, Jamaica, Brazil, UK, USA) '...who share similar commitments to do their scholarship in the interface between the academy and community.'54 Other publications which also follow a similar theme of scholars reading with 'ordinary readers' are Bob Ekblad's Reading the Bible with the Damned55 and Musimbi R.A. Kanyoro's Introducing Feminist Cultural Hermeneutics: An African Perspective.56

There are more biblical scholars than ever before who are writing from cultural perspectives and bringing to bear the fascinating insights that can be gained through an intercultural approach to biblical learning. However, this is virtually absent in Britain. The need for something specific to the Black British landscape is vital.

A Who Run Tings?—its development

In 1996, the Bible Society of the West Indies (BSWI) took the bold step of launching A Who Run Tings? (Who is in Charge?), the first ever scripture cassette portions of the Gospels into Jamaican. It is the mission of the BSWI to carry out the effective distribution of the Word of God in languages that people can understand and at affordable prices. In an interview with the BSWI's General Secretary, Revd Courtney Stewart, in the summer of 200757, he points out that the Scriptures have always been available in English to Jamaicans, however, they believed that patois was the vehicle that could '...convey the Scriptures and the truths and realities of the Scriptures, to Jamaicans, at a much deeper level than English ever could.'58 These truths and realities were set against the backdrop of what Revd Stewart points out was a growing drug culture, a growing underworld culture in Jamaica with the emergence of persons called 'dons.' That is, community leaders who would terrorise and hold captive communities and establish political strongholds, frequently asserting their rights with a popular saying 'A me run tings.'59 However, as a means of speaking out against such self-appointed leaders, ten Scripture passages which deal with the miracles of Christ, His death and resurrection, were carefully chosen against this cultural background to convey God's sovereignty in nature, in people's lives and even in death.60 As Revd Stewart emphatically asserts when explaining in light of the social situation, how they came up with the title for the New Testament series, '...undoubtedly, A Who Run Tings? It's not the dons—a God run tings!'61 In effect, the message that was being conveyed in audio form was that God is in control; God, ultimately, is in charge.

The bold step BSWI took in the A Who Run Tings? translation project was not without its challenges and controversy along the way, from the first time the idea was broached at committee level,62 to when it was launched with the coverage it received through the media and national newspapers; the controversial factor being the fact that the sacred Scriptures were translated into the Jamaican language itself which was not considered a language by many Jamaicans. English is the official national language in Jamaica. Arguments abounded for and against the translation of the Bible passages. One of the fiercest critiques levelled at the BSWI was that by Morris Cargill writing in The Sunday Gleaner on 30th June 1996 who argues for retaining the King James Version as representing 'elegant English.' It is worth quoting him at length:63

Now a bunch of well-meaning idiots has announced the intention of 'translating' the Bible into the broken English some call patois. If this wrong-headed scheme comes about it will signal our lost hope of getting good English spoken by the majority of Jamaicans.
What causes people to want to vulgarise everything and to reduce them to the lowest common denominator? I cannot understand the lack of pride which makes some people think that to speak and write good English is beyond the capacity of Jamaicans. And in our case if you destroy English you are depriving Jamaicans of a whole world of fine literature.
What are these jackasses going to do next? 'Translate' Shakespeare and Milton into patois?64

Note the pejorative way Cargill talks about the translation as vulgarising the language and reducing it down to 'the lowest common denominator' with patois being nothing more than 'broken English.' Rather than view Jamaican as a separate language in itself, Cargill sees its use in the translation of a sacred text as destroying English. That somehow, by applying Black language to this biblical enterprise, it will corrupt and downgrade the very essence of English prose eventually leading to its erosion. Given that the official national language of Jamaica is English, one can see why there would be opposition. Yet Cargill's comments represent an arrogant mindset and are a contradiction in terms. By making the statement 'If you degrade the language of a people you are destroying their capacity to think and their capacity to understand elegance and good taste,' Cargill has failed to recognise that Jamaican is the language of the people of Jamaica, their first language, and not English as many would like to believe. Cargill has elevated English to a high and superior status from which only 'fine literature' can be found. This Western language bias is not an untypical view as Viv Edwards points out in her book Language in a Black Community.65 She notes that in most people's minds, Black language is associated with oral culture and unfortunately the truth is that languages that are vehicles of a written language are considered more prestigious than those that are not.66

The matter concerning oral versus scribal discourse and what constitutes good taste is the focus of Jamaican academic Carolyn Cooper's book, Noises in the Blood: Orality, Gender and the 'Vulgar' Body of Jamaican Popular Culture.67 She argues that the 'vulgarity' of the vulgar must itself be contested. Analysing definitions of the words 'vulgar' and 'taste' from the Oxford English Dictionary spanning the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, she points out that in the 1643 definition of 'vulgar' as '[h]aving a common and offensively mean character, coarsely commonplace; lacking in refinement or good taste,'68 such a conception of the term '...seems to originate in a fear of the course texture of the (feminised) body and baseness of the flesh that must be made subject to the refining influence of magisterial 'good taste': not eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.'69

Although Cooper points out the oral nature of the term 'taste', i.e. the sense of touch, feeling (with the hands) and the act of tasting or perceiving the flavour of a thing with the organ of taste,70 she asserts that the 1671 Oxford English Dictionary definition is narrowly circumscribed, that is to say that taste is 'the faculty of perceiving and enjoying what is excellent in art, literature, and the like...'71 In this way, Cooper argues that taste becomes aesthetics, the criticism of taste and has precise ideological implications for what she calls '...the playful exploration of the body of Jamaican popular culture.'72 It is the pejoration of the 'vulgar'—the people, the language and the corpus of culture produced, that Cooper notes marks the high/low-euro/afrocentric cultural divide that is encoded in the Jamaican body politic. She points out that from the relative neutrality of the Latin vulgus, 'the common people,' the vulgar becomes 'coarsely commonplace.' Therefore, the vulgate, that which is of language or speech, the ordinary, vernacular, as according to the 1513 Oxford English Dictionary definition becomes the sign of illiteracy. The use of understanding language, words or ideas that is common to the people who produce this vulgar body of knowledge (1533 definition) and is commonly current or prevalent, generally or widely disseminated, as a matter of knowledge, assertion, or opinion (1549 definition) is devalued.73 Cooper concludes from this that 'In all domains, the 'vulgar' is that which can be traced to "Africa"; the "refined" is that which can be traced to "Europe".'74 Thus, she further goes on to say that, 'In the domain of language and verbal activity, English is "refined" and Jamaican is "vulgar"; oral texts are "vulgar"; written texts are "refined".'75

Cooper provides a compelling analysis of the prevailing colonial attitude towards Black culture that views it as an inferior culture to the White Western world that put such hostile comments like Cargill's into sharper focus and it is the White, Euro-centric dominant discourse who have set the parameters in deciding what represents good taste. To translate the Bible into Jamaican is problematic because 'patois' is a Black idiom and anything that is a creation of Black people cannot be of quality or inherent good. This is the crux of the matter. Cargill finds it offensive that a Jamaican translation of the Bible could be envisaged as worthy of time and effort in producing because it is unrefined. His final comments are no less cutting:

Personally, I've never regarded the Bible as much of a book and it seems to me that to describe it as God's Word is singularly unflattering to the Almighty. But the King James Version is redeemed by the beauty of its language. Now even that is to be lost.
The kind of people who seek to 'translate' the Bible into patois claim that they want to help the people, but in fact they are insulting them by demonstrating the false belief that fine things are beyond their reach.76

It should be said, however, that opposition to the translation of the Bible into another language is nothing new. The history of Bible translation has been in operation for centuries such as the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible during the third to the first century BCE, and William Tyndale's translation into English (1526) where he himself was burned at the stake for daring to translate the Bible into what was considered a common and inferior language in comparison to the much heralded Latin!77 Many such translations were caught up with the question of what makes a good translation and the techniques used either in translating into the language in which the receptors spoke or whether a more literal rendering was appropriate in keeping with the Hebrew or Greek. Thus, the nature of the controversy is varied; the derision (and, of course, praise too) can abound. American Bible Translator, Eugene A. Nida, the major exponent of translation theories within the 20th century, puts it quite plainly when summarising the translator's task. He says:

The translator's task is essentially a difficult and often a thankless one. He is severely criticized if he makes a mistake, but only faintly praised when he succeeds, for often it is assumed that anyone who knows two languages ought to be able to do as well as the translator who has labored to produce a text. But even if his work is rarely rewarded by the praise of others, the task itself has its own rewards, for successful translating involves one of the most complex intellectual challenges known to mankind. Moreover, in our present world the need for extensive, accurate, and effective communication between those using different languages gives the translator a position of new and strategic importance.78

It is the intellectual challenge and the new and strategic importance of the translator that Nida refers to that is of particular significance. For in the process of producing an effective Bible translation in a language not translated into before, the potential for it to lead to other literacy breakthroughs is huge, not to mention the impact it stands to have on that particular language community on a number of levels, socially, educationally, spiritually and psychologically despite the fact that that particular language community may not realise it yet.79 The potentiality of literacy breakthroughs can be said of a Jamaican translation of the Bible. More will be said about that later in this paper, but at present, more needs to be said about the wider questions resistance to A Who Run Tings? raises.

As previously stated, history is not devoid of opposition, criticism and ridicule to certain translations of the Bible, so one could say the translation of New Testament passages into Jamaican is another in a line of controversial translations.80 However, there are some particular factors associated with this translation that cause it to be problematic; factors relating to the colonial past of Jamaican society, the conditions in which the language evolved and its subsequent inferior status as a broken form of English, creating a sense of shame in terms of the negative attitude towards it and thus, viewed as not fit for any type of language learning in an education setting.81 In the minds of many, how then can such a 'tampering' of the sacred Scriptures take place with such a low, slang-like language? However, M.A.K. Halliday states that language is the primary means for the transmission of culture from one generation to the next.82 Furthermore, taking Chris Barker's work, Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice83 into account, he highlights the significance of the relationship between language and culture, which has risen to the top of the agenda within the discipline of cultural studies for two central and related reasons. The first reason is that language is the privileged medium in which cultural meanings are formed and communicated. The second reason is that language is the means and medium through which we form knowledge about ourselves and the social world.84 Based on such understandings of the nature of culture and language and their essential relatedness, one can begin to see how the Jamaican language represents not just a language in and of itself, but represents the very essence of a nation's cultural heritage.

Cultural expressions of Jamaican—its uses

In terms of influence, the Jamaican language has found its place within a variety of literary and musical art forms: reggae, dancehall and dub poetry are just some of the key examples of its use and such emergences of its use has had a profound effect on the culture of Black life in Britain as a language of resistance and declaration of Black independence. 85 For example, the lyrics of Bob Marley represented an ideology that could be ascribed to and resonated in the hearts and minds of young people who felt socially marginalised and oppressed in Britain.86

In a particularly revealing interview with Carolyn Cooper in 200787, she makes the point that as a musical genre, dancehall provides the spaces in culture where the language has great visibility. It is the working class, she notes, who form their identity from dancehall asserting that the language represents the space where one's identity is affirmed, so the body of the language, in relation to the freedom of the pelvic movements, symbolises verbal freedom to express oneself in the mother tongue.88 In relation to dub poetry, there are a number of notable artists who can be said to have used the language creatively through literary means. Linton Kwesi Johnson89 is one of the most radical, prolific, and leading names within Black British literature for creating a new form of poetry called 'dub poetry.'90 It was revolutionary in terms of the language (Jamaican), content (social and political commentary on Black life in Britain), and style (use of rhythms of reggae). What is particularly interesting is that in its written form, Linton Kwesi Johnson's spelling is approximately phonetic, making the impact of what is being said even more expressive when read aloud. Poets such as Birmingham-born Benjamin Zephaniah also followed in a similar way in engaging this unique style of poetry.91 Jamaican-born dub poets such as Michael Smith92, whose celebrated poem 'Mi Cyaan Believe It' is a classic93; Jean 'Binta' Breeze94 Mutabaruka95, and Yasus Afari96 can all be said to carry the tradition of using Jamaican as the driving force for their poetry. Indeed, it is Afari's poem 'Pat Wah Talkin' that celebrates the significance of Jamaican as a language that sets a trend in terms of verbal display.97 Performer, comedienne and poet, Louise Bennett98, however, can be said to be the mother of valorising the use of the Jamaican language in artistic form from a very early age. Bennett has never shied away from advocating its value as a language in its own right through her poetry and used it as a vehicle to speak about Jamaican life, although in a humorous way.99

There are also examples of where Jamaican is employed within the religious sphere, as Carol Tomlin's study into Black preaching style shows us.100 She observes that Creole seems to be used especially in situations such as: (1) to tell a joke (often in a mixture of Standard English and Jamaican Creole); (2) to tell a proverb; (3) to tell a story (particularly when mimicking); and (4) to forcefully make a point.101 All this is undergirded by particular communicative stylistic features of Black preaching.102 One can also see Jamaican's strong use in Gospel Reggae through artists such as Caribbean-born Papa San103, Lieutenant Stitchie104, and British-born artists such as Spanna105, Witness106, Alan Charles107, and The Watchman.108

Recent developments of BSWI

Since the production of A Who Run Tings?, BSWI went on to produce an audio recording in 2003 in CD format of the Advent entitled De Krismos Stori.109 Again, as a result of the production, it raised the debate about its legitimacy because of the Jamaican language.110 However, this has not stopped the work from progressing and so, as it currently stands, with the full backing of the United Bible Societies, both financially and morally, BSWI are now forging ahead with translating the entire Bible into Jamaican. Not only will it be an audio translation, but working with academics from the University of the West Indies to standardise the orthography into what is known as the Cassidy system, there will be a complete written version.111 Indeed, they already have over half of the New Testament already translated in first draft form. The entire translation project is set to take twelve years to complete and will cost £250,000.112 According to Revd Stewart, he sees the Jamaican Bible translation project as the most serious piece of work that will ever be produced globally.113 One may contest his passionate claim, but the significance of the project and the far-reaching benefits it has the potential of fostering certainly cannot be underestimated. Let us go back to my earlier point concerning the literacy breakthroughs an effective Bible translation has the potential to lead to. According to linguist R. Anthony Lewis, one of the consequences of translation on a language is its standardisation.114 As the language is written down then the boundaries in which the language can be used have the potential to expand. For example, Jamaican language courses can be developed in order to teach people the rudiments of reading and writing Jamaican. Certainly the Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies has been involved in a pilot project in Bilingual education for primary school students enrolled in Grades One to Four. The aim of the project is to determine the most effective means of encouraging full bilingualism for primary level students at the Grades One to Four in Jamaican (Jamaican Creole) (JC) and Standard Jamaican English.115 Furthermore, here in Britain, the way has been pioneered with the first ever course in Jamaican Language and Culture that ran at City College Handsworth, Birmingham for 10 weeks in 2005.116 Since its first successful run, City College then went on to develop the programme further, working with UK based Jamaica 2K and the University of the West Indies by developing a course for teachers of Jamaican and those interested in learning the language. The course is accredited by the Awarding Body Consortium and offered at Levels 1 and 3 (A Level equivalent).117

The Bilingual Education project and the Jamaican Language and Culture course are just two examples of the impact in the area of literacy alone that learning the language could have for both children and adults. In light of this, such claims made by Revd Stewart of the significance of the Jamaican translation of the Bible in written form is not so hard to envisage in light of this. What is particularly interesting about the BSWI's seminal work, A Who Run Tings? is the fact that it is in audio form. Revd Stewart said this was deliberate because they wanted it to be accessible for those who can't read and those who can but choose not to.118 By hearing the biblical accounts in this way, in the mother tongue of Jamaicans, the impact is at its greatest.119 Then there is the use of the particular scriptures e.g. Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4.35-41); the healing of the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5.1-20); the healing of Jairus' daughter and the haemorrhaging woman (Mark 5.21- 43); the raising of the widow's dead son (Luke 7.11-17) Such narratives represent the sovereignty of God through Jesus in that He is Lord of nature; Lord of the spirit world; Lord of human suffering and Lord of death. An image of an all mighty and powerful God in such texts are important to Jamaicans and I would say Black people in general as He is identified as one of us and on our side. In this sense he is re-imaged as a Black hero.120 In addition, the dialectical tension we see at work in the selected passages in relation to belief/unbelief, fear/trust in Jesus, the one who carries out the miracles and the contention as to the authority and validity of His power, all contribute to the underlying discourse of God as in charge and not the violent gangs and self-appointed leaders in Jamaica. Furthermore, the use of reggae music as accompanying the audio text represents it as Jamaican, thereby celebrating the nation's music in a positive way and heralding its culture.

All that has been said in this present discussion about the translation project and the current developments in getting the entire Bible translation into Jamaican, really sets the context for some serious work to begin in the area of Black Biblical Studies—Black biblical hermeneutics especially—and how it can be built on in Britain. Particularly given the fact that according to the 2001 census, Caribbeans represent one of the largest ethnic groups in the UK (216,048 by birth), Jamaicans the largest (131,108 by birth).121 What I am trying to advocate here is the need to establish the Caribbean origins of Black British Theology by a careful and systematic treatment of the biblical texts that draw out themes, motifs and paradigms that exemplify a cultural focus that speak to the needs of Black people. Hence, the use of Black vernacular and vernacular hermeneutics are essential to such a process. The development and subsequent teaching of biblical studies in Higher Education institutions in Britain should be informed by Black popular culture, particularly linguistic studies and the vernacular, so that a reading strategy can be developed that does not solely depend on the historical-critical method, yet, at the same time, is not just a hermeneutical approach either.

Although arguing from the standpoint of looking for '...alternative hermeneutical sources in secular fiction,'122 Sugirtharajah in his new book Troublesome Texts: The Bible in Colonial and Contemporary Culture calls for mainstream biblical interpretation to re-think its traditional pursuits. He articulates that,

Rather than being simply inward and backward-looking, investigating ancient parchments and scrolls and pretending that these documents are made modern and significant through their appearance in digital editions, which have in fact no use but to a small, exclusive club of die-hard biblical scholars, it should look to the future and move outwards and address the needs and concerns of the people.123

I do not fully agree with Sugirtharajah's view, in that current biblical scholarship and its pursuits of investigating ancient parchments and scrolls does have some purpose and validity as new knowledge comes to bear, particularly of the most early documents which can lead to new translations of sections of the Bible that can be made available to the wider community beyond the academic guild. Furthermore, it is through investigating ancient parchments and scrolls that we have been able to access English translations of the Scriptures. However, Sugirthrajah is certainly correct that if it remains within the exclusive club then it serves no purpose but their own. Sugirtharajah's comments help to shed light on the usefulness of the development of Black biblical scholarship and the significance of A Who Run Tings? It is an attempt to address the needs and concerns of a particular group of people and in a way that is aimed to resonate with them through the use of the Jamaican language. The fact that it is in audio form also presents us with a different way in which the Scriptures are heard and understood that make way for particular psychological and social processes to be at work.124

Some issues affecting the development of Black biblical studies in Britain

I recognise that what I am advocating here may be quite radical for some people, but given the British landscape is a diverse one, it is high time that the views and perspectives of Black people of faith were rep- resented in the programmes and courses of theological colleges and universities across the country. The Bible is a book largely about a marginalised people, so why do we not recognise the need to study it in relation to marginalised people in the present-day?125 The point is about encouraging people to see themselves in the biblical text and respecting their cultural difference. To not do so is to negate their human experience. According to Professor of Ministry and Black Church Studies, Joseph V. Crockett, he sees the purposes and process of Christian education as embedded in particular cultures.126 It is worth quoting his strong remarks at length on this matter:

Representing the Christian faith in the context of specific cultures is not necessarily destructive or evil, although it is limiting. It is destructive and evil when the purposes and processes of Christian education are dominated by one culture's perspective. It is destructive and evil when one culture determines the purposes and processes for teaching and learning for every culture. Inevitably the culture that determines what will be taught, how it will be taught, and how it will be made available to the public is the dominant culture. 127

Crockett's comments reflect the seriousness to which he ascribes the educational process for intercultural teaching and learning that demands justice for space to be made in bringing the understandings of a variety of cultural voices to theological education. One that is contextual and representing a lived reality.128

In light of this, I would like to posit six major issues129 surrounding the teaching of Black theology and Black biblical studies at underpost- graduate levels:

1) The acceptance in higher education institutions that Black theology and Black biblical studies is a legitimate theology and discipline respectively.

Without such recognition, and beyond that, a concerted effort on the part of faculty to foster its development, theological education in Britain will always reflect Eurocentric, White hegemonic perspectives. A reflection that I have offered as personal experience during my days as an undergraduate student in my essay 'Reading Black: Language and Biblical Interpretation in a Black British Context'130 where, in terms of teaching, I state:

...at that white conservative evangelical college, issues regarding cultural perspectives were not addressed. For example, matters that pertained to the experience of Black people including Black and Womanist theologies, were not discussed and, in fact, were not regarded as theology at all. More detrimental was my unconscious collusion in the notion that this was not theology. Unwittingly, I reinforced the status quo for Eurocentric hegemony to reign supreme, while voices at the margins of society remain unheard.131

During my undergraduate days of theological education, I was not aware of the necessity of 'colouring my thinking.' I bought into the dominant culture!132 Such are the dangers that ignoring one's cultural bias can have.

2) The acceptance by the Black Christian community in Britain that Black theology is a legitimate form of theology and ought to be studied and taught.

It must be said that not all Black Christians in Britain embrace Black theology. Largely due to slavery and their colonial past, they have never been taught to see Black experience as a valid tool for critical reflection. The term 'Black' is problematic for many Black Christians as they find it difficult to associate the particularities of their culture with theology. So the conscientizing process needs to happen for both Whites and Blacks!

3a) Acceptance by Jamaicans in particular and Caribbeans in general (whether in the Caribbean or Britain or elsewhere in the world) that Jamaican is a language.

It is interesting to note that the Chartered Institute of Linguistics in the UK (the professional body serving the interests of professional linguists throughout the world and acting as a respected language assessment and accredited awarding body) have already officially declared Jamaican as a language in its own right and it is now on their list of named languages that can be taken for the exam in the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI).133 This is a breakthrough at a truly significant level. It remains for Jamaicans themselves to 'catch up' and be now convinced of its value and legitimacy.

3b) The acceptance that Jamaican (and any other Caribbean language for that matter) is a language to be studied in religious/biblical studies.

If it can be said that the immanence and transcendence of God suggests that God holds all humanity and all of creation in holy regard134, then this holy regard must be articulated through the diversity of cultures that interact with God and how God is understood in those contexts.

4) More Black academics need to be trained in biblical studies.

If there is going to be any serious exegetical work to be done on the biblical texts, then knowledge of biblical languages will be required. Current Higher Education institutions are devoid of such staff, indeed the dearth of Black biblical scholars working in British institutions of Higher Education is perilously stark. They are virtually absent.135

5) Black academics need to be well versed in their own Black culture.

Knowledge of the biblical languages must be complemented by a good grounding in Black culture in order for creative critical reflection to take place between the text and contemporary culture.

6) Higher education institutions need to encourage more Black post-graduate students to develop their specific exegetical approaches.

Indeed, as Dwight Hopkins comments on his discussion on language that 'If the majority of Blacks in our communities and churches are to see themselves in our work, then we must see them when we write.'136 Thesis supervisors and tutors have a moral duty to recognise the richness of perspectives their students bring to research and encourage them to find their own voice.

Benefits of teaching Black biblical studies in Britain

Although I have highlighted some very real challenges associated with the prospect of teaching Black biblical studies within higher education institutions in the UK, there are also some significant benefits that are important to point out. They are by no means exhaustive but at least provide a brief overview of particular worthwhile outcomes such an enterprise would entail.

1) To use Black vernacular and vernacular hermeneutics as a reading strategy to interpret Scripture is to help preserve and value the language and culture of African Caribbeans in Britain.

At stake here is the acute need to develop the conditions where respect for heritage will be celebrated and that can only be positive.

2) The development of Black biblical scholarship in Britain helps to contribute to new learning within the field of modern biblical scholarship and theological education as a whole.

If we are to take Crockett's statement seriously, that is that 'The purposes and processes of Christian education need to rise to new possibilities and overcome old boundaries'137, then, it means there is a world of possibilities to be explored where Black biblical studies are concerned, especially in light of the prospect of having the entire biblical account in Jamaican in a few years to come. The focus is shifted, indeed, it is to 'change the subject'138 of biblical studies.

3) Teaching Black Biblical Studies challenges the institutional racism within the academic guild.

The significance of embedding intercultural teaching and learning within the curriculum of theological education cannot be underestimated as it challenges the inherent notion of superior forms of what it is to be human through the lens of biblical reflection.139

4) Teaching Black Biblical Studies forms a better balance of power within the academic guild.

The diversity of optics amongst faculty creates this balance of power so that Black academic staff are givers of information and not receivers; producers of curriculum and not purchasers.140

5) Teaching Black Biblical Studies cultivates a conscientizing of minds for both Blacks and Whites.

The aim is to heighten cultural awareness for self and the 'other' to be encountered.141

6) Teaching Black Biblical Studies better prepares White ordinands who will pastor Black Majority Churches or ministry located in a ethnically diverse context.

As the leading institution for teaching Black Theology, it is mandatory for all students (preparing for ordained and/or authorised ministry) of The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham where I am currently a tutor, to do the modules in Black and Asian Theology and Bible and Liberation. Furthermore, aspects of Black and Womanist Theology are taught within the curriculum as a whole, through single lectures or seminars. The Queen's Foundation has by no means 'arrived' at a fully integrated model of intercultural teaching and learning but it certainly leads the way, so this and further development in this area needs to be reflected in higher education institutions throughout Britain.142

7) Teaching Black biblical studies better prepares Black ordinands to be able to more effectively articulate ways in which to read the Bible within their pastoral ministry.

Whether they pastor Black majority or White majority congregations (or a mixture of both), it is envisaged that they would have a better understanding and appreciation of themselves and the distinct gifts/skills they bring to their ministry and seek to hear the voices of others.

8) Black biblical studies engenders a transformative outworking of biblical understanding on contemporary life.

Given the centrality of culture as a lens for knowing, it seeks to speak to people both within the Church and beyond to people in the wider community in concrete ways as a means of addressing contemporary needs.

Conclusion

This paper has challenged the current approach to biblical studies to reorient itself towards embracing a new development in biblical scholarship, one that recognises the use of Black vernacular and vernacular hermeneutics as a reading strategy for biblical interpretation. A very real and practical example has been offered through BSWI's seminal work A Who Run Tings?, for advocating the use of Jamaican as the starting point for critical reflection on the biblical texts in light of Black culture, specifically African Caribbean culture, and the systematic development of Black biblical studies in Britain as a discipline. It is my firm and passionate belief that the time has come and is coming for change to be embraced where teaching from a specifically cultural perspective on under- and post-graduate programmes is concerned. I, along with a new generation of theological and biblical educators I hope for, for the future, will come along bringing new insights and understandings into the religious thoughts and practices of what is known as Black Christianity in Britain. The critical mass is desperately needed to be a part of that facilitating process to encourage that specifically Black exegetical research. For the health and well-being of a people who live out their Christian identity through the context of faith, and for equity and justice in the curriculum development of theological education, the urgency of the situation cannot be overstated. The challenge is, will institutions, the gatekeepers, who hold the power to help bring about the much needed change, open their doors to a new awakening?

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Interviews

Revd. Courtney Stewart interviewed by Lynnette. J. Mullings, Thursday 26th July 2007 at the Bible Society of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica. (Unpublished PhD Research).

Dr. Faith Linton interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings at Cranbrook Flower Farm, St Ann, Jamaica, Friday 27th July 2007. (Unpublished PhD Research).

Carolyn Cooper interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings, Tuesday 31 July 2007 at the Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of the West Indies Mona Campus, Jamaica (Unpublished PhD research).

Discography

Charles, Alan, Strength Ah Mi Life, CD Album, (Focus Arts, 2006). Papa San, Victory, CD Album, (California: B-Rite Music, 1999). Papa San, God and I, CD Album, (Inglewood, CA: Gospocentric Records, 2003).

Papa San, Real and Personal, CD Album, (Zomba, 2005). Spanna (The Tool in God's Hands), Blessed Redeemer, CD Album. (Shekinah Music, 2005).

Lieutenant Stitchie, The Governor, CD Album, (Germany: Atlantic, 1989).

Lieutenant Stitchie, Kingdom Ambassador, CD Album, (Drum & Bass, 2006).

The Watchman, Tongues of Fire, CD Album, (Jetstar, 2002). Witness, It's Your Move, CD Album, (2005).

Zephaniah, Benjamin, Naked, CD Album, (One Little Indian Ltd., 2004).

A Who Run Tings?, Audio Cassette, (Kingston, Jamaica: Bible Society of the West Indies, 1996).

De Krismos Stori, Audio CD, (Kingston, Jamaica: Bible Society of the West Indies, 2003).

News articles

Cargill, Morris, 'The Patois Bible' The Sunday Gleaner June 30, 1996, 9A.

Dick, Devon, 'De Krismos Stori: In Defence of Patois,' The Gleaner Tuesday December 23, 2003.

Linton, Faith, 'God speaks Patois,' The Gleaner, Tuesday December 23, 2003, A4.

Murphy, Xavier, 'City College in Birmingham, UK to Teach Patois Course: An Interview with Course Facilitator Heather Reid,' 1 May 2005. http://www.jamaicans.com/articles/primeinterviews/ patoisecourse.shtml (accessed 27/03/09).

Yorke, Gosnell L., 'Patois Bible in Pan-African and Pan-Caribbean Context,' Jamaica Gleaner Sunday June 29, 2008. Available on the web: http://www.jamaicagleaner.com/gleaner/20080629/lead/lead8.html (accessed 17/11/08).

'Patois Xmas story launched,' The Gleaner. Friday December 19, 2003.

'Translating the Bible into Jamaican Patois', http://www.biblesociety. org.uk/l3.php?id=800 (accessed 28/10/08).

'Why they want a Patois Bible,' Jamaica Gleaner Online (Sunday June 22, 2008) (accessed 25/03/09).

'City Course on Jamaican Patois,' Birmingham Evening Mail Wednesday 2 March 2005, 3.

'City College Offers New Course for Jamaican Teachers', Regional Language Network 31 October 2006, http://www.rln-westmidlands. com/News/News%20archive/citycollege_jamaica nteach.htm (accessed 27/03/09).

''Who Run Tings?'' United Bible Societies World Report 338. Feb 1999, available on the web at http://www.biblesociety.org/old/wr_338/wr_338.htm#Tings (accessed 23/03/09).

Websites

The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education: http://www.queens.ac.uk

Centre for Black Ministries and Leadership, The Queen's Foundation: http://www.queens.ac.uk/black_ministries/ (accessed 27/03/09).

Bible Society: http://www.biblesociety.org

Bilingual Education Project, Jamaican Language Unit, University of the West Indies: http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/projects/index.htm (accessed 23/03/09)

Chartered Institute of Linguists – Diploma in Public Service Interpreting: http://www.iol.org.uk/qualifications/exams_dpsi.asp (accessed 23/03/09)

Statistics

'Country of birth by ethnic group, April 2001', Additional Data October 2004. Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics; Census April 2001, General Register Office for Scotland; Census, April 2001, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Endnotes

  1. According to James Cone there are three major contexts for the origin of Black Theology: 1) the civil rights movement, 2) the publication of Joseph Washington's book, Black Religion (1964), 3) the rise of the black power movement. See Cone, James, Black Theology and the Black Church (Johannesburg: Skotaville Publishers, 1985), p. 6.
  2. Cone, James H., Black Theology and Black Power, 20th Anniversary Edition (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989).
  3. Cone, James H., A Black Theology of Liberation, 20th Anniversary Edition (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1986).
  4. 4 Cone, James H., God of the Oppressed (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975).
  5. See Cone, James H., Black Theology and Black Power, ibid., p. 35.
  6. See Cone, James H., Black Theology and Black Power, ibid., p. 36.
  7. See theologians such as Cleage Jr., Albert B., Black Christian Nationalism: New Directions for the Black Church (Detroit: Luxor Publishers of the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church, 1972); The Black Messiah (Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 1989); Jones, Major J., Christian Ethics for Black Theology (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1974); The Color of God: The Concept of God in Afro-American Thought (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1987); Roberts, J. Deotis, Black Theology Today: Liberation and Contextualization (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1983); Black Theology in Dialogue (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1987); Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology, Revised Edition (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994).
  8. See Hopkins, Dwight N., Black Theology USA and South Africa: Politics, Culture and Liberation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1989); Shoes That Fit Our Feet: Sources for a Constructive Black Theology (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993); Introducing Black Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1999); Down, Up and Over: Slave Religion and Black Theology (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2000); Head and Heart: Black Theology - Past, Present and Future (New York/Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002).
  9. See Brown Douglas, Kelly, The Black Christ (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994); What's Faith Got to Do with It: Black Bodies/ Christian Souls (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2005).
  10. See Williams, Delores, Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-talk (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993); Black Theology in a New Key: Feminist Theology in a Different Voice (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2005).
  11. See Williams, ibid.
  12. See Brown Douglas, Kelly, Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1999).
  13. See Geneva Cannon, Katie, Black Womanist Ethics (Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1988); Katie's Cannon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community (New York: Continuum, 1995).
  14. See Grant, Jacquelyn, White Women's Christ and Black Women's Jesus: Feminist Christology and Womanist Response (Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1989)
  15. See Townes, Emilie, A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993); Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope (Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1993); Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation and Transformation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997); Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).
  16. See Baker-Fletcher, Karen, Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit: Womanist Wordings on God and Creation (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998); Dancing with God: The Trinity from a Womanist Perspective (St Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 2006); Baker-Fletcher, Karen and Baker-Fletcher,Garth Kasimu, My Sister, My Brother: Womanist and Xodus God-talk (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997).
  17. This is by no means an exhaustive list of womanist scholars. For a helpful bibliography of select womanist writings from the first quarter century (1979-2004) within the area of theology and religious studies, refer to Phillips, Layli, (ed.), The Womanist Reader (New York/London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2006), pp. 407-409.
  18. Beckford, Robert, Jesus is Dread: Black Theology and Black Culture in Britain (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, Ltd., 1998).
  19. Beckford, Robert, Dread and Pentecostal: A Political Theology for the Black Church in Britain (London: SPCK, 2000).
  20. Beckford, Robert, God of the Rahtid: Redeeming Rage (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, Ltd., 2001).
  21. See Reddie, Anthony G, Faith Stories and the Experience of Black Elders:Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2001); Nobodies to Somebodies: A Practical Theology for Education and Liberation (Peterborough: Epworth Press, 2003); Acting in Solidarity: Reflections in Critical Christianity (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, Ltd., 2005); Dramatizing Theologies: A Participative Approach to Black God-talk (London: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2006); Black Theology in Transatlantic Dialogue (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006); Working Against the Grain: Re-imaging Black Theology in the 21st Century (London/Oakville: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2008); Jagessar, Michael N. and Reddie, Anthony G., (eds.), Postcolonial Black British Theology: New Textures and Themes (Peterborough: Epworth, 2007); Black Theology in Britain A Reader (London: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2007).
  22. See Lartey, Emmanuel Y., In Living Color: An Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Care and Counselling, 2nd Edition (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2003); Pastoral Theology in an Intercultural World (Peterborough, Epworth Press, 2006); 'After Stephen Lawrence: Characteristics and Agenda for Black Theology in Britain,' Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis 3 (Nov 1999), pp. 79-91.
  23. See Jagessar, Michael N. , 'Spinning Theology, Trickster, Texts and Theology,' Postcolonial Black British Theology, pp. 124-145; 'Spinning Texts – Anancy Hermeneutics,' The Journal of the College of Preachers 117 (July 2004), pp. 41-48; Jagessar, Michael N. and Reddie, Anthony G., (eds.), Postcolonial Black British Theology: New Textures and Themes (Peterborough: Epworth, 2007); Black Theology in Britain A Reader (London: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2007).
  24. See Barton, Mukti, 'Hermeneutical Insubordination Topling Worldly Kingdom' in Aldred, Joe, Sisters with Power, (London and New York: Continuum, 2000), pp. 24-35; 'I Am Black and Beautiful', Black Theology: An International Journal Vol 2, No.2, (2004), pp. 167-187; Rejection, Resistance and Resurrection: Speaking Out on Racism and the Church (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2005).
  25. See Sturge, Mark, Look What the Lord Has Done! An Exploration of Black Christian Faith in Britain (Bletchley: Scripture Union, 2005).
  26. See Aldred, J. D., Respect: Understanding Caribbean British Christianity (Peterborough: Epworth, 2005).
  27. See Coleman, Kate, 'Black Theology and Black Liberation: A Womanist Perspective', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis, Issue 1 (Oct 1998), pp. 59-69; 'Black Women and Theology', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis Issue 3 (Nov 1999), pp. 51-65; 'Black to the Future: Re-Evangelizing Black Youth', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis, Issue 6 (May 2001), pp. 41-51; Exploring Métissage: A Theological Anthropology of Black Women's Subjectivities in Postcolonial Britain, Unpublished PhD Thesis (University of Birmingham, 2005); 'Another Kind of Black,' in Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol 5, No.3 (Nov 2007), 279-304.
  28. See Dixon, Lorraine, '"Teach It, Sister!": Mahilia Jackson as Theologian in Song', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis, Issue 2 (April 1999), pp. 72-89; 'A Reflection on Black Identity and Belonging in the Context of the Anglican Church in England: A Way Forward', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis, Issue 4 (May 2000), pp. 22-37; 'The Nature of Black Presence in England Before the Abolition of Slavery', Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol. 5, No.2 (July 2007), pp. 171-183; 'Tenth Anniversary Reflections on Robert Beckford's Jesus is Dread: Black Theology and Black Culture in Britain', Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol. 6, No.3 (Sept 2008), pp. 300-307.
  29. It is worth pointing out, however, that Mukti Barton has made a particular effort in analysing aspects of the Bible through Black and Asian optics: see Barton, Mukti, Creation and Fall and the Women of Bangladesh: A Contextual Study (Dhaka: Netritto Proshikkhom Kendro, 1992); Scripture as Empowerment for Liberation and Justice: The Experience of Christian and Muslim Women in Bangladesh (Bristol: Centre for Comparative Studies in Religion and Gender, 1999). As a Tutor in Black and Asian Theology at The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Barton has also been instrumental in developing the curriculum there that focuses on using the Bible as a tool for liberation. See the staff page on the official website of The Queen's Foundation: http://www.queens.ac.uk.
  30. Aldred, Bishop Joe, 'Paradigms for a Black Theology in Britain', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis, Issue 2 (April 1999), pp. 9-32.
  31. Aldred, Bishop Joe, 'Paradigms for a Black Theology in Britain', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis, Issue 2 (April 1999), p. 9.
  32. Bailey, Randall C., 'The Danger of Ignoring One's Own Cultural Bias in Interpreting the Text,' in Sugirtharajah, R.S., (ed.), The Postcolonial Bible (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), pp. 66-90.
  33. Bailey, Randall C., 'The Danger of Ignoring One's Own Cultural Bias in Interpreting the Text,' in Sugirtharajah, R.S., (ed.), The Postcolonial Bible (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), p. 77.
  34. 'A Who Run Tings?' (Audio Cassette) (Kingston, Jamaica: Bible Society of the West Indies, 1996).
  35. It is important to point out that 'patois' is the term that African Caribbeans in Britain as well as in Jamaica itself would use to describe the language of Jamaicans rather than the term 'Jamaican' itself. However, I use the term 'Jamaican' to reflect the validity of the language as spoken by Jamaicans as a bona fide language and not something as less than or a form of broken English as the term 'patois' connotes.
  36. In his introduction, David Sutcliffe points out that the essays in the book The Language of the Black Experience explore such ways of expression. See Sutcliffe, David and Wong, Ansel, (eds.), The Language of the Black Experience: Cultural Expression through Word and Sound in the Caribbean and Black Britain (Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1986), p. 2.
  37. I use the term 'Black communities' to reflect the fact that Black people in Britain do not form a homogenous community due to heritage, age and experience and how that is negotiated in responding to British life. See Tomlin, Carol, Black Language in Sacred and Secular Contexts (New York: Caribbean Diaspora Press, Inc., 1999), p. 43, who makes this point describing the complex phenomenon of Black British society in terms of 'a continuum of attitudes and behaviours.'
  38. Sugirtharajah, R.S., 'Thinking about Vernacular Hermeneutics Sitting in a Metropolitan Study' in Sugirtharajah, R.S., (ed.) Vernacular Hermeneutics (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press Ltd., 1999),p. 94.
  39. Sugirtharajah, R.S., ibid., p. 95.
  40. See Sugirtharajah, R.S., ibid., p. 95.
  41. Winedt, Marlon, 'A Survey of Creole Language Studies', TIC Talk Newsletter of the United Bible Societies Translation Information Clearinghouse, No.57 (2004), pp. 1-5.
  42. Winedt, Marlon, ibid., p. 1.
  43. See Sutcliffe, David and Wong, Ansel, (eds.), The Language of the Black Experience: Cultural Expression through Word and Sound in the Caribbean and Black Britain (Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1986), p. 4.
  44. Winedt, Marlon, 'A Survey of Creole Language Studies', TIC Talk Newsletter of the United Bible Societies Translation Information Clearinghouse, No.57 (2004), p. 2.
  45. See Hewitt, Roger, White Talk Black Talk: Inter-racial Friendship and Communication Among Adolescents (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp. 102-3.
  46. Sugirtharajah, R.S., ibid., p. 97.
  47. See Dube, Musa, (ed.), Other Ways of Reading: African Women and the Bible (Atlanta, Georgia/Geneva: Society of Biblical Literature/WCC Publications, 2001); Dube, Musa W. and Kanyoro, Musimbi R. A., (eds.), Grant Me Justice! HIV/AIDS and Gender Readings of the Bible (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa/ Maryknoll, New York: Cluster Publications/ Orbis Books, 2004); West, Gerald O. and Dube, Musa (eds.), The Bible in Africa: Transactions, Trajectories and Trends (Leiden: Brill, 2001).
  48. See Mosala, Itumeleng, Biblical Hermeneutics and Black Theology in South Africa (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989).
  49. Adeyemo, Tokunboh, (ed.), Africa Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2006).
  50. See Bailey, Randall, 'Academic Biblical Interpretation among African Americans in the United States' in Wimbush, Vincent L., (ed.) African Americans and the Bible: Sacred Texts and Social Textures (New York/London: Continuum, 2000), pp. 696-711.
  51. Blount, Brian K., (ed.), True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007).
  52. See West, Gerald and Dube, Musa, (eds.), '"Reading With": An Exploration of the Interface Between Critical and Ordinary Readings of the Bible', in Semeia 73 (1996).
  53. West, Gerald O., (ed.), Reading Other-wise: Socially Engaged Biblical Scholars Reading with their Local Communities (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007).
  54. West, Gerald O.,ibid., p. 1.
  55. Ekblad, Bob, Reading the Bible with the Damned (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005). In the case of this book, the reading is with those on the extreme margins of society, those who feel 'damned.'
  56. Kanyoro, Musimbi R.A., Introducing Feminist Cultural Hermeneutics: An African Perspective (London/New York: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002). Here in this text, Kanyoro's focus is to bring to attention the readings of the women of the Kenyan village of Bware on the book of Ruth.
  57. Revd Courtney Stewart interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings, Thursday 26th July 2007 at the Bible Society of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, (unpublished PhD research).
  58. Revd Courtney Stewart interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings.
  59. See ''Who Run Tings?'' United Bible Societies World Report 338, (Feb 1999), available on the web at: http://www.biblesociety.org/old/wr_338/wr_338.htm#Tings (accessed 23/03/2009); Revd Courtney Stewart interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings.
  60. See ''Who Run Tings?'' United Bible Societies World Report. The ten Scripture passages used are: Mark 4.35-41; 5.1-20; 5. 21-43; Luke 7.11-23; 19.45-48; 20.1-8; John 9. 1-41; 19.1-42; 20.1-31; Matt 28.16-20.
  61. See Revd Courtney Stewart interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings.
  62. See Dr Faith Linton interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings at Cranbrook Flower Farm, St Ann, Jamaica, Friday 27th July 2007, (unpublished PhD research).
  63. Cargill, Morris, 'The Patois Bible', The Sunday Gleaner (June 30, 1996), 9A.
  64. Cargill, Morris, ibid.
  65. Edwards, Viv, Language in a Black Community (Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters, 1986).
  66. Edwards,Viv, ibid., p. 7.
  67. Cooper, Carolyn, Noises in the Blood: Orality, Gender and the 'Vulgar' Body of Jamaican Popular Culture (London/Basingstoke: Macmillan Education, Ltd., 1993).
  68. Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., p. 8.
  69. Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., p. 8.
  70. See Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., p. 8.
  71. Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., p. 8.
  72. Cooper, Noises in the Blood, ibid., p. 8.
  73. See Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., p. 8.
  74. See Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., p. 8.
  75. See Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., p. 8.
  76. Cargill, Morris, ibid.
  77. For a very brief overview of the landmark translations of the Bible, see Chapter 7, 'Translation Theory' in Gooder, Paula, Searching for Meaning: An Introduction to Interpreting the New Testament (London: SPCK, 2008). For a more detailed overview of the history of Bible translation from the time of the Septuagint to the present-day, see Noss, Phillip A., (ed.), A History of Bible Translation (Roma: Edizioni Di Storia E Letteratura, 2007), in particular Section I, 'History: The Septuagint to the Vernaculars'.
  78. Nida, Eugene A., Toward a Science of Translating: With Special Reference to Principles and Procedures involved in Bible Translating (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1964), p. 155.
  79. As a world fellowship of 145 Bible Societies, not only are United Bible Societies (UBS) involved in Scripture translation and distribution but they are also involved in literacy programmes, produce audio products for the visually impaired, Biblebased HIV/Aids resources for sufferers and their carers and develop special programmes for those facing challenging circumstances such as woman facing abuse, children living without parents and people in prison. See http://www.biblesociety. org (accessed 31/10/08).
  80. It is interesting to point out that a number of Bible translations (whether as Scripture portions or the complete Bible) into Caribbean Creole languages have already been carried out by the various Bible translation agencies in the Caribbean. For an account, refer to Yorke, Gosnell L., 'Patois Bible in Pan-African and Pan- Caribbean Context', Jamaica Gleaner (Sunday June 29, 2008) for an account. Available online: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080629/lead/lead8.html (accessed 17/11/08).
  81. See Tomlin, Carol, Black Language in Sacred and Secular Contexts (New York: Caribbean Diaspora Press, Inc., 1999), p. 41, where Tomlin talks about children arriving in England from Jamaica and entering the school system and the struggles the children faced concerning their language needs.
  82. See Halliday, M.A.K., Explorations in the Functions of Language (London: Edward Arnold Publishers, 1973), p. 8.
  83. Barker, Chris, Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice 2nd Edition, (London: SAGE Publications, 2003).
  84. See Barker, Chris,ibid., p. 88.
  85. See Sutcliffe, David, Black British English (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1982), p. viii.
  86. For an analysis of Bob Marley's lyrics see Cooper, Carolyn, ibid., pp. 117-125; also Erskine, Noel Leo, Decolonizing Theology: A Caribbean Perspective (Trenton, New Jersey/Asmara, Eritrea: Africa World Press, 1998), pp. xvi-xvii, xix; for an account of the source of solidarity and collective identity among Black youths in Britain as transmitted through the ideology of Rastafari see Sewell, Tony, Black Masculinities and Schooling: How Black Boys Survive Modern Schooling (Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire: Trentham Books Ltd., 2000), p. 147; see also Wong, Ansel, 'Creole as a Language of Power and Solidarity', in Sutcliffe and Wong (eds.), The Language of the Black Experience, pp. 114-117 specifically; see also the article by Lerleen Willis where she also describes the key role language plays in the negotiation of identity, expression of culture and also of resistance to oppression: Willis, Lerleen, 'All Things to All Men? Or What Has Language to do With Gender and Resistance in the Black Majority Church in Britain', Black Theology in Britain: A Journal of Contextual Praxis, Vol 4, No.2, (May 2002), pp. 195-213.
  87. Carolyn Cooper interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings, Tuesday 31 July 2007 at the Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of the West Indies Mona Campus, Jamaica (Unpublished PhD research).
  88. Carolyn Cooper interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings.
  89. See Johnson, Linton Kwesi, Dread Beat and Blood (London: Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications Ltd, 1975); Inglan is a Bitch (London: Race Today Publications, 1981); Tings an Times Selected Poems (Newcastle Upon Tyne/London: Bloodaxe Books Ltd./LKJ (Music) Publishers, 1991).
  90. According to Mervyn Morris, the word 'dub' is borrowed from recording technology, where it refers to the activity of adding and/or removing sounds. See Morris, Mervyn, '"Dub Poetry"?', Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 43, No.4, (Dec 1997), 1.
  91. See Benjamin Zephaniah's most recent book of poems that address the struggles of Black Britain: Too Black, Too Strong (Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, Ltd., 2001); On his album entitled Naked Zephaniah utilises the music of Drum n Bass, Jungle and Garage to back his poetry which give a contemporary style to his work that would appeal to young people in particular. See Naked (One Little Indian Ltd., 2004).
  92. See Morris, Mervyn, (ed.), It A Come: Poems by Michael Smith (London: Race Today Publications, 1986).
  93. See 'Me Cyaan Believe It', in It A Come: Poems by Michael Smith pp. 13-15.
  94. Breeze, Jean 'Binta', On the Edge of An Island (Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books, 1997); The Arrival of Bright Eye and Other Poems (Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books, 2000); Morris, Mervyn, (ed), Riddym Ravings and Other Poems (London: Race Today Publications, 1988).
  95. See Mutabaruka, The Next Poems/The First Poems (Kingston, Jamaica: LMH Publishing, 2005).
  96. See Afari, Yasus , Eye Pen (Philosophical Reasoning and Poetry) (Kingston, Jamaica: House of Honour Publishing & Ke-Ya Publishers, 1999).
  97. SeeAfari, Yasus, ibid., pp. 53-56.
  98. See Bennett, Louise, Jamaica Labrish (Kingston: Sangster's Books Stores Ltd., 2005); Morris, Mervyn, (ed.), Louise Bennett Aunty Roach She (Kingston: Sangster's Books Stores Ltd., 2005); Louise Bennett Selected Poems (Kingston: Sangster's Books Stores Ltd., 2005).
  99. See 'Bennett On Bennett Interviewed by Dennis Scott', Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 14, Nos. 1 & 2 (March-June 1968), pp. 97-101.
  100. Tomlin, Carol, Unpublished MPhil Thesis (University of Birmingham, 1988).
  101. See Tomlin, Carol, ibid., p. 84.
  102. Tomlin lists the particular communicative stylistic features as the voice; improvisation— the Holy Spirit to guide; call and response; group reaction and interaction; repetition- hyperbolising; rhythmic delivery; story-telling; proverbs and proverbial expressions; imagery (use of imaginative language) See ibid., pp. 89-113. For further details in relation to the particular communicative stylistic features of call and response and repetition in Black Preaching, see chapters 6 and 7.
  103. See Papa San, Victory (CD Album)(California: B-Rite Music, 1999); God and I (CD Album) (Inglewood, CA: Gospocentric Records, 2003); Real and Personal (CD Album) (Zomba, 2005).
  104. See Lieutenant Stitchie, The Governor (CD Album) (Germany: Atlantic, 1989); Kingdom Ambassador (CD Album) (Drum & Bass, 2006).
  105. See Spanna (The Tool in God's Hands), Blessed Redeemer (CD Album) (Shekinah Music, 2005).
  106. See Witness, It's Your Move (CD Album) (2005). It's important to note that Witness is of Barbados heritage and not Jamaican although the influence of the Jamaican speech pattern is evident in his music.
  107. See Charles, Alan, Strength Ah Mi Life (CDAlbum) (Focus Arts, 2006). It's important to note that Alan Charles is of Barbados heritage and not Jamaican although the influence of the Jamaican speech pattern is evident in his music.
  108. See The Watchman, Tongues of Fire (CD Album) (Jetstar, 2002).
  109. De Krismos Stori (Audio CD) (Kingston, Jamaica: Bible Society of the West Indies, 2003).
  110. See 'Patois Xmas story launched,' The Gleaner, (Friday December 19, 2003), A7; Faith Linton, 'God speaks Patois,' The Gleaner, (Tuesday December 23, 2003), C2; Devon Dick, 'De Krismos Stori: In Defence of Patois,' The Gleaner, (Tuesday December 23, 2003), A4.
  111. See 'Translating the Bible into Jamaican Patois': http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/l3.php?id=800 (accessed 28/10/08); 'Why they want a Patois Bible,' Jamaica Gleaner Online (Sunday June 22, 2008) (accessed 25/03/09). The Cassidy system is the orthography developed by Robert LePage and Frederick Cassidy as is reflected in the Dictionary of Jamaican English. See Cassidy, F.G. and LePage, R.B., (eds.), Dictionary of Jamaican English, Second Edition. (Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies, 2002); for a further example of the Cassidy system as actually used for the Jamaican Bible translation project, also see 'The Good Samaritan Story': http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/13.php?id=801.
  112. See 'Translating the Bible into Jamaican Patois' http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/l3.php?id=800; 'Why they want a Patois Bible,' Jamaica Gleaner Online.
  113. See Revd Courtney Stewart interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings.
  114. R. Anthony Lewis, 'Patois, Bible and translation,' Jamaica Gleaner Online (Sunday June 22, 2008): http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080622/ focus/focus7.html (accessed 17/11/08).
  115. See the Jamaican Language Unit webpage at the University of the West Indies at http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/projects/index.htm. (accessed 23/03/09).
  116. See 'City Course on Jamaican Patois' Birmingham Evening Mail, (Wednesday 2 March, 2005), p. 3; Xavier Murphy, 'City College in Birmingham, UK to Teach Patois Course: An Interview with Course Facilitator Heather Reid,' (1 May 2005) http://www.jamaicans.com/articles/primeinterviews/patoisecourse.shtml (accessed 27/03/09).
  117. See 'City College Offers New Course for Jamaican Teachers', Regional Language Network (31 October 2006) http://www.rln-westmidlands.com/ News/News%20archive/citycollege_jamaicanteach.htm (accessed 27-03/09).
  118. See 'Who Run Tings?' United Bible Societies Word Report; Revd Courtney Stewart interviewed by Lynnette J. Mullings.
  119. See 'Who Run Tings?' United Bible Societies Word Report and the mother tongue in which Revd Stewart describes one's 'heart language.'
  120. See chapter 4, 'Jesus as a Black Hero' in Reddie's, Working Against the Grain, where he develops the theme of Blacks' identification with Jesus as 'one of us' and a Black hero.
  121. See 'Country of birth by ethnic group, April 2001', Additional Data October 2004 (Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics; Census April 2001, General Register Office for Scotland; Census, April 2001, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency). While I recognise that Jamaican is just one of the many Creole languages spoken in the Caribbean, Britain and around the world, so is not representative of the language of all Caribbeans, however, I offer critical reflection of the biblical texts through Jamaican as one example of how Black Biblical Studies can be developed.
  122. Sugirtharajah, Troublesome Texts: The Bible in Contemporary Culture (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2008), p. 6.
  123. Sugirtharajah, R.S., ibid., p. 6.
  124. See Crockett, Joseph V,. 'Engaging Scripture in Everyday Situations: An Interactive Perspective that Examines Psychological and Social Processes of Individuals as They Engage Scripture Texts,' Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol 3, No.1 (Jan 2005), pp. 97-117 where he talks about the psychological and social processes at work in an individual's interaction with the Bible and that the ultimate goal of Scripture engagement is '...deliberate thought and continuous pledges of allegiance.' (p. 99). Julian Sundersingh, in his article 'Call for a New Translation: A Media-Based Translation for Audio Scriptures' in Bulletin United Bible Societies 194/195 (2002), pp. 191-214, reveals in his study based on field research in Tamil Nadu, India testing out media-based translation, that indeed audio listeners much prefer the media-based aural text over against the print-based literary text and that they prefer audio programmes that employ creative formats over against a pulpit-style straight reading. This suggests that engagement with the texts as presented in audio-form is significantly heightened and encourages more active participation in the process of hearing. As Sundersingh finely puts it: 'It is an irony of our times that it is the least preferred text and the least preferred format that are widely used in communicating Scriptures for aural reception in our churches.' 'Call for a New Translation', Bulletin, p. 203.
  125. A poignant point made by Bishop Delroy Hall in a conversation (Friday 2nd January 2009).
  126. See Crockett, Teaching Scripture from an African-American Perspective (Nashville, Tennessee: Discipleship Resources, 1990), p. 56.
  127. Crockett, Joseph V.,ibid., p. 56.
  128. See Crockett, Joseph V.,ibid., p. 62. For further insights into the importance of intercultural teaching and learning in Christian/theological education, see Reddie, Anthony G., 'An Educational Approach to Intercultural Teaching and Learning By Means of Black Theology: Some Preliminary Reflections', Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1, (Autumn 2006), pp. 175-188; see also Balia, Daryl, 'Review Article: A Reader to 'Read' the British Reader: Teaching and Learning by Means of Black Theology', Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol 7, No.1 (April 2009), pp. 100-111.
  129. Points 4-6 are noted in W.J. Hollenweger's article 'Black Christian Interpretation' in Coggins, R.J., and Houlden, J.L., (eds.) A Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation (London: SCM Press, 1990), pp. 90-92.
  130. Mullings, Lynnette J., 'Reading Black: Language and Biblical Interpretation in a Black British Context,' in Ellens J. Harold, (ed.), Text and Community: Essays in Memory of Bruce M. Metzger Vol. I (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007), pp. 79-102.
  131. Mullings, Lynnette J., ibid., p. 81.
  132. An insightful and useful phrase used by Lorraine Dixon in 'Tenth Anniversary Reflections on Robert Beckford's Jesus is Dread: Black Theology and Black Culture in Britain', Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol. 6, No.3 (Sept 2008), p. 300.
  133. See http://www.iol.org.uk/qualifications/exams_dpsi.asp (accessed 23/03/09).
  134. See Crockett, Joseph V., Teaching Scripture from an African-American Perspective (Nashville, Tennessee: Discipleship Resources, 1990), where he argues that the nearness of God is acknowledged through His response to human need within the context of culture.
  135. Although an African American living and serving as an Anglican Priest in Britain, Rosalyn F.T. Murphy was the first Black woman to receive a PhD in Biblical Studies from the University of Durham (England). Although an achievement for her personally, the fact that she was the first Black woman to receive her doctorate in this field from a British University, exemplifies the gravity of the situation that there is a dearth of such needed scholars. See Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 1 (April 2009), p. 5.
  136. Hopkins, Dwight N., 'Black Theology and A Second Generation: New Scholarship and New Challenges,' in Cone, James H., and Wilmore, Gayraud S., (eds.), Black Theology A Documentary History Volume Two: 1980-1992 (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993), p. 68.
  137. Crockett, Joseph V., ibid., p. 59.
  138. See Elizabeth A. Castelli's response to Wimbush,where African American experience is placed at the centre of the process of interpretation of biblical studies: 'Ultimately, It's Not a Change of Color, but a Whole Change-of-Subject-Kind-of- Thing,' in Wimbush, V., (ed.), African Americans and the Bible: Sacred Text and Social Texture (New York: Continuum, 2000), pp. 849-851.
  139. For a helpful brief survey of White scholars who have 'bucked the trend' of racist approaches to Christian theological reflections, see Reddie, Anthony G., 'An Educational Approach to Intercultural Teaching and Learning', Discourse, Vol 6, No. 1, (Autumn 2006), pp. 180-182 specifically.
  140. Although speaking from an African American perspective, this is a discussion that Crockett engages in relation to the patterns of relationships as an expression culture that exists in the realm of education. See Crockett, Joseph V., ibid., p. 59.
  141. See Reddie, Anthony G., ibid., p. 182-185 specifically, for an account of the role Black Christian education has for encountering self and the 'other' through what Reddie calls 'performative action.'
  142. It is worth pointing out Reddie's observations. He identifies Oxford Brookes University outside of the Queen's Foundation and the University of Birmingham, as probably the only other institution that offers a taught course in Black theology in the UK. See Reddie, Anthony G., 'Exploring the Workings of Black Theology in Britain: Issues of Theological Method and Epistemological Construction', Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol. 7, No.1, (April 2009), footnote 26. Interestingly enough, The Queen's Foundation is pioneering the way in celebrating the gifts and skills of Black and Asian Christians and fostering their development through intercultural teaching and learning with the new set up of the Centre for Black Ministries and Leadership. See: http://www.queens.ac.uk/black_ministries/ (accessed 27/03/09).

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