My Banned Black History Sermons
By the Rev. Amiri Hooker
When the Reverend Amiri B. Hooker learned his sermons had been rejected by a sermon-hosting website because they didn’t align with the site’s views about biblical history, the longtime United Methodist pastor was stunned. Some of his sermons maintain that Jesus was Black and came from Africa, and while he knows not everyone agrees with him, the African origins of biblical characters and his declaration of Jesus as Black is not unheard of.
His shock turned to determination—that his voice not be silenced.
Here, Hooker offers a collection of what he calls his banned Black history sermons, lifting up relevant theologies of the post COVID-19 world that reflect a different perspective on the gospel, one that embraces the Black church tradition and preaching practice.
“As someone with thirty years of preaching experience, twenty of those years ordained in The United Methodist Church, I believe the concept of a Black Jesus is not out of line with Scripture,” Hooker writes in the book’s preface. “In the midst of the current climate marked by the surge in White Christian nationalism and evangelical divisiveness, I sense that it’s an ideal time to explore the concepts surrounding a cultural perspective of Jesus as Black.”
Dive in and explore as Hooker shares sermons that unapologetically speak to Black liberation, Black theology, and Black history to provide a more comprehensive spiritual experience, fostering a sense of cultural enrichment and understanding. With a foreword by the Reverend Dr. Vance P. Ross.