White Jesus, White Lies and Black Liberation

White Jesus, White lies and Black Liberation

by Min. Paul Scott

I remember walking out of church thinking that I
should reverence every white woman that I saw because
she might be an angel in disguise. But as they say, in
the church, “When I was a child, I thought as a
child.”

I cannot help but wonder, how my life, as well as the
lives of countless other Black boys and girls, would
have been changed if someone had told me that Judaism
was one of the many religions originally practiced by
African people. If someone had only told me that what
is called “Christianity” was the recorded history of a
Black Revolutionary named Yeshua (Jesus is derived
from a Greek word, Yeshua was not Greek) who rebelled
against the Roman Empire and tried to teach the Black
Hebrews a clearer understanding of the word of God.

But no one took time to tell me that the picture of
the blue-eyed, blond-haired “Jesus” hanging from the
wall in my parents living room was actually the family
member of some European artist from the 16th century
who was commissioned by the leaders of the white
church to paint the Son of God in the image of a white
man in order to enslave and dominate the original
people of the scriptures. So I grew up thinking that I
was God’s little nappy headed stepchild.

When our African ancestors were enslaved and brought
to America, they were taught a slave theology that
made most of them docile and submissive, however a
chosen few of them saw through the lies of the white
man and embraced a Liberation Theology and shouted,
“Before I be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave.”

Because it was forbidden for the enslaved Africans to
read, if “massa” sent a preacher to tell them that God
was white and they were a cursed people who had no
soul, or if he told them that they were blessed to
have been enslaved because if it wasn’t for slavery,
they would still be “heathens” who never would have
gotten to know “tha lawd”—they believed it. Most
damaging was the teaching that to rebel against
slavery was to rebel against God.

What is most tragic is that this mentality is still in
the hearts and minds of Black people today. Instead of
seeing the Bible as a book to be read and understood,
many see it as a magical good luck charm and if we
place it under our pillows at night, we would learn
“the word” by osmosis.

Because many of us use the King James version of the
Bible, written in Old English, many feel that if
“Jesus” talked like that surely he must have looked
like one of those Shakespearean actors from TV.
Hollywood has also pushed this lie that the people of
the Bible were European, by allowing white actors to
play Moses and Jesus but making Black actors play
muggers and junkies.

As we look at the condition of Afrikan people today,
we can attribute the drugs, the Black on Black
violence and poverty to our being brainwashed by
European “nationalism” under the guise of religion.
How else can you account for our perpetual misery? How
else can you account for the state of mind of our
young Black boys who think that they are thugs and
gangbangers. Or our Black girls who think that they
are “Ho’s”, unworthy of respect. No one has told them
that they are the people of God. No one has told them
that the “Jesus” that they hear about in church was
the same color as the one that they see staring back
at them in the mirror.

Can we really expect to reach out for the Hip Hop
generation with one hand while clutching a figurine of
a lily white “Jesus” with the other?

How else can you explain our inability to respond
effectively to the problems that have faced our people
for the last 400 years. Why do we accept racism,
economic exploitation and racial profiling? With all
our fancy jobs and college degrees, we still cannot
find a way to stop crack from coming into our
communities or AIDS from spreading at an alarming
rate.

The reason that we tolerate such injustice is that we
are looking for a white man to come down from heaven
and save us and if we can’t have “Jesus” right now,
any white man will do.

What we need is Afrikan Liberation Theology; a
theology that reveals the TRUTH that will make us
free. Afrikan Liberation Theology gives us a
theological foundation to fight the battle for the
upliftment of Afrikan people. This theology teaches
that the fight for Justice is not against God, as the
white man has taught us, but is your religious duty if
you are truly a follower of Yeshua, the Black
Revolutionary Messiah.

Afrikan Liberation Theology recaptures the scriptures
from the white supremacist system and brings it back
home to the African people upon which they were based.
Most importantly Afrikan Liberation Theology
challenges us to finally confront the question, “Can a
white Jesus save Black people?” Our current condition
answers that question loudly and clearly.

Hip Hop Children of a Lesser God

Hip Hop Children Children of a Lesser God

Min. Paul Scott

I always find it kind of funny when accepting an award
for his hit “Kill em all; Till they Fall” ; MC
Pullatrigga gets on the mic and says, “First of all, I
would like to thank God…” Or during a magazine
interview , Sexxx Thugstress, innocently, tells a
reporter how her close relationship with her Savior
gave her the strength to write “If the Escalade is
Rockin’ Don’t be Knockin.” As grandma would say,
“Chile let me move ’cause I know that lightnin’ is
fixin’ to strike….”

From as far back as history records, Afrikan people
have had a reverence for the Supreme Being. From the
African people who laid the foundation for modern
religion, to the old lady across the street who never
misses a Sunday service, rain, sleet or snow, we have
always had a strong spiritual connection with the
Creator. Many of us have vivid memories of receiving
our first whippin’ for mocking Rev. Jones or Sis. Ruth
Ann when she got in “the spirit” one Sunday morning.
We found out early that playin’ with “tha lawd“, was a
definite, No, No!

Historically, music and Spirituality have walked hand
in hand as music is more than just something to help
us get our party on but is a divine expression of our
respect for the gift of LIFE. It was our spirit filled
song that helped us keep the FAITH, even when we were
being beaten by the slave master and forced to work in
the hot cotton fields from sun up to sun down and it
will be our song that leads us to the LIBERATION of
our people from mental slavery The Spirituality of
Afrikan people has always been thorn in the side of
the oppressor. Our FAITH has been like that trick
birthday candle that no matter how hard you try, you
just can’t blow it out. We have been like a Spirit
filled energizer bunny playin’ an African drum, we
just keep going and going.

For many young brotha’s and sista’s who are
disillusioned with organized religion, today Hip Hop
has become the faith of choice. Maybe for some, the
rules and regulations of the other religions were just
too hard to follow so they turned to the cardinal rule
of Hip Hop “if it feels good, do it” or more likely,
they simply rejected the idea that they had to have
the word of God interpreted by white Kings and other
European writers. So, instead they traded in the King
James version of the Bible for the gospel according to
the white owned media and entertainment industry who
at least had the foresight to put pictures of Black
people on the covers of their magazines. So, the LAWS
revealed to Moses were traded in for the 10 Crack
Commandments.

While many rappers reflect “the Life is Hell”
philosophy in their lyrics, I doubt very seriously
that any other religion outside of Holy Hip Hop
considers eternal torment living in a 5 million dollar
mansion with an Olympic sized swimming pool. However,
some rappers are helping to perpetuate the hell-ish
conditions that Afrikan people are experiencing,
globally by aiding our mental enslavement that keeps
us under the foot of the white supremacist system.

Sadly, many of the brotha’s and sista’s in Hip Hop are
fully aware that they are leading Afrikan children
down the path of destruction but have made a conscious
decision to sell the destiny of our people for 30
pieces of silver or a platinum chain.

The problem is that our Afrikan Spirituality makes it
hard for us to believe that anyone could be so evil as
to use our music and Spirituality as a genocidal
weapon. So many have underestimated the depths that
white supremacists would sink to keep the masses of
Afrikan people oppressed.

Some will argue that it is “only music”, but as dude
from the movie, “the Usual Suspects” said “the
greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing
the world he didn’t exist.” The oppressor knows that
the only way to totally destroy a people is to
separate them from their connection to the Creator.
Once their Spiritual immune system is broken down, the
people are left open to all the vices that plague the
planet, drugs, disease, violence, etc.

When faced with this TRUTH, many young brotha’s will
defiantly shout, “Only God can judge me!!!!” However,
there is such a thing as corporate responsibility and
the actions of one member of the Afrikan family,
affect the whole, including future generations. So to
answer the age old question, “I am my Brother’s
keeper.”

Our African ancestors knew that it was not only the
right, but the responsibility of the elders to give
guidance to the younger generation because it was they
who would determine the future of the tribe. But today
even, our most learned elders seem to be intimidated
by children just because they can quote rap lyrics
like the old folks quote scripture. When the adults in
the Afrikan familiy stop trying to win a popularity
contest with 14 year olds and stand up and speak
TRUTH, then will the end of our oppression come.

Most religions have some sort of Judgement Day when
TRUTH is revealed; when a persons deeds are weighed in
the balance against the Universal principles of
Righteousness. A day when LIGHT (KNOWLEDGE) eventually
overcomes DARKNESS (LIES). Even though some rappers
think that they can defy the law of Reciprocity by
raising hell all year long and giving out a free
turkey at Thanksgiving.

Rappers Bone Thugs-n-Harmony once asked “What ya gonna
do; when there ain’t no place to hide, when judgement
comes for you?” So Hip Hop, today is at the
Crossroads. We must make a decision as to which road
we will take, the road to LIBERATION or the road to
SLAVERY. The path that will insure a future for the
next generation or the path that will lead to its
destruction.

To borrow from an old Public Enemy interlude; “Right
vs. Wrong; Good vs. Evil; God vs. the Devil; what side
you on?”

True Confessions of an Ex-Christian

True Confessions of an Ex-Christian
Min. Paul Scott

I became a better “Christian” when I stopped being
one.

While the obvious contradictory nature of this
statement may be overwhelming, the essence of this
pronouncement reaches deep into the Blackness of my
soul and brings forth a great spiritual awakening that
cannot be contained within the tiny religious box in
which the European has placed me. Unfortunately, many
of us remain trapped in the theological prison of
Eurocentric Christianity from the cradle to the grave.
We have suffered from the inability to break the
spiritual chains that were placed on us by our
oppressors and we have failed to define our
relationship to the Creator from our own experience.

I am not the first who has come to the crossroads
where European Christianity and Afrocentricity meet.
Unfortunately, many have refused to articulate this
feeling of alienation and have instead chosen to sit
quietly on the pew in the back of the church trying to
convince themselves that if they just sit through one
more sermon, the lottery ticket in their pocket will
hit and all their worries will be over….

The relationship between Black folks and Christianity
has been the subject of many essays, books and
lectures and most would agree that what is called
“Christianity” was a religious practice forced on our
ancestors. There is no denying the fact that
Christianity has been used by the European as a form
of nationalism and an agent of social control. The
fallacy of a blue eyed blond haired Jesus and the
factuality of the Blackness of the original Hebrew
Israelites has also been discussed at length by some
of our greatest minds.

But the question here is can one be both Afrocentric
and Christian or is the term a misnomer such as
Communist-Capitalist, Republican-Democrat,
African-American ?

Many Afrikan people see Christianity as something that
was forced upon our ancestors with whips and chains,
our parents by a giant propaganda machine and
ourselves with a belt if we did not get up in time for
Sunday school. Under these circumstances, we had no
choice but to become Christians. Since it was forced
upon us, we did not have a chance to make the
connection between the religion and our Afrikan
spirituality. So the thing that was supposed to make
us FREE became the tool of our continued oppression.

Sadly, many Black folks may never feel the need to
grow beyond the theological teachings of their
childhood. As long as they have FAITH in a God who
will show up when the bills are due, send them the
perfect spouse and forgive them for sneaking around
with a member of the usher board , they are willing to
go with the flow without once asking themselves; what
does it really mean to be a Christian and who makes
that decision?

But Christianity becomes problematic when one begins
to discover his “Blackness” and trades in his comic
books for books on African history and starts spending
less time in the clubs vibin’ to the latest Hip Hop
jam and more time attending lectures about the
struggle of Afrikan people. What happens when these
two worlds collide; the immovable object of
Eurocentric Christianity and the irresistible force of
Afrocentricity. Can Christianity with its strong
Euro-nationalistic overtones coexist with the quest
for Black self determination?

This conflict often leaves the Afrocentric Christian
isolated. Alienated from the church because he is
Afrocentric and alienated from the Afrocentrists
because he is a Christian. On one hand the church is
saying that he is going to hell for getting involved
in “that Black stuff” and on the other hand the
Afrocentrist hides behind the shield of Black Unity
and religious tolerance while all the while belittling
his religious FAITH. Does it make one less of a Child
of God because he refuses to let the white man define
his existence or his relationship with the Creator. Or
does it make one less valuable to the struggle of
Afrikan people because he follows the teachings of a
Black revolutionary born in Northeast Africa? Does
using the words of the original African Hebrew
Israelites (the Bible) make one less Afrocentric than
a Brother or Sister who has chosen another path to the
Creator?

The reason why the white supremacist system never
wanted us to dig below the surface of Christianity is
because they have always known that the religion that
they transported to Rome is African at its core. And
the revelation of this would signal the end of the
white control of the minds and spirits of Afrikan
people.

But the question remains can one still answer to a
Roman derogatory term and claim Afrocentricity ? And
if I am no longer a Christian how do I define my
religious convictions ?

The answer to this goes back to our power to define
who we are and our relationship with the Creator. My
personal conversion from an Afrocentric Christian to a
Messianic Afrikan along with the rejection of a blue
eyed Jesus Christ and the acceptance of Yeshua, the
Black Revolutionary Messiah was more than just an
exercise in semantics; it was the missing link between
my religious belief system and African spirituality.
And I did not have to give up the Bible nor my African
history books to do it. Instead, I found the
connection between the two. As far as trying to put a
name on my religion; If Yeshua taught that he is the
WAY, TRUTH and the LIFE, then my religion is the TRUTH
that is the WAY to a better LIFE for Afrikan people.
When it is all said and done, after all of our
prayers, chants and religious symbolism, isn’t that
what we are all striving towards.

Each day we strive to gain more KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM and
UNDERSTANDING of the Creator and we are all stumbling
in the darkness searching for the LIGHT but as they
say in the church’ “We will understand it better by
and by.”

What is the Messianic Afrikan Nation

The 7 Point Program

1) We demand that Afrikan people have the FREEDOM to
serve the Creator (ELOHIM) in SPIRIT and TRUTH.

2) We will work to eradicate all Euro-centric
religious icons from the communities and the minds of
Afrikan people.

3) We demand the right to define our existence as
Afrikan people.

4) We want to establish PEACE and HARMONY among
Afrikan people.

5) We demand an end to the spiritual, mental and
physical genocide of Afrikan people.

6) We demand the end of the social, political and
economic exploitation of the Afrikan community.

7) We will ensure that all Afrikan children are able
to grow to be the strong Afrikan people that the
Creator (ELOHIM) made them to be.

The MYD Catechism

1) What does MYD mean?

Messianic Disciples of Yeshua, the Black Revolutionary
Messiah. The Y is always in the middle because Yeshua
is the center of the movement.

2) What is a Messianic Disciple of Yeshua, the Black
Revolutionary Messiah ?

An Afrikan Brother or Sister who follows the teachings
of Yeshua and practices Afrikan Liberation Theology.

3) What is Afrikan Liberation Theology?

The belief that the Original Hebrew Israelites were
Black and the scriptures should be used for the

LIBERATION of Afrikan people.

4) Who is Yeshua ?

Yeshua is the Black Revolutionary Messiah who the
European misnamed “Jesus Christ” . The letter J was
not in the Hebrew/Aramaic alphabet, so his name could

not have been “Jesus”. Yeshua (Hebrew/Aramaic) is

translated to mean “God will save us.”

5) How do you know that Yeshua was Black?

The area in which Yeshua lived was Northeast Africa,
the European misnamed it the “Middle East”. The people
of Africa have dark skin. The blue eyed, blond haired
Jesus Christ is a figment of the imagination of the
European based upon the art of 15th century artists

like Michelangelo who used his family memembers to
pose as the people of the Bible..

6) Why was the Messiah painted white?

It was done to justify the Afrikan Holocaust /Maafa
(transatlantic slave trade) and the Euro-domination of
the planet.

7) Why do you say that Yeshua was a Revolutionary ?

He was a revolutionary because he fought the (white)
Roman Empire and the religious leaders of his day with

the most powerful weapon on Earth, the TRUTH.

8)How does MYD differ from Eurocentric Christianity.

Christianity was first used as a derogatory term for
the followers of Yeshua. They referred to themselves

as “Peopleof the Way”, Galileans or Nazarenes. Christ
comes from the Greek word “Christos” which means

“anointed.” The Hebrew/Aramaic word for anointed is
mashiah/meshiha. So we use the term “messianic” (of

the anointed one.)

9) Is the MYD the same as Messianic Judaism ?

No, only the term “messianic” is the same. We do not
follow the European interpretation of the scriptures.

10) Does one have to leave the Church to be a MYD?

No, the purpose is a change of mind, not a change of
location. We just view the scriptures from an

Afrocentric point of view.

11) What is the Messianic secret?

The divine REVELATION that Yeshua is the Messiah and
the Son of the Living God as revealed to Peter in

Matthew 16:13- 20

12) What is the duty of a MYD.

The Book of Isaiah 61st Chapter

The MYD FAITH Catechism:

1) What is your religion?
My FAITH is TRUTH. Yeshua taught that he was the WAY,
the TRUTH and the LIFE. So my FAITH is the TRUTH that
leads to a better WAY of LIFE for our people.

2) What scriptures confirm your FAITH.
John 3:19-21
John 4:23
John 14:6
John 14:17
John 15:26-27

3) How old is your FAITH?
The TRUTH has been here since the beginning. Before
there was any religion or any Bible there was TRUTH.
The TRUTH in the scriptures is also referred to as
“the LIGHT,” the WORD” and “a SWORD.” I believe that
this TRUTH was given to the Children of Israel 6000
years ago, revealed through the prophets 3500 years
ago , made manifest in YESHUA 2000 years ago and is
now present in us and around us through the Holy
Spirit.
Even one of the African ” fathers of the church “, St.
Augustine said that “what is now known as
“Christianity” (the correct word is translated as
Messianic in Hebrew/Aramaic) has existed among the
ancients and was not absent from the beginning of the
human race until “Christ” (the Hebrew /Aramaic word is
Messiah) came in flesh from which time the true
religion which already existed began to be called
“Christian” (The Hebrew/Aramaic word is Messianic.)

The Greetings

Hear O’ Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.
We give honor to the Creator of the Universe (The
ELOHIM)
In the name of YESHUA the Messiah
We invoke the Holy Spirit of TRUTH that will make our
people FREE.
I greet you my Brothers and Sisters in the words of
PEACE.
Shalom Alechem (PEACE be unto you) and the response is
Alechem Shalom.(Unto you be PEACE)
We also use
All praises to the Creator
All Power to His People
In the name of YESHUA, the Black Revolutionary MESSIAH
I Greet you in the SPIRIT of TRUTH and the words of
PEACE
Shalom Alechem

The Benediction
Although we have been victimized, yet we are not
victims. We are a strong Afrikan people and in the
fullness of time, in the Creator’s will, We shall rise
again. As I leave you in PEACE

Shalom Alechem!

Suggested Readings

The Original African Heritage Bible- Dr. Caine Hope Felder

What Color was Jesus- William Mosely

Yeshua the Hebrew Messiah or Jesus the Christian Christ-Rabbi Ben Ammi

The Messiah and the End of this World- Rabbi BenAmmi

The Black Messiah- Rev. Albert Cleage

The Black Christ- Kelly Brown Douglas

God, the Bible and the Black man`s Destiny- Dr.Ishakamusa Barashango

Afrikan People and European Holidays-Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango

Adam, Where are you- Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu

The African Origins of Judaism- Jose Malcioln

The TRUTH about Black Biblical Hebrew-Israelites- Ella Hughley

Our Black Seminarians and Black Clergy without a Black Theology- Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan

The Black Presence in the Bible- Rev. Walter McCray

What if Blacks did not Exist- Felix Ehui

The Valley of the Dry Bones- Rudolphf Windsor

From Babylon to Timbuktu- Rudolphf Windsor

Black Biblical Heritage- Dr. John L. Johnson

The Deceiving of the Black Race- Moses Farrar