Black Radicalism and Black Religion

Before slavery placed the lives of Africans throughout the Caribbean, United States, and Portugal, Africans practiced traditional religions that were not referred to in theory or practice as Christianity. When they were bought to America, slave owners needed every reason to justify their barbaric use of Africans as laborers, so they blamed the savage nature of the African for his enslavement. This absolved Whites of any guilt, making it easier for any outsider to understand why Africans needed to be kept in bondage. As far as religious traditions, enslaved Africans found slavery so unbearable that they needed to cling to. Under the watchful eye of the slave master and other overseers, Christianity was the only thing they could cling to as they had been ripped from their homeland and much of their ability to practice their own traditional religions was prohibited because Europeans did not understand the African’s connectedness to his homeland. Black radicals, however, understood their connection to Africa but were also ready to fight for their freedom and the lives of their people. 

The religious foundations of Black radicals are marked by their understanding of religion. These men did not allow for the injustices of slavery to keep them captive because they had further understanding of God’s purposes for his people – regardless of their race. All three understood that enslavement was not where God intended for Africans to be. Like them, Harriet Tubman is another person who revolted against slavery because of her understanding that God would not have wanted His people to suffer. They all understood that service to a master was not expressed Biblically in the manner that it was perpetuated by Whites in America. 

From David Walkers Appeal to Harriet Tubman’s fearless leadership in the Underground Railroad, Black radicals used religion as their guide. They believed in God but also believed in Black people’s ability – that ability which allowed them to succeed despite the barbaric nature of slavery.