Missionaries BEEN Bad for our Black Asses
Welcome to the twenty-fifth installment of This Black-Ass Life! As promised in our previous newsletters, here is our rant on missionaries and how they’ve marred Africa for centuries. It’s a rainy day in D.C. so we had time and just enough energy to drag the institution and legacy of missionary trips. We also get into a former Southwest Airlines’ employee’s future pay day and bow down to Jackée Harry.
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l. The Facts
Christians missionaries have been on the continent of Africa prophesying almost since the beginning of the religion. It is believed by many that Christianity was brought from Jerusalem to Egypt by Mark the Evangelist in 60 AD. Once in North Africa, Christianity spread to Ethiopia and eventually came to Sub-Saharan Africa with the arrival of the Portuguese in West Africa and the Dutch in Southern Africa in the 15th century.
Since the arrival of early Christians on the continent of Africa, there have been some positive but also (mostly) negative consequences. An examination of missionaries (most often White) in Africa would be remiss without mention of missionaries who understood that colonialism was inconsistent with Christian values, and used their privilege to challenge colonial administrators.
Overwhelmingly, however, missionaries have been and are the vanguard of disruptive policies, racism, and colonialism.
Specifically during the colonial period, missionaries preached humility, peace, forgiveness, and submission in the face of genocide, dehumanization, and exploitation.
Today, at their best, Christian missionaries (mostly American) in Africa are "people with big hearts and big ideas, but without much else, without knowledge and perhaps without enough humility." At their worst, they are racist and purveyors of disruptive conservative dogma, mainly homophobia and anti-choice ideologies.
Why is this important?
Many studies show that before the arrival of missionaries, same-sex practices in pre-colonial Africa were not generally seen as taboo.
There’s a direct line between missionaries bringing their backward 19th-century European sensibilities to Africa and the rampant anti-LGBTQ+ policies that are rampant on the continent today.
This is important because queer Africans face real danger, violence, and persecution led by their own governments.
Cultural colonialism also extends to access to abortion.
Christian missionaries, including televangelist Pat Robertson, have infused the continent with anti-choice beliefs and fund movements to ensure restriction to much-needed family planning interventions for African women - that is a health AND safety risk.
What can my Black Ass do?
Follow Africa’s “quiet LGBT+ revolution” online (especially on Twitter!).
Help fund Uganda’s first LGBTQ+ group here.
Check out and support Limitless, a multimedia collection of stories by LGBTQ+ Africans.
ll. Other Things
Oh this week was rough rough.
We got us: read this haunting letter signed by 1600 Black women in support of Anita Hill. We believe you, Dr. Ford. And maybe we’ll get a real apology from Joe Biden instead of displacing blame.
Lighter: Here are 25 things overheard in a hotel room full of men watching Girls’ Trip during a bachelor party in New Orleans.
Y’ALL someone is about to get paid: An alleged “Whites Only” break room and a noose led this former Southwest Airlines employee to sue the company. Reminds me of Riley, Grandpa and this amazing Boondocks episode.
Auntie Maxine hosted a rap cypher featuring Common, Rapsody and the youth.
Jackée Harry BEEN a star. Here she is deservedly tooting her own horn for 33 years of 227.
Angela Bassett looks better than me and everyone I’ve ever met.
Our Black-Ass song of the week (Jumoke):
As we close out the month of September, September.
Things we are looking forward to / things we are not looking forward to:
I (Jumoke) am looking forward to the return of TV! Murder! Magnum P.I.! (I don’t actually care for this show, but I care very much for Jay Hernandez) The Romanoffs!
I (Mitu) look forward to watching Regina Hall’s Support the Girls via on demand since I did not realize it was out.
lll. Text from a Black-Ass Mama
My (Mitu’s) mama apparently missed me so she played Backstreet Boys to reminisce on when I used to drive her insane looping their albums (*NSYNC is STILL the superior group). Jumoke adamantly disagrees that *NSYNC is the superior group.
Stay Black, thrive, watch Support the Girls and we’ll hit your inbox next on October 9.