- the story of Jesus' last days
- refers to suffering
- focuses on moments leading to his death
- each narrative is different - they each focus on different things
- John - talky, chill Jesus, focus on prophecy, Jesus is neogotiating family relationships
- Luke - second person highlights Jesus' innocence, two bandits talk with Jesus, he's saving people in this time of crisis
- Mark - "why have you forsaken me?", agony
- all: the women are at the cross until the end, Joseph of Arithmethia
Harriet Beecher Stowe
- white perspective
- abolitionist
- Meant Uncle Tom's Cabin as advocating, however it comes across as patronizing
- gives a perspective of Jesus and slavery pre-civil war
- echoing the passion narrative:
- "into thy hands I commend my spirit! ..." (quoting John's passion narrative)
- yields himself as Jesus did
- accepts his fate like Jesus
- echoing the "hour" of the passion narrative
- Tom is like Jesus in that he is holding up in the face of knowing he's about to die and his willingness
- he's strong and stoic, shows sacrifice
- there's a redemptive element with the two other slaves and Tom which parallels Jesus with the two thieve
- perpetuates negative, animalistic stereotypes of African Americans even while she's trying to be sympathetic
- an example of the Harvey and Bloom abolitionists connection between the suffering of Christ and the suffering of the slave
Harvey and Bloom
- significant that a white Jesus is crucified because it challenges the assumption/dominant culture that whiteness=power
Good Times
- 70s tv show
- "Black Jesus" episode (season 2 episode 2 if anyone wants to rewatch)
- Michael (the child) described the paintings of Jesus as symbols
- Michael references a Malcolm X book
- the mother does not want to accept the new painting because it is not what she is used to
- Harvey and Bloom - speaks to the idea of creating Jesus in your own image
MLK (according to Harvey and Bloom)
- images a white Christ
- focus on the character and universal nature of Christ
- his ability to transcend color
- his understanding of Christ fuels the Civil Rights Movement
Vincent Harding
- believes white Jesus isn't enough
- we need to focus on black liberation
Images of Christ
Warner Sallman 1941 painting of Jesus becomes THE picture of Christ
- meant as a response to popular images of a young toddler Christ because they were very sentimental
- his painting was an attempt to make Christ more masculine
Richard Hook, "Head of Christ," 1960s-70s
- "hippie" image of Jesus
- has more of an inviting feeling, "let's go change the world!"
Jacob Lawrence, "Panel 54," Migration Series, 1940s
- black Jesus
- becomes important during the Harlem Renaissance
- image of worshippers praying in pews facing away from murals/windows of biblical depictions on the wall
William H. Johnson, "Jesus and the Three Martyrs," 1939
- another Harlem Renaissance painter
- also paints black Jesus
Ronald Harrison, "The Black Christ" 1962 South Africa
- Christ is black but no on else is
- Mary looks as if she may be Indian
- the ones who are oppressing Christ (Roman soldiers) are white
Renee Cox, "It Shall Be Named"
- image is a collage of photographs that depicted a man dead on a cross
- says African American experience is similar to Christ
- shows an emasculated man
- connects religion to race
Janet McKenzie, "Jesus of the People," 1999
- winning painting of Catholic contest for a "new" image of Christ
- guarded, powerful, regal image
- yin yang and a feather - evoke peace and balance, Native American and other cultures
- seen as multi racial and gender ambiguous
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