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Listening to black voices
Editors: David Killingray, Joel Edwards Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press Price: £9.99 ISBN: 1-84474-181-8
As a black British person, not very clued up about Black History, I was intrigued by what this book might yield. Black Voices opens with an overview of the presence of black people in Britain dating back centuries, long before their arrival aboard Windrush. The whistle-stop synopsis gives glimpses of the varying reception awaiting black people in different parts of Britain at different times. The ensuing chapters drop in on the lives of selected individuals, affording insights into their personal stories, mainly told in their own words.
Most of the characters featured and stories told are fascinating, maybe simply because there is a story being told; black people existed, were thinking, feeling and writing about their experiences, contributing to society and the Church. There are stories of slaves who have gained their freedom, embraced Christianity (not necessarily in that order) and served as ministers and missionaries in Britain, America, Africa and the Caribbean; individuals who have spoken out against the slave trade, demanded their rights as British subjects, formed societies and alliances to secure equality for ‘coloured peoples’, and decried the commonly held view that black people were inherently inferior to whites.
I was struck by the depth of faith evident in several powerful testimonies; at the same time I cried inside on reading the words of former slaves accepting their plight as God’s plan for their salvation. Sadder still the story of the black African princes who were first slave traders, then slaves, later securing their freedom and converting to Christianity only to return to Africa and their former trade. I bristled at the apparently easy acceptance by both black and white people that black people should be educated and trained in Britain with the specific purpose of becoming ‘missionaries to their own’ in the British colonies. None of these sit comfortably with the faith I claim as my own.
Certain voices struck particular chords. In Felix Hercules’ observation that the ‘barriers ...prejudices ...sham and hypocrisy’ of Britain ‘have driven me to the refuge of my own people’. I recognise that I too sometimes close ranks with ‘my own’, both physically and intellectually, as a means of self-preservation, shared understanding and pride. Io Smith’s recollections of being stared at while going about life in ‘50s Britain remind me of an ‘80s school trip to the Isle of Wight, and even today being treated as a curiosity or token representative of all black people, particularly in white, middle-class environments. SJ Celestine Edwards insists ‘we must emphasise the fact that Christianity is not afraid of examination, but demands a merciless experiment’, a belief which drew me into the Church and, I believe, underpins John Edward Quinlan’s arguments for a ‘cosmopolitan’ Christianity, reminiscent of our own pursuit of a truly multicultural church.
Some weaknesses do grate. I found the inclusion of photographs and captions not referred to in the main body of the text distracting, and am puzzled by the choice of some extracts which do not appear to serve any real purpose, particularly under the chapter headings to which they have been ascribed. In spite of these observations, I think Black Voices succeeds in its aim of whetting the reader’s appetite and kindling the desire to discover more.
Karen Campbell is a Church related community worker in training |
Title:
Black Voices: the Shaping of Our Christian Experience