Description
In Burning for Freedom: A Theology of the Black Atlantic Struggle for Liberation, Delroy A. Reid-Salmon explores the reasons behind the abolition of slavery in the Black Atlantic World by examining the Sam Sharpe Revolt. Through this examination, secular bases for human liberation – liberation theories that espouse socio-political reasons among the enslaved for wanting freedom as well as espouse human self reliance and sovereignty over their own lives – are challenged. Instead, Reid-Salmon posits the belief that liberation in the Black Atlantic World was as a direct result of the manifestation of the work of God in human existence; the Sam Sharpe Revolt was theological act signifying the revelation and involvement of God in history to set the oppressed free.
As the first major theological study and interpretation of the Sam Sharpe Revolt, Burning for Freedom places faith in God and the promise of God as established in events such as The Exodus Story, The Prophetic Tradition and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the bases for human liberation, which enabled and engendered freedom in the Black Atlantic World.
About the Author
Delroy A. Reid-Salmon is Pastor of the Grace Baptist Chapel in New York and a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture, Regents Park College. He has a PhD in Theology from the University of Birmingham and a Master of Divinity Degree from Harvard University Divinity School.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
- Sam Sharpe: The Man Behind the ‘Legend’
Personal Identity ■ Vocation ■ Brilliant Mind ■ Model Leader ■ Conclusion
- All Right: Perspectives of the Sam Sharpe Revolt
Political Perspective : • Social Transformation • Industrial Action
Religious Perspective: • Moslem Interpretation • Christian Interpretation
Theological Perspective
Conclusion
- Living in Buckra’s House: The Making of a Liberator
Plantocracy: • Place of Identity • Place of Autonomy
Culture of Resistance
Religion of Liberation
Conclusion
4 . Working in Vain: The Limits of Liberation
Liberation Without Faith ■ De-Centring of Faith ■ Domestication of Black Christianity ■ Conclusion
- Get Up and Stand Up: The Grounds of Liberation
Equality of All Persons ■ Freedom ■ Justice ■ Embodiment ■ Conclusion
- Uprising: The Power of the Oppressed
Biblical Witness ■ Exodus Story ■ Prophetic Tradition ■ Gospel of Jesus Christ
Conclusion
- All O’ We A One: The Ties that Bind
Historical Relationship ■ Theological Connection ■
Common Quest for Liberation and Freedom
Conclusion
- Fighting for Survival: Towards a Theology of the
Black Atlantic Struggle for Liberation
Freedom ■ Righteousness ■ Hope ■ Conclusion
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index
