My starting point for doing theology is that God created humankind in the divine image, Imago Dei. This means human beings of, as in the words of the book of Revelation (7:9), “every nation, tribe, people and language” are made of the same spiritual and natural material.
There is zero place for superiority or inferiority among beings, among whom there is only one race, the human race. All of us live courtesy of the breath of God, and are endowed with creativity, love and agency. It is as these and other attributes are nurtured, exercised into maturity that we experience the life in its fullness that Jesus teaches about.
God-given traits and qualities can be thwarted, even extinguished prematurely, sometimes with us having little to no determinative control, such as when caught up in wars, terrorist acts, violence, or natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquake. However, to the extent that we have or can have control of our circumstances, we must do all in our power to protect, develop and live out to the maximum our God-given gifts and talents irrespective of where we are on the planet.
In the process of researching and writing my recent book, ‘Flourishing in Babylon – Black British Agency and Self-Determination’, I had on occasions to travel by taxis, many of which were driven by men of Asian British heritage. We had sometimes exhilarating conversations about life. A recurring theme concerned money, wealth, prosperity and political influence. In the main, I became interested in how the Asian community appeared so much more prosperous and influential than my own African Caribbean British community.
According to the 2021 Census, the overall Asian population in Britain is approximately 9%, while African Caribbean stood at approximately 3.5%. What is in actuality, three times often appears quadruple times in number, prosperity and influence. Both communities experience of racism and exclusion is very real. And yet, one appears to do better than the other. Of course, the issue is much more complex, as Lord Tony Sewell shows in his excellent book ‘Black Success – The Surprising Truth’.
I learned from these Asian taxi drivers that whereas the African Caribbean community once practiced, and in some areas still do, the saving scheme called ‘pardna’ – a precursor to credit unions – among Asians what is sometimes called ‘committee’ is done on a mega scale.
I surmised that while a pardna weekly draw may enable the recipient to put a deposit on a car, committee recipients are more likely to put their draw to deposit on a house – if not buy outright! The relative scales are poles apart.
TAKING A LEAF FROM THE ASIAN BRITISH ‘MANUAL’
On holiday in my native Jamaica, I engaged an Asian stall holder in Ocho Rios and enquired how he came to be there – his accent gave him away as a non-Jamaican. He explained that he and his brother took turns to be in Jamaica for six months at a time to run their business – home was India.
African Caribbean people do business, some very successfully, but I have to admit that particularly here in the UK my community need to become more business minded, more politically minded, more upwardly mobile minded.
It strikes me that we could benefit from taking a leaf out of the Asian British people’s ‘manual’. We have the genius, too, but we need to develop it and protect it, and this could be nurtured in the Black Church in Britain by becoming incarnational in the everyday mission of these churches.
Not every black British attend black churches. Many attend white-led churches, some belong to other faiths, and some don’t do faith. There are many black-led organisations and initiatives in Britain with the expressed aims of empowering the black community. This has been true especially since the death of George Floyd. Unfortunately, some of our leading lights seem determined to keep us focussed on who we are not and where we don’t want to go; endlessly critiquing whiteness and white oppression as though by itself this advances the black cause.
It’s one thing showing white people where they have gone wrong for generations and still now, it’s another thing charting our own course to prosperity and social, economic and political power.
I was very impressed when the relatively new Black Equity Organisation published the result of their ‘Black British Mandate – Shaping the Future’ (www.blackequityorg.com).
Then, from within the Black Church in Britain two initiatives have emerged. Ascension Trust working with others published ‘UK Vision 2030 – A Call to Action’ (www.ukvision2030.com). And a work I have personally been involved in, the National Church Leaders Forum, published ‘Black Church Political Mobilisation – A Manifesto for Action’ (www.nclf.org.uk).
These three initiatives are a sample of the current organic uprising of innumerable individuals and organisations that appear to have wind in their sails towards the deployment of agency and self-determination.
In a Garveyite spirit and in the power of the Holy Spirit we Christians believe in, we are discovering that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).
Let’s put Imago Dei to work for the good of the black community and the wider British society in which we live – in spite of the obstacles, let’s choose to transcend obstacles and embrace opportunities!
– Dr Joe Aldred is a retired ecumenist, broadcaster, writer and speaker. He is author of ‘Flourishing in Babylon – Black British Agency and Self-Determination’, published by SCM Press and available from online booksellers. Email feedback to [email protected]
