| abstract | Anger is a complex root that grows from the seed of the African American Christian experience. Our ancestors were
brought to this country as slaves, forced to do the work of vicious masters. Beyond the social, psychological and physical abuses, slaves' duties were
almost always imposed until their deaths. Some might say that the only part of slaves' lives that were left all their own would be that of their spiritual
connections to God. Once Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, many slaves were set free and brought into a new bondage: Jim Crow.
African Americans struggled to integrate into the lesser known concept of freedom. Throughout the development of American society, the African American
Christian struggled and perhaps still struggles with painful duality: the freedom one finds in Jesus, and the struggle of the societally imposed bondage
of America. Though today we African Americans have many freedoms, emotional bondage still remains a part of our earthly journey. Though slavery is
abolished, the American-made fear of angry black men and angry black women leaves little room for us to be free to express ourselves. Some have described
the Black Lives Matter movement that stands for freedom and the equal treatment of all people in the United States as a group of bullies. Jeremiah
Wright was blacklisted for preaching a sermon entitled A More Perfect Union in which he angrily expressed the ills of African Americans in the
United States. In many ways, African Americans living in the U.S. are free to be happy, sad, excited, forgiving, loving and nurturing; however, we are
not allowed to be angry. Centuries of repressed anger impacts the way we African Americans maneuver in our society. The way we work, study, socialize
and even WORSHIP is affected by our inability to safely express the full breadth of our feelings. St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (henceforth
AME) church in Kingstree is a humble church. Yet, deep within its walls can be found anger in many forms but of one substance: ignored anger. The membership
comprises many families who have lived in Kingstree most of their lives. They are connected by many stories and experiences, yet many chapters in these
stories still remain unheard. This research and paper gives us an opportunity to engage the untold story of anger in our congregations. It is my hope that
this process will create greater opportunity for growth and not just physically, but spiritually, and relationally. |
