| abstract |
This dissertation examines the suppression of grief among Christian men of the African diaspora as a theological, cultural, and psychosocial problem shaped by racialized and intergenerational trauma, constructions of masculinity, and patterns of ecclesial formation. Drawing on a ministry context that includes men of African, Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, and African American backgrounds, the study argues that emotional restriction within Black church and diasporic Christian communities contributes to fragmented identity, relational isolation, and diminished communal and spiritual well-being. Grief is approached not merely as an individual experience but as a formative process tied to identity, relational bonds, and the meaning-making of loss within shared histories of displacement, oppression, and resilience.
This project focuses specifically on Black men between the ages of 30–60 who are active church participants within the five boroughs of New York City, including African American and broader African diasporic communities. Within this defined ministry context, the study advances a central claim: that grief suppression among Black men is not merely a personal or cultural tendency but the result of three converging forces: racialized social formation, masculine habitus, and theological distortion. Together these converging forces restrict the expression of grief and produce embodied, relational, and spiritual fragmentation. By identifying these mechanisms, the project develops a ministry-based intervention in the form of structured grief circles and pastoral gatherings designed to help participants externalize, reinterpret, and release internalized beliefs about grief, thereby fostering movement toward healing, relational integration, and theological wholeness.
Engaging Black theological reflection and interdisciplinary grief studies, this dissertation critiques dominant models of masculinity that equate strength with emotional suppression and limit the capacity for lament across diasporic contexts. In response, the project develops a constructive theological anthropology in which grief is understood as a necessary and potentially transformative dimension of identity formation and communal healing.
The study centers on sustained exegetical and theological engagement with the lives and lament traditions associated with David and the prophet Jeremiah, attending closely to how grief, loss, and emotional expression function within their respective narratives. By focusing on these texts rather than employing a broad range of scriptural references, the project demonstrates how biblical lament can serve as a theological resource for articulating grief, processing trauma, and reimagining faithful expressions of masculinity within diverse Black and diasporic communities.
As a practical theological project, this dissertation culminates in the development of a ministry-based model designed for implementation within diasporic Christian contexts. This model incorporates structured practices such as guided lament, communal reflection, and pastoral accompaniment, creating intentional spaces in which men can engage grief as a relational and transformative process. The study explores how these practices support healing, foster identity reformation, and challenge inherited norms that inhibit emotional expression across cultural contexts.
Ultimately, this study contends that when diasporic church communities cultivate practices that normalize and sustain grief work among men, they participate in the restoration of identity, the healing of communal and intergenerational trauma, and the formation of more life-giving expressions of masculinity. By integrating focused biblical interpretation, theological reflection, and ministry praxis, this dissertation offers an implementable framework for addressing complex grief within diverse communities of the African diaspora.
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