Malcolm X and the Philosophical Theology of James H. Cone
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Malcolm X and the Philosophical Theology of James H. Cone Maurice Pugh 1,2 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Malcolm X emerged as one of the foremost and formidable leaders of the late 50s and early 60s. He esteemed and affirmed black culture, history, and beauty, thus igniting a nationalistic movement that injected “Black Power” and “Black Pride” into the America lexicon. Malcolm’s pro-black message also shaped the philosophy and methodology of a young theologian named James H. Cone who was struggling at the time to construct a Christian faith relevant to an oppressed and frustrated Black community. Cone blazed a new trail in the 1960s as the prophetic voice and the prolific scholar who creatively integrated the social justice theology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with the black ideology of Malcolm X. Keywords James Cone . Malcolm X . Black theology . Black power movement . Black
nationalism America encountered irrefutable social turmoil and racial discord during the 1960s. Consequently, an exasperated Black America, no longer willing to accept systemic injustice, rejected segregation and discrimination, unprosecuted racial violence, and second-class citizenship as status quo. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., advocated peaceful marches and nonviolent sit-ins to accomplish social integration and racial equality. However, Malcolm X argued that oppressors will never willingly grant equality; it must be demanded and taken “by any means necessary.” In the midst of this turbulent period, a relatively unknown theologian named James Cone emerged from a rural town in Arkansas to confront the abstract and irrelevant definitions of white mainstream theology and to speak to the social conditions of Black America (Hopkins 2002, 15). Arguably, King and Malcolm represented the two most recognizable and preeminent leaders of the 60s. At the same time, James Cone is considered the most prolific and * Maurice Pugh [email protected]
1
New Life Fellowship, Arlington, TX, USA
2
Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX, USA
Journal of African American Studies
seminal Black theologian of that era. Together, the three established the cultural, theological, and ideological foundation for African Americans at the end of the twentieth century and their impact continues ad infinitum. James Cone has written that “a colorless Christianity is a joke—only found in the imaginary world of white theologians” (Cone 1999c, xx). He argues that a socially relevant theology must identify with the racial, cultural, and historical heritage of an oppressed community. “There is no place in black theology for a colorless God in a society where human beings suffer precisely because of their color” (Cone 1990, 84). Thus, “blackness whetted my appetite for learning how to do theology with a black signature on it and thereby make it accountable to poor black people” (Cone 1999c, xxii). The Black Nationalism of Malcolm X, which gave rise to the Black Power movement, contributed significantly to Cone’s theology. Cone explains: “to understand
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