A while back, a Sista rolled up on me with a laundry list of complaints about the Black church. Her voice quivered as she ran off a list of concerns from the failure of the Black church to address social problems to the number of young Black men who go from the church pew to the prison cell. Unlike many Black folks who point the finger at the church as a scapegoat for the millions of problems facing Afrikan people, this sister was sincere and wanted not only answers, but action; now!

When I say the Black church, I am not talking about a little building where Sister Sara goes to get her praise on every Sunday morning, rain sleet or snow. Nor am I talking about a congregation that takes what little they have to feed Bro. Ricky who hasn’t had a job in five years and mentors little Tyrone every day after school. What I am referring to is an institution that was set up by a white supremacist system, using a Eurocentric theology for the purpose of keeping Afrikan people spiritually, mentally and physically enslaved.

So, I am not talking about a collective expression of spirituality nor individual acts of goodwill but the systematic trapping of Afrikan spirituality within the confines of a building and the relegating of the daily expression of reverence to the Creator (Elohim)into a weekly, one hour ritual.

There can be no denying the fact that 'Christianity' was forced on African people in order to carry out the African Holocaust/Maafa (Transatlantic slave trade)and the Black church was used as an agent of social control to carry on the slave legacy on the spiritual and mental level long after the physical chains had been rendered obsolete.

In elementary physics class, we are taught that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. Therefore, the Black church has not much deviated from its original intent, which is to control the actions of Afrikan people by using a few Eurocentric religious symbols that will create predictable responses shown in the action of Afrikan people.

This is best exemplified by a recent statement that I heard from a white reporter commenting on a presidential candidate using Christianity as part of his campaign strategy. The reporter mentioned how important religion was to the people of the South, especially black folks. I can see political candidates preparing their agenda, 1) go to a Black church 2) Say Jesus loves you 3) take a picture in front of the cross for the media 4) eat a piece of fried chicken and bounce. Since we have been conditioned to look for a white Messiah this is usually enough to get us to go out in the cold and rain to vote for such a ‘god fearing man.’

Many in the older generation had to accept this religious manipulation for several reasons including the fear of death at the hands of white racists and the fear of being ostracized by friends and family members for forsaking the slave religion i.e. plantation theology. Also, it must be remembered that in earlier decades many black folks could not read and had to depend on a preacher to tell them “thus sayeth the lord.” many of whom were agents of the white supremacist system either by ignorance or by choice.

Today, this slave religion has produced rebellion and confusion in the Hip Hop generation whose access to information and ideas far surpasses that of previous generations. When the slave theology meets Hip Hop philosophy the results are often catastrophic, a generation trying to find god using the methods of the oppressor.

Is it hypercritical to blame the young folks for making religious martyrs out of slain gangsta rappers, when the church has made saints and religious icons out of popes and preachers who either condoned white supremacy and the enslavement of Afrikan people, or refused to take a stand against it? Is it hypercritical to blame the younger generation for worshiping a god who blesses them for advocating Black-on-Black crime, and disrespecting Black Queens with Grammy awards and private jets, while the Church has worshiped a god who has rewarded the murderers of Afrikan people with political offices and billion dollar corporations? The religion of Hip Hop is not a result of the practice of an African spirituality, but the mirroring of a Eurocentric religious concept.

What we must never forget was that the religion that Europeans call Christianity was taken from a spiritual system practiced by the Black Hebrew Israelites of Northeast Africa including Yeshua, the Black Revolutionary Messiah, who was transformed into the blue eyed, blond haired ambassador of white supremacy, 'Jesus Christ' by the European.

There are many Black folks in the church today who call themselves ‘Afrocentric Christians’ only for lack of a better Afrocentric term, and recognize that the Bible is about a group of African people who suffered oppression and their attempts for FREEDOM and reconciliation with the Creator (Elohim). They also realize that the term 'Christian' is a European term meaning ’of the anointed one' and that the term used by the Original Black Hebrew Israelites was ’Messianic’.

The catch-22 facing the ’Afrocentric Christian’ is that they are caught between a religion of white supremacy, that exploits them, and an Afrocentric community that rejects them. Unfortunately, many in the Afrocentric community have chosen to discount Church folks and criticize their religious practices, instead of seeing them as allies in the struggle, and helping them find the Afrikan Liberation Spirituality within their own religion, thereby giving them a theological foundation for Afrikan Nationalism. After all, the first religion started when the first human being (in Africa) tried to praise and understand the will of the Creator. All religions stem from that. No religions has a monopoly on African Spirituality.

So the Messianic Afrikan Nation has taken on the mission to organize those Brothers and Sisters who accept the teachings of the Bible, but reject the Eurocentric Nationalism that poses as Christianity; those who follow the teachings of Yeshua but reject the figment of the white man’s imagination, the white ‘Jesus Christ.’ We are currently asking our Afrikan Brothers and Sisters across the world to join us as we develop chapters to put into action our Messianic Afrikan Nation's 7 Point Program and to teach the TRUTH that will make our people FREE.

(Min. Paul Scott represents the Messianic Afrikan Nation in Durham NC. To join the Messianic Afrikan Nation contact: (919) 949-4352 minpaulscott@yahoo.com Website: http://members.blackplanet.com/THE-MYD)