Black Protest as Public Theology

Abstract

This study investigates African American protests with particular interest in major movements of the civil rights and hip-hop eras. While scholars argue over the comparisons between the two eras, this work searches for underlining philosophical strands that may locate black protest as intimately cultural-theological. It considers Bourdieu’s habitus as ideological framework to understand philosophical and even more so theological dynamics of black protest. Cultural-theological conclusions inform contemporary protests of their ideological roots in philosophical underpinnings crucial to identity and more rigorous intergenerational effectiveness.