The Black Skeptics of Los Angeles met recently to discuss directions for the new year. The group meets monthly and is comprised of a diverse swath of black Angeleno freethinkers concerned about social justice, civil rights, community organizing, and black cultural identity. As part of its outreach to the local African American religious community, the group will sponsor an interfaith dialogue with Zion Hill Baptist Church in South Los Angeles on April 20th. The dialogue will spotlight black humanist, atheist, and freethought traditions in contemporary African American culture, allow black freethinkers to talk about their lives as humanists/atheists, and debunk myths and stereotypes black believers have about non-theist belief systems. According to Zion Hill Pastor Seth Pickens, the dialogue is the first of its kind in the church’s history. Like many churches in South L.A., Zion Hill is located in a predominantly African American neighborhood, but had an all-white congregation up until the dismantling of restrictive covenants and ensuing white flight in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The dialogue is the first of a series in ongoing outreach to build community by educating and engaging African Americans about the social history of black freethought traditions and the cultural relevance of humanism to social and economic justice.

By Naima Cabelle

After centuries of it being stated and accepted in many quarters that African people had no history, language, culture, or accomplishments worthy of recognition, efforts continue to be made to try to reverse that kind of thinking. It is for this reason that I am puzzled as to why people, particularly those of African descent, question the value of African/Black History Month. Every year, there are a number of articles and discussions which question the value of Black History Month, and at the same time voice the complaint that Black history is not “celebrated” throughout the year. Now, my father would say that as usual, I’m sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, and giving an opinion no one asked for. If I were his son, I’m sure Dad would say that giving my opinion wasn’t only the right thing to do, but the manly thing to do as well. At the risk of offering my unsolicited two cents, I’ll once again ignore my father’s warnings because I think that open dialogue is healthy and can be constructive.

One of the statements I’ve heard, more than once, was that they put Black History Month in February because it’s the shortest month of the year. If by “they” someone means the government and/or the corporations which print calendars, it is time to set the record straight [again]. In 1924, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an African American scholar, author, and historian, chose a week in February as Negro History Week, in an effort to focus on the accomplishments of people of African descent. I understand that he chose the month of February due to the fact that both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were both born during that month. During the late 1960’s, the week became known as Black History Week, and as time went on, it was expanded to Black History Month. I cannot say when the month became nationally recognized as Black History Month, but it was celebrated as such long before it was nationally recognized!

Aside from many of events which occur during Black History Month, it serves for me as a reminder of what my role ought to be in society, that is if I am brave enough to live up those challenges. Recounting one’s history and reflecting upon those things which still have meaning today should also inspire people to take further steps because once the celebrating is over the work must be begin. Celebration without work is “child’s play,” and the adults of this world know what work must be done once the celebrations end. It is simply not enough to celebrate the past. We must create a legacy consisting of our own accomplishments in our own lifetime. We have many challenges before us. In the United States alone, the challenges of race, class, and gender bias will continue to oppress and undermine the emotional, physical, and economic well-being of millions in this country if we fail to rise to the occasion. These problems are overwhelming and many of us, regardless of color, class, or gender, turn away in despair and frustration as we look for ways to just get through the day hoping that we won’t have to deal with yet another personal crisis. Millions are just too worn-out from having to deal with their own burdens even as they continue to be impacted by unemployment, homelessness, domestic violence, the judicial system, military spending, etc.

There are however many brave women and men who appear on the frontlines every day, determined to make a difference in some way, determined not to accept things as they are, and determined to not turn away in the face of adversity. A few of these people make the headlines and the six o’clock news. The vast majority who will never be widely recognized, however, continue to do their work and leave their mark on those who they come in contact with in immeasurable ways. While I can read with pride about those who did extraordinary things in the distant past, I can focus much more clearly on my contemporaries who fight for decent jobs, create block associations, initiate neighborhood clean-up drives, run after-school program, challenge drug-dealers, find housing for the homeless, teach others to read, take on city hall, and stand up to the racists and sexists. These are the people I strive to be like. They walk with pride and conduct their lives in ways which show that they have purpose, direction, and integrity. Nope, they don’t claim to descend from royalty. They probably won’t come up with any new inventions or end up in any history books. But, what’s great about them, and I mean absolutely great is that they are all quite ordinary. This means that they are setting examples which are easy for everyone else to follow!

For me, the daily celebration of Black history must involve walking the kind of walk which will help to create the kind of community and the kind of world where peace and justice are woven into the life of every human being. It’s not easy, but it is possible. I’m proud to engage in both celebration and action.

Naima, an atheist, feminist, and socialist activist currently serves on the Washington Area Secular Humanist Board of Directors and is a long-time WASH member.

By Sikivu Hutchinson

As a radical humanist critic of America’s Christian slavocracy Frederick Douglass once wrote, “I prayed for twenty years and received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” What would Douglass, a trailblazing male feminist, have made of the brutal ironies of twenty first century black America? How would he have reconciled the “triumph” of its first black president with the travesty of crushing black poverty? The decline of mass movement liberation struggle with its prayer cult obsession? Or Black women’s second class citizenship with the sham of “post-feminism?”

In the spirit of Douglass, the black secular community’s moral obligation to social justice was the recurring theme of the L.A. Black Skeptics’ first “Going Godless in the Black Community” roundtable. Held in South Los Angeles, the heart of the West Coast’s Black Bible Belt, the meeting was one of the first L.A. gatherings of its kind in recent memory. The group was founded in March of this year to give non-theist and skeptic African Americans “congregating” online a real time community. Fifteen atheist/humanists from a broad array of backgrounds, ages and world views attended. The discussion ranged from critiques of the influence of hyper-religiosity in the African American community to practical strategies for developing humanist resources and social welfare institutions. I was recently reminded of the urgent need for humanist mental health and wellness alternatives at a black/Latina women’s conference I attended on “breaking the silence” about domestic violence and HIV/AIDS. Several presenters portrayed faith-based mental health and wellness “remedies” as the most viable approaches to healing. Prayer will “right you,” a woman who had been in a violent long term relationship declared to a literal amen corner of nodding heads. Relying upon prayer as an antidote to stress and trauma is a common coping strategy in communities of color, particularly for women of color. Race and gender-related stress are major contributors to stroke, hypertension and obesity in African Americans. Yet those who question faith-based healing remedies and belief systems are often marginalized as being “white-identified” and/or elitist. In some quarters evidence-based therapy is slammed as something black and Latino folks simply “don’t do” or can’t realistically afford.

The mental health crisis amongst African Americans is a devastating indicator of racial and social inequity, of which the prayer as therapy epidemic is an insidious symptom. During the Going Godless discussion participants focused on the importance of instilling black youth with an appreciation for critical thought and free inquiry. Reflecting on his K-12 education in L.A. schools Black Skeptics member Fred Castro said that he couldn’t recall ever being exposed to humanist curricula or anything beyond a traditional Western Judeo Christian lens. As the second largest school district in the nation, with skyrocketing dropout rates and youth who are homeless, in foster care and/or on probation, Los Angeles city schools are particularly challenged by the absence of systemic culturally relevant education. High incidences of “faith-based” bullying and harassment, degradation of young women and the culture of violent hyper-masculinity all underscore the need for anti-racist anti-sexist anti-homophobic humanist youth leadership initiatives. Atlanta-based activist Black Son spoke forcefully about having imbibed a culture of bigotry from the Bible, noting that African American youth are merely recycling the oppressive images and gender stereotypes they’ve been taught by “Christian” precepts. Parenting children amidst a sea of religious conformity and finding secular private schools with multicultural student bodies were also topics of concern. Children of color who come from atheist households—especially those who are taught to openly identify that way—are often subject to ridicule and ostracism as cultural traitors. In a world of public school Christian Bible study clubs, “mandatory” flag pledges, and teachers who violate church/state separation by using and/or endorsing prayer as a coping strategy, black children who don’t believe are marked as other.

The gathering also highlighted generational differences in atheist of color experience; from that of Clyde Young and Bella De Soto who linked religion to capitalist exploitation and spoke of the need for anti-sexist revolution, to Jermaine Inoue who suggested that socially conscious hip hop was a means of promoting media literacy. Jeffrey “Atheist Walking” Mitchell mused about whether atheists could be spiritual and materialist at the same time, eliciting a comment from artist Rachel Ross about having faith in empirical evidence versus “magical thinking.” The discussion became heated when some men wondered what it would take to make black women “less religious.” There was much debate about whether black women were entirely responsible for their overinvestment in religion or whether larger societal and cultural forces kept them overinvested. In response, I noted that there was relatively little social pressure/onus on black men to exhibit the kind of religious devotion that black women exhibit in their everyday lives and relationships. Hence, because black men enjoy patriarchal privilege, the real issue should be transforming masculinity to make men and boys more accountable for the care giving and nurturing roles that women are expected to fulfill. Merely criticizing the God-investment of black women without interrogating how patriarchy works in everyday space won’t change sexist power relations.

Reeling from recession, unemployment, wage decreases, foreclosure, homelessness and health disparities, black communities nationwide have borne the brunt of the global financial meltdown. Humanism can and should engage with the complexity of our disenfranchisement; otherwise it is a vacuous promise asking power to “concede nothing without demand.”

Sikivu Hutchinson is the author of the forthcoming book Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (Infidel Books, 2011).

Once again, Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson seems to be taking aim at Steve Harvey. Harvey’s comments regarding his experiences with atheists are “featured” in a promotional ad for an event Hutchinson’s newly formed organization is hosting. The Black Skeptics Group of Los Angeles in promoting the event, An Open Dialogue On Living Morally And Happily Without Religion, used a picture of Harvey and makes note of his comments “Steve Harvey says we have no morals…”

In March of this year in an article entitled “Black Infidels” Hutchinson begins the article by strongly criticizing Harvey’s comments “self-proclaimed dating guru Steve Harvey charged that atheists had no moral values. Anyone who didn’t believe in God was an “idiot,” he said, and women should steer clear of these rogue blasphemers at all costs.”

Jeffery S. Mitchell who met Dr. Hutchinson at the Atheist Alliance Intl 2009 convention, remembers seeing Steve Harvey on Larry King restating his comments. “At the beginning of his (Harvey) comments, I felt he sincerely meant he was at a loss for words to say when communicating with an atheist. I thought he was almost expressing a desire to understand the non-believer’s side” says Mitchell. “Then as the interview went on, I believe Harvey went into his “obnoxious” character routine. He is an entertainer, so I understand completely why he went there.” Mitchell is also a member of the Black Skeptics Group and created the promotional ad from text he received from Hutchinson. “I’m hoping to reach out to Mr Harvey, as I’m from Northeast Ohio too, and maybe if he is into we can dialogue to better understand each others position.”
http://www.isabigot.com/2009/06/new-steve-harvey-video-on-larry-king-where-he-calls-atheists-idiots/

Black Skeptics Group founder Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson will be participating in the event Dialogue of Reason: Science and Faith in the Black Community on Sept. 28 in Washington, DC.

Hutchinson along with famed evolutionary biologist, author & Professor Emeritus Richard Dawkins of Oxford University, Anthony Pinn and others will meet at Howard to discuss the issues surrounding science within the Black Community as well as the impediments imposed by superstition and religious dogma. The public event is hosted by the Department of Physiology & Biophysics of Howard University, The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, the Secular Students of Howard University, The James Randi Foundation, Center for Inquiry – On Campus, Black Atheists of America as well as other local and national secular groups.

Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson, noted author and activist: “The Black Church’s policing of the bodies and destinies of black women and the lives of gays and lesbians represents a bankrupt ‘morality’ which is just as pernicious as that of the Religious Right… if being black and being Christian are synonymous, then being black, female and religious (whatever denomination) is practically compulsory. Insofar as atheism and humanism provide an implicit rejection of both black patriarchy and ‘authentic’ blackness, those who would dare to come out of the closet as atheists are potential race traitors.”

Professor Emeritus Richard Dawkins, Oxford University: “Science is for everybody. It is of course useful, and we can use it to solve humanity’s problems. But useful is not all that science is. Science is also beautiful, and its beauty, too, is for everybody. Science tells us the truth about reality, about the real universe which we all inhabit. There is a savage beauty in the cosmos, which dwarfs our petty human concerns and quarrels. Raising our sights to our telescopes’ far horizon, cosmology unites us in awe. At the same time evolution, the unifying theory of all biology, not only explains our very existence but teaches us we are all one family, all kin, regardless of race, with a shared ancestral heritage which binds us into hopes of a shared future.”

Professor Anthony Pinn, Religious Studies at Rice University: “This is an ideal time and this event is an important opportunity to stress the importance for African Americans to critically engage the world and, through reasonable means, assess the issues impinging upon quality of life for African Americans across the country.”

The Black Skeptics Group meets in Los Angeles to provide all races of people (though dedicated to African Americans) with an outlet to express their religious stories and questions. The Group is planning an event of its own: Going Godless In The Black Community on November 7 in Los Angeles, Ca.