Black History Resources

In this powerful Black History Month sermon, Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler — director of the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation at Union Presbyterian Seminary — challenges us to confront the intentional lies embedded in how Western Christianity has imagined the people of the Bible. Drawing on Genesis 10, John 8:31-33, and John 14:6, Dr. Sadler makes the case that the Holy Land is geographically part of Africa, and that Jesus — along with Abraham, Moses, Sarah, David, and the other figures of scripture — was an African person of color. He argues that the deliberate whitening of Biblical figures has served to sustain white supremacist ideology, making it easier to dehumanize and oppress Black and brown peoples throughout history. To know the real Jesus, Dr. Sadler declares, is to be set free from those lies — and to see all of God's children with new eyes.

In this deeply personal Black History Month sermon, Rev. LaWonder Cooley-McDowell weaves together two biblical stories — Esther's courageous act of stepping into danger for her people (Esther 4:14-16) and the unnamed woman with the issue of blood who pressed through the crowd to touch Jesus (Mark 5:25) — with the story of her own great-grandmother, Leela Coleman Benham. Born in 1890 in rural Georgia, Leela was institutionalized at 35 after her tenth child, misdiagnosed with mental illness when she was actually suffering from pellagra — severe malnutrition disproportionately affecting poor Black women in the early 20th century. Her body, once ignored and exploited in medical experiments, helped lead to vitamin fortification in food. The sermon calls the church to a faith that is not decorative or polite, but one that pushes back against systems that dismiss, drain, and silence — especially the bodies of women. "Faith is not denial," she declares. "Faith is resistance."

Preaching from 1 Corinthians 2:1–16, Rev. Dr. David Thornton grounds Black History Month in one of the most foundational questions of African American Christian life: how has a people subjected to centuries of dehumanization, oppression, and erasure maintained their faith? His answer is unequivocal — the Holy Spirit. Drawing on Paul's contrast between worldly wisdom and spiritual wisdom, Dr. Thornton argues that the cross itself is the paradigm: God's power revealed through what the world considers weakness and foolishness. Just as crucifixion appeared to be defeat but was the hinge of salvation, the suffering of African Americans has never been the final word.

Dr. Thornton introduces the concept of the "African American Christian remnant" — those who have refused to be conformed to worldly standards, choosing instead what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called "creative maladjustment." He connects this to the African Holocaust (the Maafa), Coptic Christianity's 2,000-year African roots, and the ongoing indignities of the present day — including a pointed reference to President Trump's depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes just days before the sermon. Throughout, he calls all believers — not just Black Christians — to practice what theologian James Cone called "blackenization": the intentional, empathetic work of identifying with the struggles of the oppressed as an act of Christian faithfulness. As the late Howard Thurman wrote, "The contradictions of life are not final. God has the final word."

Rev. Gwen Pearson opens Black History Month with a sermon that is equal parts prophetic and pastoral, built around a deceptively simple metaphor: what happens when you try to fight God? Drawing on the 1976 Broadway musical of the same name, she weaves together three biblical stories — the Israelites demanding meat in the wilderness (Numbers 11), Peter and the apostles defying the high council (Acts 5:27–39), and King Nebuchadnezzar's humbling descent into madness after declaring his own greatness (Daniel 4) — to make the case that God's sovereignty is the bedrock of Black faith and resistance. No amount of human arrogance, political power, or systemic oppression has the reach to land a blow on God.

With characteristic wit and fire, Rev. Pearson walks the congregation round by round through what happens when anyone — from ancient kings to present-day leaders — tries to put themselves above God and God's justice. Her closing call is both a warning and a promise: we cannot win by wrestling God, but we can trust that God will stand by our side, make a way out of no way, and bring justice — in God's own time. "Let justice ring," she declares, "from the greenhouse to the White House."