reina-morada:reina-morada: El Cristo Negro de Daule, ruega por nosotros. El Señor d
reina-morada: reina-morada: El Cristo Negro de Daule, ruega por nosotros. El Señor de los Milagros, ruega por nosotros. Señor de las aguas, ruega por nosotros. Dios de la luna y la noche, ruega por nosotros. A beautiful piece I commissioned from @anajuise of the Black Christ of Daule, Ecuador. Patron of the Guayas region, Black peoples of the Americas, of the river Daule, the moon and the night. I have long been devoted to this Black Christ and am writing a book about him, and working to publish one paper already! It was so wonderful to see him portrayed as the “Ecce Homo” or “Behold the Man”. @anajuise really brought him perfectly to life. ❤️ ⭐️PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE CAPTION OR CREDIT⭐️ I asked @anajuise to paint this beautiful piece for a reason. This is meant to be El Cristo Negro de Daule, Ecuador: an image of Christ who at one point was white. Our legend says that when a black slave entered the chapel to pray at a time when it was illegal for slaves to do so, he was thrown out and flogged as punishment by the white sacristans of the church. The next day, the Christ miraculously changed color from white to black. Christ the Savior here is a black man. Right now, we are approaching what feels very much like a civil war. We are fighting the white, rich Americans of power as people of color who have suffered marginalization, discrimination, genocide and murder. Countless lives have been lost and blood has been shed solely because of white supremacy, from the very origins of this country. Without a doubt, these struggles have been felt even more heavily by our black brothers and sisters, who are targeted unfairly based solely on the color of their skin. The police and government officials claiming to speak in the name of Christianity, in actuality, could not be further from the truth of the Bible or the messages of the Gospel. The Bible is a book written by and for exiles, refugees in a foreign land. People occupied for hundreds of years by countless larger, stronger empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome). No one can understand the words found within this text better than those currently suffering in our country: people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, but more importantly, black people. To reach the Christ of love and solidarity, we must look beyond the images we have been spoon fed from infancy and see an alternative narrative. We can see it here, by envisioning a Christ who is without question— black. Taking the form of a whipped, beaten, and suffering slave is an act of love and solidarity. Here we find a Christ who understands the plight of persons of color because he is a person of color. In this one story and image, we hear: “I am with you, I suffer with you, and you are not alone.” While Christianity itself may not be a religion of white supremacy, the nature in which the religion AND a white image of Christ have been used to oppress are agents of this ideology. The White Christ has become an idol representative of more than just America as a whole, but also of white authority and oppression. As a Latinx theologian, I still have many privileges that others do not have, and cannot even think to understand the suffering experienced by my black brothers and sisters. I urge those of you who cannot actively protest to donate anything you can, whether that is money, supplies, or time. I urge those of you with limited resources to speak up, to stand with us, and to actively pray for those fighting on the front lines. The President of the United States has openly confirmed his willingness to shoot us for fighting back, and the police have actively become agents of war. To those fighting on our front lines, thank you for your bravery, courage, devotion, and love. We are not safe— and neither are they. I asked this image to be made some weeks ago because it was relevant to my own ancestral history. Now, I share it in the hopes that it will make some people question the biases they have held from infancy, and simultaneously help and comfort those fighting our great battle— those who desperately need to hear: We are with you, we suffer with you, and you are not alone. -- source link
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