Black Theology and #BlackLivesMatter: The Contemporary Struggle for Freedom and Justice

The #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) movement is a contemporary resurgence of the Black Revolution in the U.S. focused on challenging anti-Black policing, police murders of unarmed Black peoples, and legal-justice racial inequalities. Black theology aims to connect African American experience and the Black struggle for freedom and justice to the transcendent and the divine. While not a specifically religious movement, BLM can benefit from the theological concepts, resources, and methods of Black theology to inspire and empower the contemporary liberation fight of resistance to racism and White supremacy. In turn, Black theology can profit from BLM's self-conscious, intentional embracing and affirmation of diversity, inclusivity, and radical self-love especially in relationship to the LGBTQ community as well as respond more critically to violence against Black women and multidimensional Black oppressions. This paper puts Black theology in conversation with BLM in order to influence and embolden the contemporary Black Revolution in America.