NEWS

Black History Month event focuses on religious resistance during slavery

Feb 3, 2012 | General News, Liberal Arts

The Lambda-Rho Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, along with Louisiana Tech’s department of history and McGinty Trust, will sponsor a discussion titled “Yes, Lord: African-American Religious Resistance During Slavery” on Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Lincoln Parish Library.
Cheryl Mango-Ambrose, a master’s candidate in history at Tech, will discuss the two ways that African-American leaders interpreted Christianity in their attempts to gain freedom and equality in antebellum America. Northern black theologians argued that the Gospels showed that freedom would come non-violently through emigration or through the courts.  Southern slave revolt leaders argued that the Gospels commanded slaves to overturn slavery through violent resistance.  While they advanced two contrasting views, Mango-Ambrose will talk about how both sets of leaders believed that they were fulfilling their duty as Christians, by not only fighting against racial oppression but by fighting against evil itself.
Mango-Ambrose, of DeRidder, is a 2009 graduate of Grambling State University and is writing her thesis at Tech on “African-American Religious Resistance and the Politicization of God: From Slavery Through the Black Power Movement.”  Her research interests include African-American religion and the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Following her graduation from Tech, she plans to pursue a doctoral degree in African-American history at Morgan State University.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.