11 March 2008

Black Female Atheists

As promised I am conducting some research regarding black atheists and thought I would salute the first person who had a video worth watching. It proves there are women who happen to be black who are thinking for themselves and throwing off the shackles called theism. This woman was raised a Jehovah's Witness and after years of indoctrination was able to free her mind.

If you are a theist you could too. My aim is to make this blog a haven for all people who are freethinkers/atheists. Religion has become part of the social fabric of most black communities and it is wrong. But this site is not for black people, nor is it particularly about black people. I have a worldview that includes all - I just don't want to be part of the system that causes atheists to remain in the closet for fear of losing their job, their livelihoods, their support systems and I stand ready for all the verbal attacks coming from the mouths/pens of theists. If I don't speak up to highlight the horrors visited on humanity in the name of supernatural who will? I refuse to see 'racism' as the focal problem. It goes deeper than that. When you have a system which uses fake texts to subjugate people, when those same texts are misogynistic and racist amongst another thing and then the very people who cry foul about how 'people of colour' are treated 'praise the Lord' you know humans are in bad shape. All people.

I'm immensely pleased that black atheists are becoming more visible. I am pleased that I am one of them.

8 comments:

foosrock! said...

I'm not necessarily an atheist, but am certainly NOT a follower of religion and all it's suppressive isms. I'm spiritual/scientific. Trying to find my own truth. Certainly not a sheep, like sooo many black people. I got out when I was 18yrs and never turned back. Horrible the hold they have on our minds!.

Zee Harrison said...

Chandy,
It is people like you that give me hope. You don't necessarily have to agree with me on every issue, in fact our views diverge and converge, and that is positive.
Thank you for your support. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
Keep that freethought flowing!
Zee

oogenesis said...

This video is heartening. Seriously. But she still has a lot to learn... I've noticed that many Protestant Christians in the US have been raised to think of different sects of Christianity as being different religions.

Baptists are Christians. Catholics are Christians. Pentecostals (members of the Church of God, which is almost as restrictive as the Taliban but has far less influence comparatively) are Christians too. And so on.

This woman is on the right path, though...I'd point her in the direction of some Voltaire, Jefferson or Sagan, to start.

Zee Harrison said...

Ana,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.

I chose this video as I thought it represented someone who was on 'Freethinkers Road'. She was savvy enough to share her message, in her way, and will no doubt resonate with a lot of people.

I intend to have a mix of videos representing a broad spectrum of people - of all races, educational background, etc.
I was and am still learning a lot and I expect the woman in the video would same the same thing about herself. As the Spanish say 'poco poco' - little by little.

In summary you are right, so many people see the denominations of a faith as separate entities.
Her final message was essentially correct, for me: Religion is poisonous.

On my list of 'to do's' will be regular features regarding great philosophers (living and dead) and their central messages and ideas - my take on them.

All contributions help to make this a better blog!
Thanks again,
Zee.

oogenesis said...

Religion isn't poisonous per se, but when it interferes with one seeing other people as human beings simply because they do not believe as one does, it is poisonous indeed.

Religion is definitely poisonous on a personal level if one is of a naturally skeptical mindset -- the pressure from family and/or friends to retain or profess beliefs that seem to crumble upon closer examination can do real psychological damage over time. I'm glad this woman has given the matter some thought and realized that her parents' faith just won't work for her -- far too many people believe unquestioningly whatever they were taught as children.

A related aside: Religion seems to replace critical thought and independent moral compasses for most self-professed believers, though I've met a handful of exceptions: they tend to be the ones who are private about their faith, who respect my lack of belief and actually want to learn about it, and emanate a real warmth and goodness of spirit. After hearing some Christians (including an ex-girlfriend) talk about how they might behave without God in their lives, I began to understand why so many of them fear atheists.

Anyhow, I like the idea of your doing features on philosophers with commentary. I look forward to reading!

Zee Harrison said...

ana,
Thanks for your comment.

I take your point about 'religion not being poisonous, per se' but... the negative impact it has on scientific advances, control over minds, blinding the masses away from taking control of their lives is, unfortunately, true.

Why believe texts that are based on falsehoods? Why believe that you should live for a 'better day' when you die? We do not need to imagine the damage - it is all around us for us to see. Here and now. Some people believe and don't allow it to encroach on their lives to such an extent that it creates adverse divisions but they are in the minority.

I will be sending out an open invitation for people who want to write a piece for my blog regarding 'religion and the 21st century'.
Should you feel that you would like to contribute in anyway,then please do.
Preferably no longer than 700 words.
I won't apply any form of censorship and will allow theists, supernaturalists, anarchists, fundamentalists of any persuasion to contribute.

I'm making the assumption that you are a busy person(!) but I think you and everyone else here will have something positive to contribute to this topic.

I will write a feature on this on my front page and see what responses come in.

See, you have inspired me into another area!
Thanks again,
Zee.

D. Sessom said...

Zee,

You are a rarity indeed! It is so wonderful to find a black female atheist. I'm a white male in the Southern USA, and I can tell you that there are very few non-white atheists, especially in this part of the world. There are few female atheists in general.
One of my favorite public atheists is a black man - Neil DeGrasse Tyson. He is amazing, and I listen to him speak every chance I get!

I applaud you for posting this blog, and hope you empower more minority and female "closet atheists" to come out.

Best regards,

Dwayne Sessom

Zee Harrison said...

Dwayne,
Thank you so much for your comments.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson is on my list - thank you for bringing him up. He is a very interesting man and may just be the first black atheist featured.
A wall can only be built with the first stone and then another and so on. Hopefully black people will be able to dismantle walls created by history and unchain themselves sooner rather than later - maybe not in great numbers in mine or your lifetime but one can let our voices be heard.

As you can see this blog is fairly new and I'm working hard (and trying to have a life and earn a living!) to ensure it is the best I can make it.
As I have said before, all contributions enable me to improve it.
Thank you!
Zee