I met Dr. Cone in the early 1980s when I was studying theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. I believe it was at a meeting of the Black Theology Project. I was then a very recent convert to Catholicism from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church. My calling into Catholicism seemed to pique his curiosity while I was just honored and happy to meet him.
I first heard of him and Black Theology when I took a class in Christian Anthropology at CUA. By that time, I had been wondering why there was never any mention of persons of color, especially those of African descent, in any of my courses. When we discussed the Church Fathers, it was clearly assumed they were not Black Africans. I questioned this absence and silence. In the course, we were studying political theologian Johann Baptist Metz and his idea of subversive memory. I asked Prof. Peter for a contemporary example and he suggested the effort to make the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a federal holiday. Such a holiday would and does require us as “United Statesians” to remember the sin of slavery and its child, racism, and its ongoing effects to this day. He also mentioned Dr. Cone, and when I asked for more information, he gave me the names of his first two books, Black Theology and Black Power and A Black Theology of Liberation.
I promptly purchased and read these books and can honestly say that not only was my mind blown but my life was changed. Although I remember wondering about his polemical language, I later came to understand the reasons for it. Reading these books and everything else he wrote and then meeting James changed my life. I finally understood why God had called me into the Catholic Church and sent me on this long journey (eight years) of theological study to serve as a Black voice of conscience. Although I was never able to take a class with him, I was honored that he took an interest in me and would correspond with me from time to time. I must admit that keeping up with his writings was quite a challenge, especially after I told him I was planning to do my Licentiate thesis on his writings. I first had to fight (almost literally) with my professors at CUA, who had no knowledge of his work or its significance. We finally agreed that I would teach them as I did my research so that they would be able to advise and critique my work. I told him what I was doing and then almost despaired of finishing, because he kept sending his latest book or article to me and I would have to revise my writing to include what he had sent.
When I returned from completing my doctorate in Belgium, Dr. Cone was one of the first to congratulate me and encourage me to start writing not just articles but books. He assured me that I was more than capable of doing so. He always had a kind word whenever we met and constant encouragement and affirmation of the work that I was doing.
Reading Dr. Cone’s books and meeting him at such a crucial stage in my academic life changed me forever. His writings and his words of affirmation and encouragement enabled me to keep my sanity when I thought I could not survive in the overwhelming “whiteness” of my church and academia. He empowered me, inspired me and nurtured me. I would not be the Womanist scholar that I am today if it had not been for James Hal Cone. His thoughts and writings changed the world and Christianity itself, lifting the voices and spirit of persons of African descent as well as any who are oppressed for the first time and encouraging them to walk out on faith to demand change. The simple statement that “God is Black” challenged the misconceptions and distorted teachings of centuries and forced the world to confront its prejudices. We live in a different and better world because of him.
Dr. James H. Cone was an African American theologian, best known for his advocacy of black theology and black liberation theology. His 1969 book Black Theology and Black Power provided a new way to comprehensively define the distinctiveness of theology in the black church. Cone’s work was influential from the time of the book’s publication, and his work remains influential today. His work has been both utilized and critiqued inside and outside the African-American theological community. He was the Bill & Judith Moyers Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York until his death on April 28, 2018.
By Dr. Diana L. Hayes
Dr. Diana L. Hayes is a member of the Council of Elders for the Sankofa Institute for African American Pastoral Leadership at Oblate School of Theology. Dr. Hayes is also Professor Emerita of Systematic Theology in the Department of Theology at Georgetown. Her areas of specialization are Womanist Theology, Black Theology, U.S. Liberation Theologies, Contextual Theologies, Religion and Public Life, and African American and Womanist Spirituality. Her courses include Black Liberation Theology, Womanist Theology, American Liberation Theology, Race, Class, Gender and Religion, (all of which she has also taught at the graduate level, Religion and Liberation (a Theology majors seminar) and the required intro course, The Problem of God (from a comparative world religions in the US perspective). Dr. Hayes is the first African American woman to receive the Pontifical Doctor of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.D.) from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and has also received three honorary doctorates. She is the author of 9 books and over 80 articles.