Tribal Talk: Black Theology in Postmodern Configurations

Abstract

“When we began our conversations in 1988, we had no idea of the vision we would see or the call to which we would eventually respond. Our purpose, then, was simply to meet in order to discuss how we could work together as scholars, and especially as young African American men, who found ourselves in the academy, far away from our communities of origin. During the course of many conversations, we hit upon the theme, as if inspired, of ‘writing our way back home.’ ‘Home’ became a metaphor for our deepest yearning to return … to the psychological, emotional, and spiritual heritage of our African American presence within a predominantly Euro-American environment. I remember well the day we made that collective affirmation in my apartment. We did not know at the time that we were soon to discover that our ancestors were listening in on our conversations.”