African Americans in the United States, and people of color across the globe, must confront a harsh and urgent truth: this is not our time, not our space, not our dimension, and certainly not our era. We continue to be denied justice, marginalized socially, and treated as second-class citizens...not simply because of systemic racism, but because we are actively financing our own oppression.
Every Sunday, millions of African Americans pour billions of dollars into churches through tithes and offerings. This spiritual taxation...paid with hope and devotion...yields no tangible return on investment. No schools. No hospitals. No banks. No land. No security. Just sermons, stained glass, and promises of salvation in a heaven we’ve never seen, from a god we did not create. This isn’t just misguided faith...it’s economic suicide.
For generations, Black people have clung to Christianity, a religion introduced to us through chains and crucifixion. And while the lash has long since faded, the mental bondage remains. We have embraced the doctrine of our enslavers as divine truth, forgetting that before colonial conquest, before forced conversions, we were kings, queens, scholars, warriors, and builders of nations.
As explorer Barbara Hillary boldly stated,
“Christianity is the greater shackle, the greater rape of the Black mind than slavery ever was.”
That’s not hyperbole...that’s history.
Consider this: From the 6th to the 19th centuries, Africa was home to dominant, sophisticated Black empires...Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, the Mossi Kingdoms, Benin, and Ethiopia. These nations thrived without Christianity. They ruled vast territories, engaged in global trade, advanced architecture, and governed complex societies. These were not primitive tribes waiting for white saviors...they were civilizations whose power and identity were rooted in African spirituality, not imported religion.
- The Kingdom of Aksum (100–940 CE), a Black military and trading powerhouse in Northern Ethiopia.
- The Ghana Empire (6th–13th century CE), flourishing across West Africa.
- The Mali Empire (1235–1600 CE), legendary for Mansa Musa’s wealth and influence.
- The Songhai Empire (1430s–1591), the largest empire in African history.
- The Mossi Kingdoms (c. 1050–1896), fierce warriors who even sacked Timbuktu.
- The Benin Empire, whose kings mobilized 180,000 warriors and repelled European encroachment for centuries.
- The Ethiopian Empire, enduring from the Zagwe Dynasty through 1975, rooted in African monarchy, not European religion.
None of these civilizations were built on the back of Christian theology. In fact, many resisted it. They governed themselves based on systems of ancestor reverence, cosmic balance, and communal responsibility. These were values that centered Black identity and sovereignty...not sin, shame, or salvation from a foreign prophet.
Yet today, centuries after colonialism, African Americans still invest more in churches than in their own collective advancement. We have replaced pyramids and palaces with pews and pulpits. Instead of funding freedom, we fund fantasy.
The truth is that war, religion, and politics are all birds of the same sinister feather. And organized religion...specifically Christianity...has been weaponized as the most insidious form of control over the Black mind. It's not just a belief system; it's a business model that extracts wealth from our communities and redistributes nothing.
So why do we persist?
Because we’ve been conditioned to believe. Conditioned to wait. Conditioned to hope that “He” will return in the clouds and deliver us from the very system we keep alive with our dollars and our silence.
But salvation is not coming from the sky...it must come from within. And it begins by breaking the spell of pious gullibility. We must redirect our resources away from religious institutions and toward rebuilding what we once had...sovereignty, wealth, education, and unity.
Wake up, my brothers and sisters.
Our ancestors didn’t worship under crosses...they ruled under crowns.
Sources:
- BlackPast.org
- Songhai Empire (ca. 1375–1591)
- Empire of Mali (1230–1600)
- Mossi Kingdoms of West Africa
- Oba of Benin
- Ghana Empire History
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