Groundbreaking documentary, 'Unspoken,' dispels myth that 'Christianity is the white man’s religion'
Credit: DLC Media Group
By EEW Magazine Editors // Racism // Films
With the amplification of white evangelical protestant voices closely linked to the MAGA movement, ushered in by Trump era politics, now more than ever, many nonreligious Black folks say, “Christianity is the white man’s religion.”
But that’s not true.
Even so, without the historical insight or context to appropriately respond to or refute such a claim, this prevailing misconception, which predates the Trump era, will continue to permeate the consciousness of Black people, thus hindering their acceptance of the Gospel.
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In a concerted effort to solve this conundrum, DLC Media Group, Jude 3 Project, and Cross Culture Studios have teamed up to change the narrative with the June 19th release of their documentary, Unspoken, at Unspokenmovie.com.
From left to right: Christopher LaMark (director), Lisa Fields (producer), Don J. Carey III (producer & executive producer) [Credit: DLC Media Group via EEW Magazine]
The goal of the documentary is to dispel the myth that Christianity, one of the world’s most widely practiced religions, was created by and for white men. Featuring a group of historians, religious scholars, and cultural influencers, Unspoken takes on the daunting task of unraveling false narratives and offering historical facts that more accurately reposition Christianity’s origins as Mid-Eastern, African, and Asian.
The film’s experts emphasize the importance of teaching early African Christianity to reeducate those struggling with the imposition of white views in Christianity, the imagery of White Jesus, and the deeply ingrained belief that Christianity was exclusively formed and created by white men.
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One of the scholars interviewed for the documentary states, “We’re not trying to paint The Bible Black. We just want to be honest about where Black is.”
Directed by Christopher LaMark, produced by Lisa Fields with Don J. Carey III, and executive produced by Carey, Unspoken takes viewers on a voyage to the Pre-Constantine era to rediscover prominent Black figures in the Bible.
How can one yield themselves to a faith that has been used to oppress them?
One of the experts interviewed in Unspoken asserts, “Christianity has always been a diverse movement” – never intended to be centralized in one location. Another affirms, “You will discover the truth, that this ship has landed many of thousands. Not just white people. Not just black people. But people of every tribe, nation, and tongue. The Gospel is bigger than one ethnic group.”
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Unspoken fascinatingly looks at early African practices of Christianity, as religious scholars take on controversial claims that Christianity is a copy of Kemetic or Egyptian spiritualism. Historians also reveal that Africans accepted Christianity from its beginnings and unveil the integral role that African Christianity has played in world history.
Witness the Golden Era of early African Christianity, the fourth through the sixteenth centuries, as Unspoken charts the emergence of Islam and explores Christianity’s enduring prominence in sub-Saharan Africa. For the first time, the documentary also exposes how an African eunuch’s challenge of the Ethiopian edicts – the formation of the Ethiopian Orthodox and Coptic Churches – inspired Martin Luther’s “95 Theses,” thus sparking the Protestant Reformation.
Is Christianity a white man’s religion?
Unspoken looks at European colonists’ role in modern Christian faith practices, and scholars explain why colonization is responsible for the mutation of age-old Christian traditions on the African continent. Unspoken speaks up about the ways in which: colonizers stripped Africans of their cultural identity and labeled them savages; introduced imagery of Jesus as a white man; and forced Africans to wear European clothing and take on Christian, or, better stated, European, names which had no historical foundation.
Historians take a deep dive into how enslavers and enslaved people viewed and practiced Christianity differently, leading to the formation of the Black Church.
Moving into the present day, Unspoken analyzes Christianity in our modern world, post-American slavery, and documents the beginnings of the Black Church and how it built the framework for the Civil Rights movement and Black Liberation ideologies. It thoroughly explores the dynamic relationship between the Black Church and the Black community by examining the long-accepted false historical narrative of Christianity in Africa – a narrative that, unfortunately, exposed generations to constant misinformation over the millennia and imposed 400 years of shame.
Release Date: June 19th
Availability: Documentary Website *Streaming fees apply
Run Time: 1 hour 56 minutes
View the official trailer below.
