A newer area of research for me is African American biblical interpretation. I love the topic for two key reasons. First, I'm amazed at the faithfulness of the Black Church in America. Second, I believe the Bible is best read with those who struggle. African Americans have certainly seen their share of suffering across time.

Here we see Marcus Garvey, who founded the Universal Negro Improvement League, or UNIA. In 1921, UNIA published a catechism that sought to undo the racism that infected many Christian churches. Here's an excerpt:​

I wrote an article on reparations in Exodus and their implications for today in Christian Century. (Click image of Coates to view.) A revised edition with extensive footnotes appears in Theological Disciplines: Prophetic Voices for Remembrance, Reckoning, and Repair (eds. Michael Barram et al.; Lexington, 2023).

A highly contested and confusing passage is Genesis 9:20-27. This story's so-called "curse of Ham" has been used for centuries for racist ends. An article I wrote on the passage will be published by Harvard Theological Review​.

​I wrote a major review of two important books, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope, by Esau McCaulley and Black Samson: The Untold Story of an American Icon, by Nyasha Junior and Jeremy Schipper. It appears in Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 76 (2022): 168–170.

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Several images on this page come from Wikimedia Commons. Click the following links to see sources and licensing information: Marcus Garvey. Ta-Nehisi Coates. Curse of Ham.