Black atheists in the media

I have a lot to catch up with, but here's the latest:

Black atheists turn social media sites into a gathering place
By Kia Miakka Natisse
The Griot, 09/12/2010

Several black atheist online groups are mentioned. Atheist Nexus is mentioned, but not my specific group:

Black Freethought (on Atheist Nexus).

This used to be by far the largest group on the web in the English-speaking world, but it has been since overtaken by at least one of the once-dormant Facebook groups. There is an explosion of public black atheist, freethought, and humanist activity, and this article documents recent developments. It's at least one small ray of light in an increasingly dismal world.

Black Freethought at 100

Responding to a perceived need, on 6 February I initiated a Black Freethought group on the social networking site Atheist Nexus.

On June 1, my group attained its 100th member. Today, one day later, we have 101.

This growth has proceeded in tandem with other breakthroughs in public black atheist, freethought, and humanist activity. However bleak everything else may be, this is one little positive piece of news.

Eddie Glaude Jr. & BlackPlanet.com

Eddie Glaude Jr. evidently found my previous post on him here, as he re-posted it, without comment, on his own blog on BlackPlanet.com. There were two initial responses by others. After I discovered Glaude's blog: I responded to one particularly irritating individual who calls herself Brilliantrose. This is my retort, written on 2 Jan 2009:

Clearly, Brilliantrose did not understand a word I wrote. Checking my original blog, I do not see any confusion between "ethic" and "ethnic"; hopefully Brilliantrose knows the difference. I chose to write "ethnic" instead of" racial" because "ethnic" suggests a cultural formation rather than a biological category, and hence speaks more directly to mindset.

Brilliantrose also mistakenly assumes that I have a high regard for the Ivy League, but my point is that whatever their origins, however humble they may be in some cases, black intellectuals who have made it to the level of professor at Ivy League institutions have enjoyed opportunities for expansion of their ideological perspective than average uneducated persons do, and so they have a choice whether to undergo the risky business of ruffling the feathers of their own alleged constituency or pander to popular ignorance, an ignorance which obviously pervades the middle class as it does the poor.

As for needing many voices, additional voices are useless unless they have something enlightening to say. One essential property of a modern democracy that black communities as well as fundamentalist rednecks have yet to learn is the precious principle of separation between church and state. Religious revelation has no place in public argument or policy. Eddie Glaude, as an allegedly progressive theocrat, is apparently too dense to understand this. He gets away with it by basing himself on ethnic provincialism, i.e. a narrowly tailored black religious rhetoric, peppered with scraps of philosophical concepts totally at odds with the irrational basis of religious belief. This just serves to retard the intellectual development of black America as surely as the black church has done.

And that's where it ended. I looked further into BlackPlanet.com and found it as disgraceful as I had been warned about.

I found two active groups of relevance. Freethinkers New Trinity is as full of crackpots as the rest of this site. Today's Atheists of America is much more reasonable, but still extremely limited. So, while a few people with intelligent thoughts emerge on this site, it is so hopelessly idiotic and oriented toward the lowest of low common denominators, no one should be caught dead on it. Glaude hasn't posted on it all year to date: if there is a reason for this, it's anybody's guess.

Black atheism on the march (in cyberspace)

I'm not in a position to gauge the progress of lack thereof of African American atheism and humanism with solid data; I can only relate my impressions. Only a small fraction of atheists, black or otherwise, belong to atheist organizations or are networked in any way. Black atheist participation seems to be increasing a bit in large cities, my guess is where there are concentrations of deracinated professional people. Aside from demographic and political changes over time, technology is playing a major role. For example, the existence of meetups combines Internet networking with face-to-face congregation. It seems that a "traditional" organization (albeit relatively recent and the first of its kind) such as African Americans for Humanism is making a lot more headway in Africa that it is in the USA. Atheist or humanist groups ensconsed in black communities themselves seem to be a rarity and would be awfully difficult to sustain in such hostile environs. There is the Center for Inquiry's Harlem branch.

As for the African-American atheist presence online, in addition to the venues already mentioned, there is a black-history-and-culture-oriented group, the Black American Free Thought Association (BAF/TA). There is also one of the most dynamic all-round atheist ventures in the USA, The Infidel Guy, based in Atlanta. Though there are a few pages and discussions devoted to black topics, Reginald V. Finley Sr. ("The "Infidel Guy") does not focus his attention on presenting himself as a "black atheist". Which is not to say that this is any less an effective or legitimate way to present oneself. I certainly don't believe in pigeonholing people, but we do not live in a socially integrated society just yet, and so the topic of religion and atheism among the black population remains of great importance.

With the possible exception of social networking sites, the cutting edge for the public advance of black atheism seems to be the appearance of personal blogs popping up all over the world. Historically, and currently, most black atheists have been isolated, silenced, ostracized in their own communities. The situation is as bad now as it ever was, the difference being that the Internet provides an opportunity for heretofore isolated individuals to reach out to the rest of the world. We are more likely to see individuals emerge on the Internet than to see people join official organizations or subscribe to magazines. Political changes, generational changes, upward mobility for some, and technology may change all that. The media visibility of the "new atheists" and the recent atheist publishing book may make a contribution. But I'm guessing that the Internet will make the biggest difference.

I won't list all the relevant blogs here, but I will mention a favorite, Black Woman Thinks...Religion, Politics, Race, Atheism and more!.

I have only recently begun to look seriously into social networking sites. I decided to check out BlackPlanet.com after discovering that Prof. Eddie Glaude Jr. posted there a harsh commentary I wrote on this blog about him. I have to say that BlackPlanet.com has one of the worst concentration of idiots I've ever seen on one web site, but perhaps it's really just a hook-up site for young people raised on cyberculture. There are two atheist groups on there, though. The more palatable one is the smaller: Today's Atheists of America. A much larger and much more frustrating group is Freethinkers New Trinity. Here you will find constant assaults by Christian, mystical, and Afrocentric nuts on freethinkers, which are tolerated by the moderator, who himself writes all his posts in capital letters and uses texting abbreviations like "U". I can't stand this practice. There are some intelligent people who show up, but the problem with social networking sites as well as Internet chat in general is that they are mired in wasteful banter and triviality. Still, one gets a better glimpse of just how many freethinkers there are in the woodwork yearning to breathe free.

I should not forget to mention YouTube. One has to try out several search variations. I had the best luck with "black atheist"; try also "African American atheist", "black freethinker", etc.

Before I deliver the punchline, I need to mention the resources I've compiled on the subject.

Documentation of black atheism, freethought, & humanism on the web can be found in my atheist web guide.

See also my working bibliography, which includes black freethought as well as black intellectual life in general, embedded within a bibliography relevant to the topic of autodidacticism.

Finally, the combination of blog, social networking, and YouTube activity has convinced me that an organized discussion group in which we can pool all these resources is timely, so today I created a Black Freethought group on Atheist Nexus, the premiere atheist social networking site. Note that this is a group for all people interested in the subject. This I think constitutes an important step forward.