Black Gold: the Road to Black Infinity

By Chasity S. Jones M.Div.

The project is a collection of poems during a period of liberation and the beginning of a process called decolonizing my mind (bell hooks, Sisters in the Yam). As a southern belle from Bible Belt Louisiana that moved to the the Pacific Northwest during the 2016 Presidential elections and consistent waves of unarmed Black folk being killed by the police, I found myself at a place of honest reflection. This collection of poems captures my crisis of faith that was impacted by discovering and embracing my identity as a Black woman, the role that religious institutions play in perpetuating racism and other forms of oppression, the church's collective responses to my community members being murdered by the police in broad day light, and my own disappointment, realizations, and attempts at reconciling my spirituality with my identity in a way that would produce life for me personally.
As a Black woman, the act of expression is both dangerous and sacred. I've rarely had the privacy and freedom that I had during this time and the transformation I experienced during this time has changed the trajectory of my life. Thus, this is a very meaningful project for me and I hope this contributes to the awareness of the diversity, beauty, art, pain, legacy, of Blackness in this country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669857907

Chasity S. Jones M.Div.

Chasity is a Louisiana native and from a conservative, Evangelical background until moving to Seattle, WA to be a community organizer (young adult missionary). It was here she began to challenge traditional mission work in the context of colonialism and began her own process of liberation (decolonization). She is pursuing her Masters of Divinity (’22) at Boston University School of Theology and as a result of her process of decolonization she has focused her degree on exploring various Liberation Theologies including Black Liberation, Womanist, and Decolonization Theologies as well as a certified yoga teacher. Chasity has been instrumental in creating Liberation Flow, weekly donation based yoga for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in Seattle Washington through Poseurs Community Magic For All.

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Copyright © 2022 by Chasity S. Jones, M.Div.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 11/30/2022

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

On Rage

Author’s Bio

Suffocated By a White Mask

Fighting with Demons

Resistance, My Old Friend

Insurmountable Suppression

Every Life Seen

Descriptive Statistics

God wrestling

Dear Little Black Girl

False Idols

Black Infinity

Emulating Divinity

What is Spirituality?

On The Apostle Paul

Self-Recovery

FOREWORD

Four years ago, I stepped into a church in Seattle. I hardly stepped into churches that year, but that morning I came to see Chasity deliver a sermon. Chasity spoke in front of a stain-glass window with Jesus depicted as a white man. Chasity resisted the harm and violence of this lie, the lie of whiteness, the lie that whiteness is divine. Chasity asked everyone gathered, Is it possible that we have created God in our image, not the other way around?" While Chasity preached, Giavonna White conducted a liturgical dance. There was so much power and life shared from Chasity’s words and Giavonna’s movement. I saw the word made flesh.

In that moment, Chasity facilitated a space for truth, as she does in Black Gold. The words within these pages speak truth to the violence of white supremacy, misogyny, colonialism, and capitalism. These words transform harm and move towards life.

Chasity sees through eyes of love. Love for Black women, for Black liberation, for the Divine, for her ancestors, and love for her daughter. The love and power that Chasity holds moves me. May her love and power move you."

-Chris Borth

DEDICATION

This project is dedicated to those who supported and held

me during this process and accepted me afterward.

I pay homage to my ancestors, whose shoulders I stand

upon and without whose determination and spirituality,

I would not exist let alone be in a position to publish this

book. (Specifically Juanita Baptist and Ab Johnson)

This book is dedicated to bell hooks for teaching

Black women how to recover ourselves and reclaim

the ancient power within us all. Rest in Power.

This book is dedicated to its inspiration, James H. Cone,

Father of Black Liberation Theology. Rest in Power.

To Rev. Charlene Zuill and Dean and Dr. Cristian De La Rosa for

being spiritual mothers to me during my theological education.

To Liberation Flow, and Zion

I also dedicate this project of healing as well as healing energy to

the seven generations before me and seven generations to come.

FOREWORD

Sacred words, sacred power, sacred life, sacred Blackness. This, dear reader, you will encounter in these poems. Hear in these pages the beauty, the heart, the soul, the integrity, and the intellect of a Black woman daring to know her truth and to speak it. Witness her courage to move toward healing in the face of raw terror, the courage to question the way things are in a world of white supremacy, and the courage to claim liberation from its suffocating impact on body and soul. Hear a Black woman