THE UNI V ERSIT Y OF TE X A S AT EL PA S O
AS SAY ER OF STUDENT OPINION
FEBRUARY 4, 2025
THEPROSPECTORDAILY.COM
VOL. 110, NO. 6
OPINION Page 2
NEWS Page 5
ARTS & CULTURE Page 7
SPORTS Page 12
A love letter from me to El Paso
Sharing love to pets in need of a safe home
Modern romance in the digital age
Love that made its shot, UTEP Rifle sisters
How Christianity connects the Black community
More than seven out of 10 African Americans identify as Christians, which has evolved from what it used to be. Photo by Iziah Moreno/ The Prospector
B LEAH AUSTIN Y STAFF REPORTER • THE PROSPECTOR
When enslaved Africans arrived in America, many brought their cultural and religious traditions with them. As the plantation complex developed, Africans were continually indoctrinated into English customs, one of those being the practice of Christianity. Enslaved Black Americans started to use the Bible as a sort of spoken word, reciting the shorthand of stories from the text that they were prohibited from reading. As larger and larger numbers of slaves began converting to Christianity, many clergymen eventually began to defend the institution of slavery, citing verses in Ephesians and Colossians that read, “slaves, obey your earthly master.” However, some believe there is no correlation between the practice of Christianity and the “passiveness” of enslaved Africans. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a literary critic and director of Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. His book, “The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song,” details the Black Church’s role in African American activism. “The Black Church has a long and noble history in relation to Black political action, dating back at least to the late 18th century. The failure of enslaved African Americans to overthrow the institution of slavery, as their Haitian sisters and brothers
would do, cannot be traced to the passivity inbred by Christianity,” Gates wrote. Over centuries, an institution that philosopher Karl Marx named the “sigh of the oppressed” became a motivation for resistance and a source of community and resources for African Americans. Many of the slaves’ practices of the religion happened outside the overseer’s line of sight. Slave preachers often reframed their sermons to include messages of salvation and freedom, while spiritual
UTEP alumn Yazmyne Hallback serves as the Worship Leader for The Rock Faith Center. Photo by Iziah Moreno/The Prospector
songs included directions for secret gathering or escape. Eventually, Christianity became a cornerstone for the Civil Rights Movement and Black churches began to serve as centers of organization, civic activity, community service and intercultural celebration. “Without the role of the Black Church, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, with [Martin Luther] King Jr. by his side, and future congressman John Lewis, himself an ordained Baptist minister, present in 1965 — would never have been enacted when they were. There is no question that the Black Church is a parent of the civil rights movement, and today’s Black Lives Matter movement is one of its heirs,” Gates wrote. Mount Zion Baptist Church was founded in El Paso in 1918, in the midst of the segregation that shaped much of El Paso’s housing and population patterns today. The historically Black church is located on Wyoming Ave. Since its founding over a century ago, other predominantly Black churches have emerged in the city. Yazmyne Hallback, UTEP alumni and member of the historically black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., serves as the Worship Leader for The Rock Faith Center. The church, located in east El Paso, is pastored by her parents. read MORE at theprospectordaily.com
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