Great black atheists
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Ajackson17
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On this date in 1883, Hubert Henry Harrison was born in St. Croix, in the Danish West Indies (now the U.S. ? Islands). After his mother's death, Harrison left the West Indies for New York in 1900, where he earned a high school degree. From 1911 to 1914, he was active in the Socialist Party and, as perhaps its most prominent black member, he founded the Colored Socialist Club. Harrison was active in radical causes, as well as the fight for racial equality. He eventually left the Socialists due to the movement's support of segregated local chapters in the South. He formed several black radical groups, the Liberty League in 1917 and the International Colored Unity League in 1924. Harrison's intellectual influence was widely felt in the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, where he was known as the Black Socrates, as well as the father of Harlem radicalism.
Harrison stated that his own doubts about religion were prompted by a reading of Thomas Paine. After he stopped believing in the bible, he was briefly a deist, before finally becoming an agnostic. Though he found the ceremonies of Catholicism attractive, and believed strongly in the spiritual part of the human experience, he said in his 1911 essay “Paine's Place,” “Entre nous, I doubt whether I will ever be anything but an honest Agnostic, because I prefer, as I once told you, to go to the grave with my eyes open” (quoted in Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht, 2003). “The ? Conservative: Christianity Still Enslaves the Minds of Those Whose Bodies It Has Long Held Bound,” a 1914 article on atheism, discussed the paradox that African-Americans were largely religious despite the American church's support for slavery and, later, institutionalized racism. According to Harrison, at the start of the Harlem Renaissance, in the early twenties, atheism, agnosticism and other forms of radicalism were becoming more common in black Harlem. D. 1927.
“It should seem that Negroes, of all Americans, would be found in the Free-thought fold, since they have suffered more than any other class of Americans from the dubious blessings of Christianity.”
—Hubert Harrison, “The ? Conservative,” 1914, quoted in Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht, 2003
https://ffrf.org/news/day/famous-freethinkers-secular-stars/spotlight/item/14817-hubert-harrison
and more information
http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/hubert-harrison-voice-early-20th-century-harlem-radicalism
Comments
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A student of the Hubert Harrison
From 1930 onwards, Jackson became associated with a number of Pan-African historians, activists and writers, including Hubert Harrison, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, John Henrik Clarke, Willis Nathaniel Huggins and Joel Augustus Rogers. He also authored a number of books on African history, promoting a Pan-African and Afrocentrist view, such as Man, ? , and Civilization (1972) and Introduction to African Civilizations (1974). He also became interested in the idea of Christianity's origins in the Egyptian religion. A staunch atheist, he authored a number of books on the idea, including The African Origin of Christianity (1981) and Christianity before Christ (1985), as well as writing the foreword to Gerald Massey's Lectures (1974). He also wrote the controversial text, Was Jesus Christ a ? ? (1984), which argued that Jesus may have been a black man.[3] In 1987, Jackson wrote a
biographical article about Hubert Harrison for American Atheists entitled "Hubert Henry Harrison: The Black Socrates". In it, he praised not only Harrison's agnostic atheism, but also his educational and civil rights achievements. It was later published as a seven-page pamphlet.[4][5]
During his life, Jackson also served as Associate Director of the Blyden Society and lectured at many colleges and universities throughout the United States. He died on October 13, 1993.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Jackson_(writer)
https://youtu.be/maXmUZTM_9c -
ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
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ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today. -
Hubert Harison - "His ideas on the centrality of the struggle against white supremacy anticipated the profound transformative power of the Civil Rights/Black Liberation struggles of the 1960s and his thoughts on “democracy in America” offer penetrating insights on the limitations and potential of America in the twenty-first century." - See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/hubert-harrison-voice-early-20th-century-harlem-radicalism#sthash.hKYipQow.dpuf
"Harrison served as the foremost Black organizer, agitator, and theoretician in the Socialist Party of New York during its 1912 heyday; he founded the first organization (the Liberty League) and the first newspaper (The Voice) of the militant, World War I-era “New ? ” movement; and he served as the editor of the ? World and principal radical influence on the Garvey movement during its radical high point in 1920. His views on race and class profoundly influenced a generation of “New ? ” militants including the class radical A. Philip Randolph and the race radical Marcus Garvey. Considered more race conscious than Randolph and more class conscious than Garvey, Harrison is the key link in the ideological unity of the two great trends of the Black Liberation Movement--the labor and civil rights trend associated with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the race and nationalist trend associated with Malcolm X. (Randolph and Garvey were, respectively, the direct links to King marching on Washington, with Randolph at his side, and to Malcolm, whose parents were involved with the Garvey movement, speaking militantly and proudly on street corners in Harlem.) "- See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/hubert-harrison-voice-early-20th-century-harlem-radicalism#sthash.hKYipQow.dpuf
He worked in the UNIA as well.
"Working from this theoretical framework, he was active with a wide variety of movements and organizations and played signal roles in the development of what were, up to that time, the largest class radical movement (socialism) and the largest race radical movement (the “New ? ”/Garvey movement) in U.S. history. His ideas on the centrality of the struggle against white supremacy anticipated the profound transformative power of the Civil Rights/Black Liberation struggles of the 1960s and his thoughts on “democracy in America” offer penetrating insights on the limitations and potential of America in the twenty-first century.?" - See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/hubert-harrison-voice-early-20th-century-harlem-radicalism#sthash.hKYipQow.dpuf -
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Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.
AREN'T you kind of exaggerating things a bit much.... the atheist from back in the day were nothing like the load obnoxious atheist now. -
Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.The_Jackal wrote: »
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no ? ." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good -
Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.
AREN'T you kind of exaggerating things a bit much.... the atheist from back in the day were nothing like the load obnoxious atheist now.
I'm not even exaggerating and his contemporaries and students and their students say the same thing. Hubbard was the organizer, Garvey was the galvanizer and he was the one who got him on stage for the first time in New York City. I'm not saying atheism is what drove him to do great things, but don't look down on people on their disbelief and their contributions in history.
Also be happy he was Caribbean immigrant such as yourself. -
Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.The_Jackal wrote: »
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no ? ." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does goodAjackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.The_Jackal wrote: »
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no ? ." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good
Well, then go back to Jim Crow era and don't rep nothing African heritage from any of the great historians. I know atheists who treated me well, fed me and helped me out and likewise with Christians and likewise I know those who done evil. A belief or disbelief doesn't make you humane or not, it's who you are without those things. -
But I'm not gonna deny the great black christians. There are a ton of them that I respect and honor for their contributions. Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr, Nat Turner, Toussaint L'Overture and many others. Let's not forget the ones also forged our history who didn't believe as well. That will be a disservice to respect one when one spent his whole life creating the philosophies of people who had different belief systems.
Another thing Garvey didn't enforce no one religion that man had almost every belief and disbelief in the UNIA.
Focus on nation building first and foremost and race first. Just give due when it's due. -
Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.
nah i think you are over doing it with the bold we would have had all that without these atheist and the philosophies of malcom x and garvey sure as hell didn't come from these atheist. -
Now i am not saying you are wrong these men did good work and had influence but.... some of the conclusions you reached i am not seeing how that could be so.
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Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.
nah i think you are over doing it with the bold we would have had all that without these atheist and the philosophies of malcom x and garvey sure as hell didn't come from these atheist.
I'm saying I didn't even come to the conclusion of a whole lot of research, it's other people's research that said he wrote the blueprint to many of the philosophies that Malcolm and Martin would undertake. -
Just do your due diligence and research on the man, that's all we can do, but from the most part of historians he the inspiration. I'm going to read his writings and books.
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Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.The_Jackal wrote: »
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no ? ." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good
I'm not a ? atheist and I would put up money I know, can comprehend, and am an overall better Christian then you. -
..THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS 'MORE SAVED" OR A BETTER CHRISTIAN.. EITHER YOU ARE OR YOU ARENT..The_Jackal wrote: »Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.The_Jackal wrote: »
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no ? ." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good
I'm not a ? atheist and I would put up money I know, can comprehend, and am an overall better Christian then you.
BUT WHY YOU ARE MAD?!?!
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..THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS 'MORE SAVED" OR A BETTER CHRISTIAN.. EITHER YOU ARE OR YOU ARENT..The_Jackal wrote: »Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.The_Jackal wrote: »
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no ? ." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good
I'm not a ? atheist and I would put up money I know, can comprehend, and am an overall better Christian then you.
BUT WHY YOU ARE MAD?!?!
Get out of my thread if you don't have anything worth mentioning in here! -
The biggest known legend when it comes to African History and history in general.
John Henrik Clarke
(1915-1998)
In 1986, the Africana Library was named in honor of John Henrik Clarke, who was widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of Africana Studies. Dr. Clarke played an important role in the early history of Cornell University's Africana Studies & Research Center. He was a Distinguished Visiting Professor of African History at the Center in the 1970s. He also made an invaluable contribution to the establishment of its curricula.
Dr. Clarke is the author of numerous articles that have appeared in leading scholarly journals. He also served as the author, contributor, or editor of 24 books. In 1968 along with the Black Caucus of the African Studies Association, Dr. Clarke founded the African Heritage Studies Association. In 1969 he was appointed as the founding chairman of the Black and Puerto Rican Studies Department at Hunter College in New York City.
Dr. Clarke was most known and highly regarded for his lifelong devotion to studying and documenting the histories and contributions of African peoples in Africa and the diaspora.
Dr. Clarke is often quoted as stating that "History is not everything, but it is a starting point. History is a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. It is a compass they use to find themselves on the map of human geography. It tells them where they are, but more importantly, what they must be."
Featured Web Sites About John Henrik Clarke:
The John Henrik Clarke Virtual Museum
In Memory of John Henrik Clarke (Hunter College)
Schomburg Legacy Exhibition: John Henrik Clarke Section
John Henrik Clarke Bibliographies (Cornell University)
John Henrik Clarke Resources (Runoko Rashidi)
Information on Film, John Henrik Clarke: A Great & Mighty Walk
http://africana.library.cornell.edu/africana/clarke/index.html -
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i have no issue with atheist or anyone with any alternative belief system to my own, i just don't appreciate when they try to bash and talk down on followers of a certain faith....
i'd never talk down on an atheist, muslim, agnostic, or any body simply because of the spiritual/religious beliefs or lack of......solely because of just that....
now if they're an all around ? on top of it, then it's ? them... but one of my best friends is agnostic.....and i used to wrestle with my belief system for a good while....
so i mean it's whatever.....just don't try to attack my beliefs to validate your own stance
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i have no issue with atheist or anyone with any alternative belief system to my own, i just don't appreciate when they try to bash and talk down on followers of a certain faith....
i'd never talk down on an atheist, muslim, agnostic, or any body simply because of the spiritual/religious beliefs or lack of......solely because of just that....
now if they're an all around ? on top of it, then it's ? them... but one of my best friends is agnostic.....and i used to wrestle with my belief system for a good while....
so i mean it's whatever.....just don't try to attack my beliefs to validate your own stance
.....it ain't that kind of thread lol.
We are talking about black atheists that have done something great for the community and global world. Not the internet ? talkers who haven't one ounce of work that can be referred to long after they left this world.
Notice I didn't talk no ? about Dro's religion, beliefs, and ideology? That's the way it needs to be done and I agree. We can have civil conversations why we have our beliefs or disbeliefs but anything out of that is childish in my opinion. @dwo
But I will drop more names and guys who were black atheists that did tangible meaningful impactful things for the community. Or if you know anyone please drop their name and bio and picture if possible.
Plus, I have plenty of Christian and Muslim revolutionaries that I look up to. -
Ajackson17 wrote: »
The biggest known legend when it comes to African History and history in general.
John Henrik Clarke
(1915-1998)
In 1986, the Africana Library was named in honor of John Henrik Clarke, who was widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of Africana Studies. Dr. Clarke played an important role in the early history of Cornell University's Africana Studies & Research Center. He was a Distinguished Visiting Professor of African History at the Center in the 1970s. He also made an invaluable contribution to the establishment of its curricula.
Dr. Clarke is the author of numerous articles that have appeared in leading scholarly journals. He also served as the author, contributor, or editor of 24 books. In 1968 along with the Black Caucus of the African Studies Association, Dr. Clarke founded the African Heritage Studies Association. In 1969 he was appointed as the founding chairman of the Black and Puerto Rican Studies Department at Hunter College in New York City.
Dr. Clarke was most known and highly regarded for his lifelong devotion to studying and documenting the histories and contributions of African peoples in Africa and the diaspora.
Dr. Clarke is often quoted as stating that "History is not everything, but it is a starting point. History is a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. It is a compass they use to find themselves on the map of human geography. It tells them where they are, but more importantly, what they must be."
Featured Web Sites About John Henrik Clarke:
The John Henrik Clarke Virtual Museum
In Memory of John Henrik Clarke (Hunter College)
Schomburg Legacy Exhibition: John Henrik Clarke Section
John Henrik Clarke Bibliographies (Cornell University)
John Henrik Clarke Resources (Runoko Rashidi)
Information on Film, John Henrik Clarke: A Great & Mighty Walk
http://africana.library.cornell.edu/africana/clarke/index.html
JHC Is the truth. -
..THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS 'MORE SAVED" OR A BETTER CHRISTIAN.. EITHER YOU ARE OR YOU ARENT..The_Jackal wrote: »Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.The_Jackal wrote: »
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no ? ." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good
I'm not a ? atheist and I would put up money I know, can comprehend, and am an overall better Christian then you.
BUT WHY YOU ARE MAD?!?!
Implying morals, works, and action aren't important part of being christian.
I'm mad because you and people like you make Christians appear to be uncivilized, ignorant, and hate the exact opposite ? requires from man. -
Ajackson17 wrote: »Ajackson17 wrote: »ATHEISTS CANT BE GREAT....
Why can't we be great @MARIO_DRO the philosophies of both Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr was written and created by an atheist the first one up there. No Hubbard no Garvey, no Malcolm (literally his mother's met because of garvey's meetings and Hubbard assisted and trained Garvey), no African History known to us, no UNESCO African heritage that is a global researched 7 book series by the UN and all of those African scholars, no Black history month, no Carter G Woodson, and etc.
That's the foundation of black america today.
AREN'T you kind of exaggerating things a bit much.... the atheist from back in the day were nothing like the load obnoxious atheist now.
I'm not even exaggerating and his contemporaries and students and their students say the same thing. Hubbard was the organizer, Garvey was the galvanizer and he was the one who got him on stage for the first time in New York City. I'm not saying atheism is what drove him to do great things, but don't look down on people on their disbelief and their contributions in history.
Also be happy he was Caribbean immigrant such as yourself.
As someone with Caribbean parents, learning about Hubert Harrison was really cool. He was a good, righteous brotha. -
Neil Tyson is another great Black atheist I can think of, one of my favorite scientists. He may also be agnostic but he's very sympathetic to atheists, as I am.
https://youtu.be/njdQzyQnHeg
