The Memoirs and Lamentations of Kwabena Amikaketo (6) God, Jesus, and the Colour called Black

Kwabena Amikaketo sat in his favourite chair on his balcony, viewing the setting sun which was making way for the shadows to grow longer and soon cover his part of the world like some dark blanket.

That evening his mind was in amusement about revolutionary tendencies which have resurrected among the dark skinned peoples of this world called Blacks.

Ever since George Floyd’s murder, the Black race has revolutionalised itself in determination to eliminate the racial tendencies other colour races extend to them. Kwabena Amikaketo was, and would forever be in support of the uprising of the beautiful Black race, and always prayed for the day all Black people of the world would unite as one and regard all Black matters above anything else.

He was always contemplating the era when Blacks would be respected by other races as humans; the era when Blacks will take over the world in every department of life and be leaders, not followers.

Kwabena, however, noticed something that was very worrying to him. The age old debate that the Whites taught Blacks that Jesus was White and Satan was Black was exhumed again, with attacks on why St Michael the Archangel would be seen as a Whiteman trampling on the head of Lucifer, the fallen angel, who was painted black or in dark complexion.

To Kwabena, such pictures of Jesus and all angels and saints painted as White and Satan and all demons painted as Black do not portray any racism. Rather anyone, Black, White, Red, Brown or Yellow who thinks that way is a racist, himself.

God, in His wisdom, created the different colours, and He expects man to value each colour and not to condemn any as evil. However, this is where the revolutionary Blackman takes offense. Why should evil be clad in Black and good be clad in White?

Anyone who reads racism in this should know that long before the Whiteman came we celebrated the colour black/red for sorrow, pain and dejection. These colours also connote evil, as in witches and wizards, not to forget demons that wander in the dark looking for souls to devour. In our culture, Satan and the demons were never painted in white, but rather molded in frightful black and red colours.

Kwabena recollects stories told him from the days of his ancestors of how evil triumphed in darkness, and people feared all that is dark or black. After all, when one is sleeping, he does not use black cloth to cover himself.

In our culture, white represents a new dawn, freshness, holiness and all that promotes life. A new born baby with not be wrapped in black swaddling cloth, and a corpse is not buried in a black shroud. All these happened long before the Whiteman came to teach us that Jesus was White and Satan was Black.

Kwabena reflected on this issue and wondered why some Black revolutionaries believe that Jesus was Black in complexion when He came to walk the earth. That notion in itself is very racist. Jesus was born into a race of people who were and are of lighter skin very much close to or same as that of the Whiteman. Jesus, however, came not to represent or enhance the colour White, but to lead us to salvation.

How to achieve salvation is how we accept His word, instructions and commands. We become like unto Jesus when we do His will, and so as Africans, the way we condemn same sex relations we can be said to be one in Jesus Christ. In the same way, the Whiteman, who is “lucky” to have the same complexion as Jesus but accepts same sex relations and infant sacrifices in the form of abortions, is, however, an anti-Christ. It is a fact that he colour of the skin does not in any way determine our salvation. If our complexion is said to represent Satan and all that is evil, our deeds must rather lead us into the arms of Christ and into eternal life. Our lives and how they end should be determined by God, and not by man. This is what we must struggle in life for – to save our souls by striving to please God, and to gain salvation.

At any rate, assuming Jesus was born into a Black community, say Asante, Dangbe, Ewe or Gonja, will we not do worse than the Jews who put Him to death for blaspheming against God, even though He was and is and forever God?

With that humanly unspeakable act of comparing Himself as equal to God, will we not have killed Him and killed His mother, relatives and all associates as well?

We need not pretend in any way that Jesus must be Black by all means, when we do not conduct our lives in ways to please God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. By our good conducts, and when we become pleasing to God, Jesus will come to us and unite with us as one, irrespective of the colour of our skin.

Waging war against the Whiteman for making Jesus White, when actually, all the Jewish people are White in complexion, is of a derailed mentality. What if we get to Heaven and find out that Jesus is neither White nor Black, and even our complexion will change to be the same as that of every soul of the Elect, which would neither be Black nor White? In that blissful holy place the complexion of the White man you know on earth will be the same as yours, which will not be like the skin you wore on earth, but a skin shining like the light. When we encounter that what will we say to ourselves?

In truth, the colour Black is not solely a symbol of all that is evil. Black or dark stands out to be very important in creation, for the fact that in the universe, Dark (Black) Matter is about the most important element, because its gravitational effects explain the rotation of galaxies, the motions of clusters and is the largest scale-structure in the entire Universe. It provides an absolute necessity for allowing our galaxy to hold onto the raw ingredients that make life like us, and planets like Earth, possible at all. Without Dark Matter, the Universe would likely have no signs of life at all. This is the importance of Black or Dark in the entire creation.

There is also the very important role darkness play in the life of living creatures. Without darkness, crops would grow and flourish to “meet” the sun, and may rarely yield any produce. Rearing poultry, especially for laying, requires periods of darkness to boost the physiological system of the birds, and in humans, darkness assures us of sound sleep to rejuvenate the body for us to wake up fresh for another day’s work.

Sleep is itself a natural curative process which is better enhanced with darkness or very minimal light.

In jewellery, there is this rare and expensive Black Diamond, which adds value to the colour black or dark. In the colder areas of the world, black clothing are often worn, since it has more warmth in them than any colour clothing, and that warmth makes living feel good.

So to Kwabena Amikaketo, the fight over why St Michael is to be White and crushing the head of Satan who is painted Black, is very unnecessary. To our ancestors, God and His angels were known to be white and shining, while Satan and the demons are known to be dark and gloomy, long before the Whiteman came. The question is who formed that in their minds for all Blacks to this day accept in awe the colour white, and in fear the colour black? It is the natural order of things imprinted and enshrined in our hearts and minds, and this has nothing to do with the colour of our skin.

The only way to change the colour of our skin is to change the colour of our souls to reflect all that is godly, saintly, and Christlike. It is the soul that matters, and not our skins.

Kwabena Amikaketo sighed and looked up to the heavens as it was getting darker and darkness would soon rule his part of the world. Why are the revolutionaries not fighting the darkness in their hearts and souls, but choose to fight over complexions? How does the ordinary Black regard other Blacks? Why will Blacks prefer to do business with Whites and watch their investments grow, but do everything within their might to bring down Black businesses. Kwabena sighed sadly when he remembers how the A-Life chain supermarkets, solely owned and run by a Ghanaian, could be led by Ghanaians to collapse, while these same Blacks support and patronise foreign retail shops, owned and operated by light skinned foreigners?

Black against Black is what we pride ourselves in, and yet, we turn round to cry and shout “racism” when we see Jesus painted as a Whiteman and Satan as a Black.

In His creation, God ordered things to be in harmony and united in diversity. This is the natural order of things as God wills it to be. What matters most to God is the heart, mind and soul, and not the skin.

Kwabena walked indoors and looked out for his Holy Bible; it has been ages since he last read a chapter. This behaviour, he said to himself, was not good for the salvation of his soul. He made a quick sign of the Cross, prayed for forgiveness, and sat down and started reading a chapter of the Sacred Scriptures. The words were printed in black; yes, after all, the Word of God comes in Black. God knows what He is about.

Hon Daniel Dugan

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s editorial stance

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