Black Monsters, Yellow Ghosts

Considering the place of Asian Americans within the black-white binary of racial discourse, this project places the experience of Asian American invisibility (voicelessness) within the larger theologically informed imaginative construction and treatment of Black bodies in the United States. It argues that the hyper-visibility of the Black body and the invisibility of the Asian American body are two sides of the same coin. The Asian American experience of invisibility, like the black experience of hyper-visibility, is not accidental; it is strategic. It is the consequence of established practices, discourses, and techniques that keep the Asian American silent and docile, that keep her functioning as a ‘good’ citizen and, through the promise of whiteness, discourage her from identifying with and standing in solidarity alongside other people of color in the fight for change. Ultimately, this project analyzes Asian American invisibility alongside Black hyper-visibility in order to better understand the means of subjugation built into the salvific promise of whiteness and, through this process, to create the space to embrace a truer vision of the holy and, with it, the possibility of a more profound liberation.

Delight in the Christian Struggle for Justice

“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”

– Emma Goldman

Anger is a natural response to the injustices we see all around us. We are angered by the things that should not be. And this anger can fuel real societal change. But what happens when the fast-burning fires of indignation begin to die and exhaustion sets in? This project considers the powerful possibilities of the Spirit’s work of delight in the pursuit of social justice. Drawing on contemporary sociological, psychological, neurological, and aesthetic research as well as accounts of successful social justice movements from the past, this theological engagement explores an altogether different approach to the work of justice, one primarily predicated not on anger, but on a delight-filled invitation into the wonder, creativity, and presence that has the power to captivate and connect us all.