Abstract
Christianity has historically aided inhumane, violent, and anti-Black projects like slavery and
colonialism. It has also played a major role in debasing Black people’s cultures, entrenching
white supremacy, and undermining Black people’s ability to resist colonial conquest,
enslavement, and marginalisation. The emergence of Black Theology signalled a shift in the
interpretation of the bible, making Christ a fighter against racial injustice. While Black
Theology has been mainly examined in Religious Studies, this thesis analyses its portrayal in
South African and African American literary texts. Using Black radical thought and
Afropessimism as theoretical frameworks, I offer a socially situated reading of Steve Biko’s I
Write What I Like: A Selection of His Writings (1979), Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy: The True
Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa (1986), and Eddie Willis’s
Panther to Priesthood (2022) to show how the three authors view Christianity and Black
Theology in relation to Black liberation. I argue that, while Biko espouses Black Theology as
one of the means to advance the Black struggle for freedom, Mathabane and Willis reproduce
liberal logics that privilege the advancement of a few individuals instead of Black collective
liberation. Mathabane’s and Willis’s critiques of Christianity as an instrument of colonialism is
ultimately curtailed through their rejection of Black Theology. In addition, the reproduction
of liberalism and failure to incorporate Black Theology in Mathabane’s and Willis’s works also
leads to false freedom because it restrains authors from confronting anti-Black racism, leaving
racist structures unchallenged. Further, Mathabane and Willis absolve white people of
responsibility for racism and portray them as victims of oppression. In the process, the thesis
brings to the fore the tension between Black Theology and liberalism and shows that, while
Black Theology, like Black radical thought more broadly, supports collective empowerment
and true liberation for Black people, liberalism advocates for individual advancement and
protects individual rights, property, and ultimately white power.