Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol.4 Issue 2

Faith and Freedom:
Black Youth Rethink Religion
Angelina Bearden
While the church has served as a space of history
and tradition for many Black families in the
United States, younger generations are paving
their own path toward religious freedom.
“Religion has long figured prominently in the lives of
Black Americans,” stated a research article from the Pew
Research Center faith among Black Americans. “When
segregation was the law of the land, Black churches –
and later, mosques – served as important spaces for racial
solidarity and civic activity, and faith more broadly was a
source of hope and inspiration.”
Now, some Black youth have reported that balancing
church life and school/work, witnessing or receiving
hurt from fellow churchgoers, and hypocrisy within the
church all attribute to their religious decline, according
to The Hilltop.
Jhamal Mathis, a UA alum and InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship campus staff minister, has seen family
members impacted by the hurt they experienced within
their congregation.
“They found themselves, a lot of times, in literal seasons
of bickering and arguing with what we would call
‘prominent’ figures within the church. The people who
tithed the most, the people are over the finances and over
those things,” he said.
These experiences almost made a family member leave
the church due to the pain and hurt they were receiving
from those in powerful positions and other members.
Mathis said that Black families would benefit from creating
open spaces for religious talks and allow family members
to choose how to pursue their faith, not ordering them.
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