Yeezus is Jesuz

Abstract

Kanye West represents a myriad complex trope of issues for not just Black Theological praxis, but also for the broader study of Black people. In this post-civil rights era we, as Black people, find ourselves in a locality that is neither post-racial nor public Jim/ Jane Crowism; neither fully equal nor fully separate; not fully human yet celebrated in full, for culture and entertainment; it is an era that contains all the elements of hope and forward momentum in the symbol of what is the President of the United States and the nefarious nature of racism poignantly symbolized in Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and countless other Black lives, both male and female, lost at the hands of racism and profiling. West’s symbolism rises as a figure and presents an anomaly of sorts on a post-civil rights era. Located in Kanye is a mixture of voices; the narcissist, the pain, the disillusioned, the proud, the critical interrogator, the double standard, and even the push for a contextual pursuit and understanding of God. Kanye West. Kanye is important for three reasons: 1) in my 2011 research among Hip Hoppers and urban emerging adults, he was ranked above Tupac as a spiritual and religious figure in Hip Hop1, 2) White emerging adults have come to appreciate and love him and, have grown up on his music, and 3) Kanye is a symbol for a postcivil rights context and represents the sacred, the secular, and profane exceptionally well. This is where we must begin, at the intersections of the sacred, profane, and secular.