BMF and the Black Jesus

There is a lot of excitement in Detroit about the show on the Starz network BMF. Meech and Terry are from here. A lot of people working on the show are from here. The story being told is set in Detroit. There are all kinds of references to Detroit culture in the show. This post is about the picture of the Black Jesus that is shown during the intro to the show. I ran across a very informative post on facebook from my guy Damon Washington. It is so informative I decided to ask him if I could share it with my audience. He was gracious enough to oblige. You can check out Damon on Instagram @HardwoodLegends. You can check out the post below.

A few days ago, I commented on the shot of St. Cecilia’s gym in the intro of BMF. What I noticed after watching episode 2 was something that completely slipped by me the first go round. Also in the intro along with a shot of the gym is a picture of a Black Christ. But that’s not just any pic. Let me give you a quick history lesson:

Most native Detroiters and basketball fans from the Metropolitan area have, at some point, been in St. Cecilia’s gym over the last 50 plus years. But many of you have never actually been in the church itself. That picture of the Black Christ is in the dome of the church’s sanctuary. It is a massive mural that’s really beautiful and breathtaking at the same time. It’s roughly 24 feet tall with angels on either side of Christ who are of various ethnicities. Shortly after the Detroit riots of 1967, Devon Cunningham was commissioned to paint the mural inside the sanctuary. The governing Catholic officials never complained about the painting nor did anyone have a problem with it until Ebony magazine featured the mural on the cover of their 1969 March edition. The national attention the picture received was met with outrage by people who couldn’t accept that the Son of God could possibly have brown skin. But the reality is the entire area that the church is located in (Livernois & Burlingame) is predominantly Black. So how can you expect the parishioners who are mostly African American to come to church every Sunday and worship a white Jesus?? Such is the way of the western philosophical approach to Christianity……accept what is given. Ask no questions.

Despite any resistance the mural received on a national level and any backlash that may have resulted within the local archdiocese, the mural was never recommissioned or repainted. It still remains in the sanctuary as beautiful as ever.

Courtesy of Damon Washington ( HardwoodLegends.com, Instagram.com/HardwoodLegends )