Contrary to popular belief, discussions of morality, spiritual sensibilities, and religion are major themes in the lyrics of rap music. The current study provides an exploratory content analysis of rap lyrics in an effort to better understand the ways in which rap artists and audiences thought and think about their spirituality. Results indicate that there existed a fervent and nuanced discourse around spirituality and its various forms during the rise of rap music between the mid 1990s and early millennium.

This project seeks to analyze the philosophies of the African American theologian and philosopher, Howard Thurman, via Afrocentricity, to determine whether Thurman was Afrocentric in his philosophies. To examine Thurman's philosophies, a content analysis was completed using the following books by Howard Thurman: Jesus and the Disinherited, The Luminous Darkness, The Search for Common Ground, The Inward Journey, and The Temptations of Jesus. Two collections containing sermons by Thurman were used: Sermons on the Parables and Moral Struggle and the Prophets. These works were analyzed via a content analysis method while using Afrocentricity as the lens by which these works were analyzed. Additionally, Thurman's autobiography, With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman was used within this discussion to examine what, if any impact, his life experiences had on his philosophies. This project found that, while there are numerous examples of similar streams of thought between Howard Thurman's philosophies and various aspects of Afrocentricity, ultimately, he cannot be labeled as an Afrocentric philosopher due to his centering and location. / African American Studies

[pt] Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo conhecer o surgimento das afro-pastorais no Brasil a partir do desenvolvimento das Teologia(s) Negra(s). A partir do Vaticano II, o mundo caminhou em direção a novos caminhos para diversas áreas de conhecimento, dentre elas a Teologia. Devido às viragens epistêmicas ocorridas no século XX, percebe-se o surgimento de novidades teológicas, a contar da ambientação contextual em que o ser humano está inserido. Este impacto antropológico se encontra com a estrutura racial que o mundo ocidental cunhou para dominação de povos ditos primitivos e inferiores, gerando a narrativa racial e, consequentemente, o racismo. Ainda que seja negado, o racismo perpassa as comunidades religiosas e a Igreja não está imune a ele. Urgiu a necessidade de uma teologia, nascida em contexto diaspórico, que afetasse essas marcas seculares de opressão. A Teologia Negra encontra-se nesse lugar e percebe-se teologias negras emergentes em diversos solos continentais, que influenciam umas às outras, como um grande quilombo mundial. Este cuidado coletivo nasce pela gestação de pastorais que, numa perspectiva cristológica, compreendem a Revelação pelo rosto do Cristo negro. Seja nos séculos das colônias, seja no pós-abolição, as afro-pastorais são lugar de acolhida e entendimento das (inter)subjetividades negras, que se dá no encontro da pessoa negra com a sua própria negritude perpassada pela fé cristã. Conclui-se que o nascimento da Teologia Negra sistematizada verbalizou o que já era vivido há épocas anteriores no Brasil no que tange a afro-pastoral, potencializou o que foi criado após a sua organização sistemática e afetará a Igreja de forma futura, trazendo um novo olhar para o objeto da Revelação e produzindo uma pastoral cada vez mais horizontalizada e descentralizada da figura sacerdotal. / [en] This research aims to understand the emergence of Afro-pastoralists in Brazil from the development of Black Theology(ies). Since Vatican II, the world has moved towards new paths for different areas of knowledge, among them theology. Due to the epistemic changes that took place in the 20th century, the emergence of theological novelties can be seen, based on the contextual setting in which the human being is inserted. This anthropological impact meets the racial structure that the Western world coined for the domination of so-called primitive and inferior peoples, generating the racial narrative and, consequently, racism. Although it is denied, racism permeates religious communities and the Church is not immune to it. There was an urgent need for a theology, born in a diasporic context, that would affect these secular marks of oppression. Black Theology is in this place and it is possible to see black theologies emerging in several continental soils, which influence each other, like a great world quilombo. This collective care is born from the gestation of pastorals that, from a Christological perspective, understand the Revelation through the face of the black Christ. Whether in the centuries of the colonies or in the post-abolition period, Afro-pastorals are a place of acceptance and understanding of black (inter) subjectivities, which takes place in the encounter of the black person with his own blackness permeated by the Christian faith. It is concluded that the birth of systematized Black Theology verbalized what was already experienced in previous times in Brazil with regard to Afro-pastoralism, enhanced what was created after its systematic organization and will affect the Church in the future, bringing a new looking at the object of Revelation and producing an increasingly horizontalized and decentralized pastoral care of the priestly figure.