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A Gift Grows in the Ghetto: Reimagining the Spiritual Lives of Black Men
In his classic essay "Of Our Spiritual Strivings," W. E. B. Du Bois asks, "how does it feel to be a problem?" This question has become a means of diagnosing the lived experience of Black men, particularly in America's most neglected and feared the ghetto. What is often overlooked, however, is the vital role that spirituality has in remedying the problem. A Gift Grows in the Ghetto examines how not being in relationship with one’s gift can lead to feelings of despair, entrapment, and abandonment, all of which contribute to Black men feeling as though they are nothing more than a problem. By utilizing the biblical story of Ishmael's miraculous survival, growth, and giftedness in the wilderness, the book encourages Black men to embrace a life of faith that is dependent on the God who always sees, nurtures, and is in relationship with us and our gifts in the wilderness and the ghetto.
170 pages, Paperback
Published October 25, 2022
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December 17, 2022
We're living at a time when addressing the reality of systemic racism and injustice is, according to some, being "woke." In an attempt to protect a certain inherited vision of American life, the realities of our history and its non-white population are disregarded. The truth is, America's history is complex, and systems have existed and continue to exist that have pushed members of society to the margins. That is especially true of African American men. The question for those Black men living in the ghetto is whether God is involved or present. This is a question that as a white male who has lived in small towns and suburbs cannot truly answer, for this is not my story. I can listen and learn, but never completely understand.
I read Jay-Paul Hinds' book "A Gift Grows in the Ghetto" with an openness to learn. Hinds is the Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Seminary. In this book, Hinds brings his training in psychology to explore the spiritual lives of Black men, especially those who live in and experience the ghetto. He begins his introduction by sharing how the judicial system in Los Angeles, back in the day of Rodney King, approached Black men with the acronym NHI (No Human Involved). That enabled members of the police force to beat Rodney King nearly to death, for in their eyes he was not a human being. He turns from that story to the ghetto, where a different acronym held court. That acronym is NGI or No God Involved. In other words, for many Black men living in the ghetto, God is not present.
Hinds writes this book in an effort to discover God's presence in the ghetto and the lives of Black men. What N.G.I. has done is give "Christian clergy and laypersons the authority, so to speak, to enact spiritual violence against those deemed godless." (p. 7). In response to the realities of the ghetto experience, Hinds wishes to reimagine the lives of Black men, especially Black men, as a gift. He does so with the person of Ishmael in mind. He does this by reimagining the ghetto, a place of separation and abandonment, with the wilderness that Ishmael experienced after he and his mother were expelled from their home by Abraham. While life in the ghetto can be experienced as a place of despair, Ishmael discovered in the wilderness a place of growth. That is because Ishmael was nourished by his relationship with God who met him in the wilderness.
As Hinds notes, he takes a multi-disciplinary approach to this conversation, drawing on his study of psychology, social sciences, and biblical studies. He begins in chapter one, which he titles "I WAS A MAN NOW" by exploring the dominant images of African American manhood, taking note of such images as Sambo and Uncle Tom. In this chapter, I learned a lot about these images, which overturned some of my own earlier presuppositions. From there in chapter 2, he explores the image of the hero, in part reflecting on Freud's own realities of relationships with other males and his images of the hero. Here Hinds has us consider the question of incompleteness that many men feel. He uses the story of Richard Wright's experience with his father as a way of entering into this conversation.
From this exploration of heroes and the failure of that image to address the needs of Black men, in chapter 3, Hinds analyzes the nature of the ghetto, noting its origins in attempts to segregate Jews in Europe and then its reality in the United States after the Great Migration led to the movement of Black folks from the South to northern cities (such as Detroit). The image of the ghetto as laid about by experts and studies is that the ghetto is marked by the presence of disorganized families, that are largely single-parent in nature. What that means is that the image of these families is the marked absence of fathers, and thus families headed by Black women. The unfortunate result is that Black men ended up expressing their manhood in often destructive ways. This "code of the street" noted here doesn't help these men address the challenges of ghetto life.
It is chapter 4 where images of the wilderness and gifts are brought into the conversation. Thus, it's here that Hinds turns toward that effort to reimagine the spiritual lives of young Black men. Here we turn from social analysis to theology. He takes note of the diverse ways in which the wilderness is understood by biblical scholars, such that it is often portrayed as a place of desolation where nothing can grow, and yet it is a place of spiritual transformation. That is the nature of the story of Hagar and Ishmael, which Hinds believes is undervalued. I found this chapter especially helpful, in part because he brings to the fore the image and reality of Ishmael in ways that I had not previously noticed. He points out that even in Black theology Hagar and Ishmael's experience of the wilderness is undervalued because the emphasis has been placed on the Exodus event. But the experience of Hagar and Ishmael opens up a very intriguing conversation about divine encounters and giftedness.
As we move into chapter 5, Hinds expands this conversation about gifts. While the primary diagnosis of the challenges of Black men in the ghetto is attributed to poor mental health, which Hinds acknowledges, he wants to add back into the conversation the spiritual dynamic, and the question of whether, in this context, young Black men can know God's presence in them and around them. Here again, he draws on the giftedness experienced by Ishmael in the wilderness. He points out that, unlike Isaac, Ishmael never went through the weaning ceremony that ushered him into manhood, but that in his divine encounters in the wilderness, God ushered him into manhood. The question here is whether and how Black men can discover their identity through their encounter with God so that they might find life and not just despair in the ghetto.
Finally, in chapter 6, which he titles "Warning: God Don't Like Ugly," Hinds connects the image of the ghetto with that of the wilderness, and therefore the connection between Ishmael and Black men. Here he addresses how the wilderness image has been rejected and can be an important space of divine encounter, such that Ishmael can be a model for reimagining the spiritual lives of Black men. In the end, Hinds seeks to address the presupposition of N.G.I. in the reality of the Ghetto. Hope can be experienced in the ghetto by experiencing the gift that is the divine encounter. He wants Black men to understand that the gift lies within them. That gift does not just skill, but the recognition that "God takes an active role in developing [that gift] so that we can find a sense of home even in a desolate place" (p. 134).
Again, I read this book as a white man who has never experienced the ghetto or the reality of being a Black man from the inside. I may visit the ghetto, but it's my experience. I can listen and learn, but never truly understand. So, it's difficult to review this book. Nevertheless, I found it to be enlightening, and hopefully, it can prove helpful to the church so that it can find the resources to help men encounter God even in the ghetto, a place understood to be marginalized where despair is the order of the day. Even there, if understood in terms of wilderness and Ishmael's encounters, God can be encountered and the gift of personhood can be reclaimed and reimagined as a result.
I read Jay-Paul Hinds' book "A Gift Grows in the Ghetto" with an openness to learn. Hinds is the Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Seminary. In this book, Hinds brings his training in psychology to explore the spiritual lives of Black men, especially those who live in and experience the ghetto. He begins his introduction by sharing how the judicial system in Los Angeles, back in the day of Rodney King, approached Black men with the acronym NHI (No Human Involved). That enabled members of the police force to beat Rodney King nearly to death, for in their eyes he was not a human being. He turns from that story to the ghetto, where a different acronym held court. That acronym is NGI or No God Involved. In other words, for many Black men living in the ghetto, God is not present.
Hinds writes this book in an effort to discover God's presence in the ghetto and the lives of Black men. What N.G.I. has done is give "Christian clergy and laypersons the authority, so to speak, to enact spiritual violence against those deemed godless." (p. 7). In response to the realities of the ghetto experience, Hinds wishes to reimagine the lives of Black men, especially Black men, as a gift. He does so with the person of Ishmael in mind. He does this by reimagining the ghetto, a place of separation and abandonment, with the wilderness that Ishmael experienced after he and his mother were expelled from their home by Abraham. While life in the ghetto can be experienced as a place of despair, Ishmael discovered in the wilderness a place of growth. That is because Ishmael was nourished by his relationship with God who met him in the wilderness.
As Hinds notes, he takes a multi-disciplinary approach to this conversation, drawing on his study of psychology, social sciences, and biblical studies. He begins in chapter one, which he titles "I WAS A MAN NOW" by exploring the dominant images of African American manhood, taking note of such images as Sambo and Uncle Tom. In this chapter, I learned a lot about these images, which overturned some of my own earlier presuppositions. From there in chapter 2, he explores the image of the hero, in part reflecting on Freud's own realities of relationships with other males and his images of the hero. Here Hinds has us consider the question of incompleteness that many men feel. He uses the story of Richard Wright's experience with his father as a way of entering into this conversation.
From this exploration of heroes and the failure of that image to address the needs of Black men, in chapter 3, Hinds analyzes the nature of the ghetto, noting its origins in attempts to segregate Jews in Europe and then its reality in the United States after the Great Migration led to the movement of Black folks from the South to northern cities (such as Detroit). The image of the ghetto as laid about by experts and studies is that the ghetto is marked by the presence of disorganized families, that are largely single-parent in nature. What that means is that the image of these families is the marked absence of fathers, and thus families headed by Black women. The unfortunate result is that Black men ended up expressing their manhood in often destructive ways. This "code of the street" noted here doesn't help these men address the challenges of ghetto life.
It is chapter 4 where images of the wilderness and gifts are brought into the conversation. Thus, it's here that Hinds turns toward that effort to reimagine the spiritual lives of young Black men. Here we turn from social analysis to theology. He takes note of the diverse ways in which the wilderness is understood by biblical scholars, such that it is often portrayed as a place of desolation where nothing can grow, and yet it is a place of spiritual transformation. That is the nature of the story of Hagar and Ishmael, which Hinds believes is undervalued. I found this chapter especially helpful, in part because he brings to the fore the image and reality of Ishmael in ways that I had not previously noticed. He points out that even in Black theology Hagar and Ishmael's experience of the wilderness is undervalued because the emphasis has been placed on the Exodus event. But the experience of Hagar and Ishmael opens up a very intriguing conversation about divine encounters and giftedness.
As we move into chapter 5, Hinds expands this conversation about gifts. While the primary diagnosis of the challenges of Black men in the ghetto is attributed to poor mental health, which Hinds acknowledges, he wants to add back into the conversation the spiritual dynamic, and the question of whether, in this context, young Black men can know God's presence in them and around them. Here again, he draws on the giftedness experienced by Ishmael in the wilderness. He points out that, unlike Isaac, Ishmael never went through the weaning ceremony that ushered him into manhood, but that in his divine encounters in the wilderness, God ushered him into manhood. The question here is whether and how Black men can discover their identity through their encounter with God so that they might find life and not just despair in the ghetto.
Finally, in chapter 6, which he titles "Warning: God Don't Like Ugly," Hinds connects the image of the ghetto with that of the wilderness, and therefore the connection between Ishmael and Black men. Here he addresses how the wilderness image has been rejected and can be an important space of divine encounter, such that Ishmael can be a model for reimagining the spiritual lives of Black men. In the end, Hinds seeks to address the presupposition of N.G.I. in the reality of the Ghetto. Hope can be experienced in the ghetto by experiencing the gift that is the divine encounter. He wants Black men to understand that the gift lies within them. That gift does not just skill, but the recognition that "God takes an active role in developing [that gift] so that we can find a sense of home even in a desolate place" (p. 134).
Again, I read this book as a white man who has never experienced the ghetto or the reality of being a Black man from the inside. I may visit the ghetto, but it's my experience. I can listen and learn, but never truly understand. So, it's difficult to review this book. Nevertheless, I found it to be enlightening, and hopefully, it can prove helpful to the church so that it can find the resources to help men encounter God even in the ghetto, a place understood to be marginalized where despair is the order of the day. Even there, if understood in terms of wilderness and Ishmael's encounters, God can be encountered and the gift of personhood can be reclaimed and reimagined as a result.
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