1) Write a critical analysis of the “black God” and/or “black Christ” proposals of Cone.
What are Cone’s key arguments that support his theological/Christological claim?
What do you feel are the central advantages and weaknesses of the claim as a resource for
“liberation theology” movement, broadly conceived?

2) Visit the website:
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/local/center/jesus122099.htm
This site concerns a controversial painting, “Jesus of the People” by Janet McKenzie that
won the National Catholic Reporter’s “Jesus of the Millennium” contest. It pictures Jesus
with black features, and the model for the painting, as it turns out, was a woman. Read
the article and view the painting. Give a critical analysis of this painting as an
appropriate image, theologically or Christologically speaking, for our time. Do you like
it or not, and why? Do you think it would be appropriate or not as an image to use in a
“liberation theology” context?

3) Search further among the hundreds of possible sites that come up on the internet under
the “black Christ image” or “female Christ image” search criteria, or similar criteria.
Compare the McKenzie painting with one other image and attach a copy of that image to
your paper. Use theological arguments of Cone and Ruether to compare/contrast the
image.

For a full-length image of “Jesus of the People” by Janet McKenzie, see:
http://www.natcath.com/public/Jesusat2000.htm

You can find many articles and reviews about the painting on the web. One of the most
unusual is this one accusing the artist of promoting, among other things, witchcraft:
http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1343.cfm