Emancipation Still Comin'

The Caribbean, awash with sun and water, is a meeting place of many races, religions, and cultures. There North and South, Latin and Anglo, native Carib, African black, French and English white races and cultures meet. In a religious melting pot, Protestant and Catholic Christian, Afro-Caribbean, Hindu, and secularist faiths, intertwine, cross-pollinate, and go their ways, separate yet together, in the divine milieu.

Such a place has a rich and revealing story to tell: of history, nature, and humanity; of the understanding of freedom; of the meaning and scope of theology itself. The key in Caribbean society, with its experiences of slavery, colonialism, neocolonialism, and structural dependence, is emancipation: the pursuit, proclamation, and practice of human freedom. Emancipation is the key to Caribbean theology as well.

This is the focal point of Kortright Davis's work. He introduces the complex tapestry of this unique society: its social and cultural pluralism, its particular strengths and weaknesses: poverty, dependence, alienation, and divisiveness.

Davis explores many aspects of Caribbean religion and spirituality, especially the complexities of carnival and its uniquely African soul. He notes too a theological dependency, and posits again a unique, Caribbean emancipatory theology to establish a theological ""self-reliance."" In emancipatory theology, as in Latin American liberation theology, the source for praxis and reflection is faith linked to historical experience. And the Caribbean experience, of continual struggle for identity, distinguishes and yet unites Caribbean Christians with Christians everywhere.

""Deeply concerned with the historical and cultural contexts of theology, Professor Davis has developed a provocative argument that the reconstruction of Caribbean society and its spiritual integrity will be postponed until the emancipatory dimensions of its religious expression are embraced by the region's diverse constituencies. This is an important book.""
--Michael R. Winston, President, Alfred Harcourt Foundation

""Professor David's profound scholarship in church history and liturgy provides a sure foundation for his perceptive and well-researched assessment of the impact of the church on Caribbean society. Emancipation Still Comin' not only recounts the role of the church, it examines with sensitivity and candor the varied strands that are woven into the fabric of Caribbean life. The author's lucid and lively style make his monograph all the more readable, and further enhances its value as source-material for the study of the Caribbean.""
--Sir William Douglas, Ambassador of Barbados

Kortright Davis, an Anglican priest, was born in Antigua. He was one of the Archbishop of Canterbury's members on the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission II, and is Professor of Theology at Howard University School of Divinity.