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Book Review: Empower The People: Social Ethics for the African-American Church

Empower The People is designated by its author as a work about political theory, sociology, and social ethics, written from an "African American Churchly" perspective. What we have here is a poly-thematic work that, in an Afrocentric frame of reference, understands and pulls together an analysis of African American social life that is holistic and spiritually based. The task which Walker sets for himself is one of presenting a "conception of freedom/liberty and a liberating social ethic relentlessly informed by a black churchly understanding of ourselves in relation to God" (p. 10). Comprised of five chapters, this work moves from the first chapter in which is contained a liberating perspective, correctly locating and referencing African Americans to their geographical and cultural roots in mother Africa. The four remaining chapters are described by Walker as "descriptive, predictive, prescriptive and integrative." Thus the content of the Social Ethical Reflection which follows is amply informed by various social commentators and Black philosophers from within the African American Community. As one reads this work, it becomes apparent that the predictive and prescriptive aspects are accomplished more by the juxtaposition and synthesis of social commentaries than from direct pronouncements. Each chapter is enriched by content notes contained at the end. The second chapter approaches the concept of "freedom as empowerment" by rooting it in a Biblical paradigm. Chapter three introduces the symbol of "breaking bread" which means to "share food and money and land and power and other resources, including spiritual and religious resources with people." There follows here sociological descriptors which serve to indicate areas in which bread needs to be broken. In this work, Walker's position is that black power and the independent black church movement legitimize Black Theology's interest in coalition efforts. The fourth chapter is an analysis of liberal coalition efforts from a social ethical perspective. Contained in this chapter is a provocative challenge to the church to bring into line its moral and doctrinal teaching regarding adolescent sexuality, such that adolescent biological sexual readiness is handled by the church with compassion, righteousness and integrity. Walker suggests that the Black Church needs to consider a paradigm which allows early marriage, but actively supports and guides adolescent partners in