Black liberation theologian James Cone dies at 79
In portraying Christ’s blackness, he upended the assumptions of a field dominated by white theologians and helped spawn other theories of liberation.
James H. Cone, one of the most powerful voices shaping liberation theology, died April 28 at age 79. According to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Cone was ordained, he had cancer.
The author of such books as Black Theology and Black Power (1969), A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), and God of the Oppressed (1975), Cone joined the faculty of Union Theological Seminary in 1969.
“In so many ways, James Cone has been Union Theological Seminary for the past 50 years,” said Union president Serene Jones. “To say his death leaves a void is a staggering understatement. His prophetic voice, deep kindness, and fierce commitment to black liberation embodied not just the very best of our seminary, but of the theological field as a whole and of American prophetic thought and action.”
