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It has been nearly a decade since Princeton Theological Seminary began to examine its past ties to slavery and just five years after the Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a multi-year plan of repentance. And though much has been done to advance the institution’s commitment to shape the future in tangible, lasting ways, there is plenty of work yet to be done.
“The historical audit on slavery was indeed an eye-opener,” says Afe Adogame, Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Religion and Society at Princeton Seminary. “It enabled us to see not just how PTS was involved or not involved in the whole enterprise, but also opened us to new questions.”
Adogame is the primary organizer of The Afterlives of Slavery Conference, a two-part series presented jointly by Princeton Theological Seminary, Howard University Divinity School, the Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture, and the University of Liberia. The first conference took place in Monrovia, Liberia, from October 17-19, 2022; the second conference is set for October 19-21 in Washington, D.C.
“These two conferences attempt to interrogate these questions,” Adogame continues.
“The 2022 conference focused on the trans-Atlantic dimension of slavery, examining the interconnectedness between colonization, Christianity, and commerce. The coming conference will address the religious dimension as well as the intended and unintended consequences of slavery and its afterlife.”
“There have been all kinds of talks about the afterlife of slavery, but there has not been sufficient attention to the theological dimension, especially by institutions of theological education such as Princeton Seminary,” Adogame says, referring to what his colleague and conference co-organizer Gordon S. Mikoski, Associate Professor of Christian Education, has termed ‘a failure of theological imagination.’”
“When I talk about the failure of theological imagination at the Seminary in the 19th century and into the 20th century, some people take it to mean there was no theological imagination,” Mikoski says. “That’s not the case: It was bad theological imagination.”
Mikoski goes on to describe that some people at Princeton Seminary have amnesia about the Seminary’s role in slavery and racism.
“Certainly, we forgot everything about the Seminary’s deep involvement in the American Colonization Society. We also forgot about Liberia,” he says. “And as far as I can tell, there hadn’t been a lot of conversation at PTS about race and racism in the United States until probably the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement,” he adds. “And then, at the end of the 1960s, pressure was exerted by the students to divest from the Apartheid regime in South Africa, which didn’t happen until the late 1980s. By then, the whole world had divested – we were one of the last ones to get on that train.”
Another illustration of Princeton Seminary’s complicated dealings with race, if not amnesia, Mikoski adds, is “downplayed minimizing or managing.”
“The historical audit on slavery unearthed memories, which we’re still discovering,” he says. “And it made it possible for us by looking backward to go forward in a better, way more constructive way, and a less white supremacist way.”
Mikoski uses a comparison of computer software versions, to sum up, the Seminary’s past, present, and future regarding slavery.
“We’re in the middle of Princeton Seminary’s transformation into PTS 3.0,” he says with a laugh. “PTS 1.0 was the founding and all the colonization ideas up until 1929. And then in the smoking ruins of the not-quite-so fundamentalists, Princeton Seminary was re-founded on Neo-Orthodox Barthian theology. That was PTS 2.0. With the slavery audit and the diversification of the student body and faculty, the Board of Trustees really is leading us into PTS 3.0, where we’re no longer forgetting about slavery, but dealing with the memories and the various theological dimensions of the afterlife of slavery,” Mikoski adds.
“The existence of Liberia is one trajectory of the afterlives of slavery, which started out in Princeton at the Seminary, and among Presbyterian ministers in town or also at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University,” Mikoski further adds. “It started out as a racist idea, but several of us have gone to Liberia twice in the last year, and they’re very proud of the fact that it’s the oldest democratic Republic in Africa. It’s a country with a history of black self-determination. So, what started out as White Presbyterian skewed racist theological imagination has turned into something to celebrate, even though they still have a long way to go.”
Adogame views the goals of the upcoming conference as “very intentional and strategic about interrogating these interrelated questions.
“We are trying to connect the history of the past with the history of the present and to bring people’s awareness about how to begin to assess and reassess and respond to the continued effects of enslavement,” he adds. “For our current American society, the questions of racism and white supremacy are totally interconnected with this afterlife.”
Some of the questions Adogame hopes will be addressed through paper and panel presentations include:
“The past is not dead and gone,” Mikoski adds. “It’s like a ghost that haunts the present. But we also must think about the future and where do we go from here.”
Princeton Seminary is one of only a handful of institutions in the country that have done concrete things and put money behind a response to their legacy of slavery and racism. Actions taken by Princeton Seminary include:
“The Seminary going forward needs to think theologically and ethically about reparations and although we’ve already done some, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what we can and should do on the basis of our faith and the Gospel,” Mikoski says.
“We have to think about reparation. Reparation has many different aspects. There’s apology and symbolic statements. There are memorials of various kinds. There are financial aspects when people have been deprived of the possibility of accumulating generational wealth. There’s a whole range of things,” he says.
A significant aspect of the October conference is the strategic and intentional collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, as well as Howard Divinity School and the University of Liberia. All participants will have the opportunity to visit the NMAAHC museum.
“Anyone who goes through the exhibition will be literally ‘born again,’ so to speak,” says Adogame. Mikoski concurs.
“I would even suggest that there can be a kind of spiritual reparation that can be achieved,” Mikoski says. “And this is why we are focusing on the religious dimension.”
The deadline for abstract proposals for individual papers and panel presentations for the October 2023 conference is April 30. Proposals may be submitted here.
Students Reflect on Afterlives Conference Several Princeton Seminary students attended and or presented papers at the first Afterlives of Slavery Conference: Colonization, Christianity, and Commerce in the Trans-Atlantic World, held in Monrovia, Liberia, in October 2022. The value of such meetings is apparent in their shared reflections.
Matta Bachman MDiv’23
“Liberians maintain a beautiful level of resilience and strength. Despite the challenges of war, corruption, and colonialism, Liberians continue to work hard to build a better future for themselves and their communities. It is easy to read books about decolonial theories, but physically experiencing how entrenched colonialism is in Liberia adds a new level of vital understanding and awareness. Being in Liberia shifted the discourse around colonialism from a dialogue within Princeton’s ivory towers to a physical reality that must be engaged with empathy and practicality.
Ignatius Oshiomogwe, ThM student
The conference was a remarkable experience. Exploring various sessions and meeting many people was splendid and exhilarating for my scholarly and personal development and enriched my proficiency, enthusiasm, and inspiration for my studies at PTS.
Tamesha Mills, M.Div.’22, ThM student
Attending the Afterlives of Slavery conference was the pinnacle in my Seminary journey and enriched my life academically as well as culturally. Traveling to Africa was a long-awaited goal of mine in life. … To share my research on the actual soil in which the research is rooted awakened the Black spirituality within my faith. I didn’t know what to expect in worship in Liberia, but I felt right at home. This experience was an unconscious ethnographic case study that satisfied that interest. The research and ideas shared from international scholars offered incredible insight for every student, lay and clergy person in attendance. To share this experience with my peers and faculty from PTS was icing on the cake.
Ruth Amwe MA(TS) ’19, PhD student
Participating in the conference planning team afforded me the opportunity to visit Liberia twice, first in July 2020 and then again in October 2022. On these trips, we visited Providence Island and saw relics of Mayflower/Elizabeth, the first ship with repatriates that docked in Cape Montserrado in 1822. We listened to a stirring poetic rendition by a young Liberian while seated in the first sanctuary which doubled as the first building erected by the repatriates in Liberia. We reunited with and shared meals with PTS alumni in Liberia and worshipped among local congregants. We listened to fascinating presentations from scholars from various parts of globe and enjoyed hors d’oeuvre at the United States consulate in Liberia. We made new friends, listened to each other’s stories, and enjoyed heartwarming laughter. We relished the warm embrace of the fresh coastal wind that cascades the city of Monrovia and breathed in Liberia, in its true and authentic form. These experiences affirmed my decision to focus my dissertation on this unfolding story by attempting to engage the afterlives of Liberia, learning how Liberians are reimagining a collective identity regardless of the yoke of divide enshrined in their past which haunts their present and attempts to define their future.
Israel Gwatana MTS’23
Presenting at the conference in Liberia and experiencing the people, culture, and art proved how essential education is beyond the classroom. It was a great opportunity to experience another context, and interact with scholars, students, and other professionals. It gave me the unique privilege to express what I have been learning in the classroom and get back meaningful critique and appraisal. I strongly encourage PTS to continue this great gesture as it continues to engineer a globally robust and relevant theological education that seeks to transform society.
