Black Humanist Experience: An Alternative to Religion

As the first book exclusively dedicated to humanists of African descent, The Black Humanist Experience gives Black humanists the opportunity to discuss their many and varied reasons for leaving the religious fold and embracing a humanist life stance. As a minority within a minority in the United States, African American humanists often feel isolated and misunderstood. And across the globe humanists are in the minority among Blacks just as they are among all races. These thoughtful essays help to draw attention to the vitality of the humanist movement within the Black community while putting to rest many myths about humanists. Contrary to popular stereotypes, most humanists do not reject religion out of disillusionment, ignorance, desperation, or misanthropy. The contributors to this volume, coming to secular humanism from many different backgrounds, demonstrate that the decision to adopt the humanist viewpoint is based on intellectual honesty and the best information provided by science, history, comparative religion, and other scholarly disciplines. Moreover, they show that a central concern of humanists of all races and nations is the preservation and promotion of what humanist philosopher Paul Kurtz calls the common moral decencies shared by most religious and ethical systems. At a time when faith-based organisations are favoured politically, especially within the Black community in America, this timely collection of essays shows that humanism, with its emphasis on reason, free inquiry, moral decency, and justice, offers much to Blacks world-wide.