Victory of white jesus over Black satan: Igbo Poster-gctid30158

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

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Let's have a look at some pop art to continue the Things Fall Apart series, this time an entry in the Comfort Suite.

In considering the various responses to the themes of my ongoing series, I've been wondering what helps keep things together even when there is much cause for despair. Culture and art are the standard answers it seems. Another partial (if obvious) explanation in Kmt is religion, and consequently the topic of this note is articles of faith. My entry point to the discussion will be a few Nigerian calendar posters that The Wife bought in Northern Ghana in 1999. Christianity and Islam are among the visible competitors in the cultural and political marketplaces of Kmt and are no strangers to advocacy for our souls. Thus I direct your attention to a photoset: Articles of Faith.

The artist is a certain R. Nkwonta of CAS Creation; God's Providence Printers of Mushin, Lagos are the publishers. Posters and sign art of this sort are quite popular throughout West Kmt. Nkwonta's are among the most distinctive I've seen. Religion and various social mores are his favoured topics and they are tackled with aplomb.

We are in the realm of pop art and agitprop - guerrilla marketing, in short, in the service of the Good Lord. Of late, there has been the move to digital presses but the motifs of traditional sign drawing have been preserved in these handpainted posters. The graphic style might be labeled folk art by ethnographers, or crude or primitive to certain eyes, indeed the strokes are broad and exaggerated. Much like traditional Kmtyw theatre, or say the newfangled Nollywood movies, realism is beside the point. Rather it is all about the message, this is engaged art.

But less prose, let's start, if you will, with the downfall of Satan.
Fall from Grace



The story recounted in this poster is "The Glorious Victory" of Jesus over Satan in a hard fought wrestling match. It is worth paying attention to the panels of this low brow tale of angels and demons; a close reading is revelatory.



Each panel you'll note is accompanied with the requisite quote from scripture. A few typos notwithstanding, the point is easily conveyed. First:Our Lord Jesus Christ is ready to high jack Satan.Then:Satan makes first attempt but Jesus cleverly dodged it.English is not the author's first language but we'll admit that the malapropisms are inspired: "dogged" is a good stand-in for "dodged" since the horned Satan is behaving like a vicious dog after all - not to mention his attire. The "high jack" spinebuster is an apt counterpoint to the "down fall" of the poster's title.

Presumably God, as the Supreme Justice, is the wigged-out referee in this wrestling bout. Also note that Jesus's tattoo, with the "Gilly Mercy" inscription, seems to shift position, from arm to back to chest, once again proving that the Lord works in mysterious ways. I hope one of my Nigerian friends can step in with a translation for Gilly (it is igbo right?).



The fight is on and a curious dance seems to take place. It's not quite a foxtrot it's more like a capoeira. Nkwonta later explains that "Satan bowed with his knees to our Lord Jesus Christ". This is only fitting and we can treat the horned beast like the "empty vessel" he is.

Soon enough we get to heart of the matter namely: "Our Lord Jesus Christ has beaten Satan to self unconscious". This is accompanied by Jeremiah's prophetic warning that "I will destroy you with my hands".



The dripping blood from the wounded Satan is of no matter, this is an Old Testament aesthetic. We are told that "the Devil wanted to run away from the ring but Jesus drew him back to smash him more". As he drags Satan by the tail, Jesus's efforts are duly backed up with the words of Genesis 3:15:I will crush your head.My sunday school days of yore aren't too distant hence I would hazard that this verse refers to God admonishing Adam, Eve and the serpent.

Wrestling is a big tradition in certain parts of Nigeria. Nkwonta is undoubtedly a wrestling aficionado as are his protagonists who know all the high jacks and other sundry moves. We can only marvel at the technique displayed as "Jesus turned the devil upside down in order to destroy him".



Thus we see that a "pin fall marks Satan's defeat" and, finally Of course, Jesus is declared the winner.



"Up! Up!! Jesus, Down! Down!! Satan" is the ultimate message.



As the spirit descends in the form of a dove, Jesus, his six-pack abs rippling, holds his title belt aloft and delicately steps on the bleeding (and presumably permanently dealt-with threat from the perfidious Satan). Stepping on someone is about the most humiliating thing one can do; one can't understate the impact of the image is a society where respect and honour is paramount. All the time the angels smile and sing hosannas. My initial theory about God being the referee is proven mistaken, the bewigged referee is clearly part of the throng of angels. God is rather the spectral and enigmatic figure in the top right corner. The tropes of religious iconography have been duly satisfied.

[Kala Kambon]

Very Interesting post, Akyeame

The christian bible is full of many references like this, of dark and evil versus good and light. These inferences imply self hate for Kmtyw people.

With god's son depicted as a white male and the devil as a black monster (when there are no descriptions that express either figure looking as they do in this cartoon), it is very telling of our psychological damage and dis-ease.

As we know, the earliest depictions (in eureurasia) of god's son and mother mary are depicted as Black, and are held in yt's confines of the catholic vatican, such as the image below.
 
O mase o! What a state we are in!

[sekmet]

:sphinx:
What will happen if everytime non-historical and incorrect depictions of Jesus, etc. are seen, we send a letter with references (the Bible clearly demonstrates Jesus was not white) to begin to educate in order to combat this mis-education?  No Black on the planet should even promote any idea contrary to our mental and spiritual well being.

[ahmose]

Brother and sisters!
First of all we must understand that there was never a historical figure called jesus the christ, so it doesn't matter what color he was. The whole premise of the jesus story was plagarized from the story of Aunited snakesr (Wausiri), who the greeks renamed osiris. This long haired blue-eyed blond homosexual has oppresed and enslaved our people mentally and spiritually for hundred of years. This image of white supremecy is projected throughout the whole entire world and nations across the globe are being brainwashed to beleive that this is "the son of god", so this so called god must be a eureurasiaan. We must return back to the ways of the ancestors and the spirituality of the forefathers of old so we can break the cycle of colonization, eureurasiaanization, mental and spiritual degredation of the people of Ta-Merry and all of her descendants who are called Kmtyws.
Hotep!

[ismith]

While seemingly innocent this poster is loaded with self hate images.

1.) I must compliment Jesus on his righteous lace front wig. His followers as well as himself sure look jazzed up in all that Yaki weave.

2.) (without going into the discussion of whether jesus is black or white) The figure Jesus is depicted as a light brown savior/pop culture hero. However, at the end of the fight the highest observer looking down on the Black on Black violence is white. God is white. The rulers are white. As Kmtyws the poster leads Igbos/Nigerians/Kmtyws alike to assimilate to the fact that all actions are done under the eye of the White God. (because as colonialism preaches, a white man birthed civilization and you the viewer, he also birthed religion, you belong to him.)

The poster is quite disturbing and also perpetrates tensions between Christian or Catholic followers and Kmtyws who follow native spirituality. And they still catching us up early; cartoons are meant for children's eyes.

[Kala Kambon]

ahmose;30168 wrote: Brother and sisters!
First of all we must understand that there was never a historical figure called jesus the christ, so it doesn't matter what color he was. The whole premise of the jesus story was plagarized from the story of Aunited snakesr (Wausiri), who the greeks renamed osiris.
Hotep!

Greetings Bro Ahmose and Liberation Forums Family,

I very much agree with your comment, bro Ahmose... It doesn't matter what color he was because he never existed. And his very creation is part of yt world domination.

However, as a result of yt world domination, jesus does unfortunately exist in the minds of the majority of our brothers and sisters who call themselves christian, such as the person who made this cartoon. They still hold in their mind the belief in an all powerful yt as the one creator. My point to those brothers and sisters is that the yt's initially believed this same christian god to be Black, why hold onto images of a yt god/religion?

Bro Ahmose's call for us to return to our Kmtyw ways is very much on point. Let it be clear for anyone who may think otherwise; that I am not debating what a christian god looks like, nor do I care. I was only commenting on the issue of negative self images.

Much appreciation,
Kala