PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
Dr. Cosbys fundamental work is lighting a path for pastors, activists, and community members who are committed to an interpretation of Scripture that specifically defines our predicament as a tyrannized group and daringly confronts our oppressors.
In Getting to the Promised Land, Dr. Cosby gifts us with a new lens through which to understand and utilize the Bible. He has developed the essential biblical hermeneutic for Black clergy members looking to understand the situation of American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) in the twenty-first century and make the Word of God maximally relevant to their congregations.
YVETTE CARNELL, cofounder of the ADOS movement (ADOS); founder and host of Breaking Brown YouTube channel; former congressional aide to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and, later, former Congressman Marion Berry (D-AR); author of articles that have appeared in The Huffington Post, Counterpunch, and YourBlackWorld; and featured guest on national news outlets, including The Nation, The Guardian, Politico, and NPR
Dr. Cosby takes the foundational elements of ADOS concepts and weaves in theology with a unique and daring perspective. Reading Getting to the Promised Land definitely pushes us forward on the road to reparative justice.
ANTONIO MOORE, cofounder of the ADOS movement, attorney in Los Angeles, coproducer of the Emmy-nominated documentary Crack in the System presented by Al Jazeera, and host of a weekly radio show called Tonetalks that covers issues from mass incarceration to wealth inequality
Reparations for centuries of racist structural obstacles to African American capital formation is a subject of great controversy today. A crucial aspect of that question is who among Black Americans should be eligible for reparative relief. In an exciting paradigm shift, Kevin Cosby eschews the biblical Exodus motif that is usually invoked with regard to Black Americas plight and instead presents a passionate, cogently argued case for using the prophet Nehemiah and the Bibles post-exilic accounts to contend that, rather than all Black people in America, only those who are the descendants of racially enslaved Americans should be eligible for such relief. This is a brilliantly thoughtful, novel approach to the reparations debate that should be required reading for everyone with even a minimal investment in that debate. Kudos to Kevin Cosby for this timely, crucial intervention.
OBERY HENDRICKS, Professor of Religion and African American and Afro-Diasporic Studies, Columbia University; and author of Christians against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith
Kevin Cosby has forcefully traced out the distinct identity, suffering, and future of American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS). The distinctiveness of this identity is to refuse any more comfortable identification as Afro-Americans, as the history and identity of erstwhile US slaves that matters in their long abusive bondage is American, not African. Cosby shrewdly rereads Scripture that pivots around the figure of Nehemiah, the key figure in the restoration of displaced Israel. His reading of Scripture helps to illuminate both the history to which ADOS have been subjected and the prospects for restoration and rehabilitation in American society. Because the issues for ADOS are largely economic (being cheap labor for so long!), Cosby is compelling in his insistence that restoration of ADOS into US society must include reparations. This hard-hitting book is a welcome continuation of our education in the truth of our common history and is an urgent read for all those who care about the future of our society. I am glad to commend the book and its courageous author.
WALTER BRUEGGEMANN, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary; an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ; and author of dozens of books, including Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now, Interrupting Silence: Gods Command to Speak Out, and Truth and Hope: Essays for a Perilous Age
As foundational truths about our countrys historical trajectory of enslavement and dehumanization of African Americans are trying to be replaced with alternative facts, Dr. Cosby calls us to reorient our moral, ethical, and theological compass toward the distinct experience of descendants of slaves. This harrowing experience stands alone in US history and must not be morphed into an amalgamation of oppressions that seek to universalize suffering. Fixing our gaze on the particular plight of African American people and making restitution for the centuries of economic exploitation and human degradation will move us closer to the truth that will set us all free. Nothing less than this will do.
LEAH GUNNING FRANCIS, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana; and author of Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community
Getting to the Promised Land gives powerful thought to the search for a new strategic vision for Black liberation and to the national debate over reparations. Dr. Cosby, distinguished pastor and president of Simmons College in Kentucky, deftly employs the less-known life of the Hebrew prophet Nehemiah to animate the authors own vision of liberation and reparations and to empower the movement he helped create to further his vision. Dr. Cosbys wisdom, moral passion, and gift for storytelling make this an essential work for the Black world and the wider world as well.
STEWART BURNS, Professor of Ethical & Creative Leadership and of Martin Luther King Studies, Union Institute & University; and author of the Wilbur Award-winning biography of Martin Luther King, To the Mountaintop
Dr. Kevin Cosby has masterfully reimagined theology by intentionally focusing on the experiences of ADOS. His book is a much-needed wake-up call for everyone but especially for followers of Jesus committed to Black liberation and reparations for ADOS. In the same way that Dr. James Cones brilliant mind gave birth to Black liberation theology, Dr. Cosbys refreshing treatment of Black liberation theology that is ADOS-centric challenges, reproves, and exhorts us to reenvision realities and possibilities. WOW!
WENDELL GRIFFEN, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Arkansas; Arkansas trial judge; consultant in cultural competency and inclusion; and author of The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope
Dr. Kevin Cosbys book is the clearest articulation and the most compelling argument, from a Christian perspective, of the nature of the ADOS movement and its legitimate claim for equity and reparations. Founded by Yvette Brown and Antonio Moore, the ADOS movement is a grassroots effort that is arguably the most significant struggle for justice in the Black struggle for freedom in America. Dr. Cosby maintains that the ADOS movement is the legitimate heir to the original intent of Martin Luther Kingss work in the civil rights movement. And he insists that every Black church, still committed to its legacy as a leader in the Black freedom struggle, should be a partner in the ADOS effort. To make his case, Cosby ingeniously argues that the church must make a paradigm shift from Moses to Nehemiah for best insights into moving forward in the struggle. His book is a courageous, thought-provoking, truth-telling work that is centered in Christ, supported by Scripture, bathed in love, rooted in hope, and committed to completing the work for real justice for ADOS.
F. BRUCE WILLIAMS, Senior Pastor, Bates Memorial Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky