Black Liberation Theology and the independent feature documentary God of the Oppressed challenges Black Christians to abandon white systems defining the meaning of God and urges black men and women to listen to the voices of black people to construct a theology from their experiences. Through the stories of Bishop Henry McNeil Turner, Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr., Ella Baker, Rev. Pauli Murray and contemporary figures, Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Rev. Traci Blackmon, and others, God of the Oppressed will explore the history and relevance of Black Liberation Theology. These stories and characters, coupled with Gospel, jazz, blues, and hip-hop as essential storytelling elements will explore the role Black Liberation Theology plays in framing a perspective of God within the context of an oppressed people.

God of the Oppressed will connect to the scholarship of the late Dr. James Cone (1936-2018), who exhorted God is a God of the oppressed in his books Black Liberation and Black Power, God of the Oppressed, The Cross and the Lynching Tree and others. He wrote, "To sing about freedom and to pray for its coming is not enough. Freedom must be actualized in history by oppressed peoples who accept the intellectual challenge to analyze the world for the purpose of changing it." The stories of Rev. Pauli Murray and Ella Baker interface with contemporary Womanist theologies. Dr. Jacquelyn Grant argues that black women must navigate between the three-fold oppression of racism, sexism, and classism. Dr. Deloris Williams concludes black women are more oppressed than black men and white women, and must "search for the voices, actions, opinions, experiences, and faith of black women."

Stories addressing tensions surrounding gender identity in the Black Church will also be explored. God of the Oppressed will feature excerpts from Dr. Cone's final interview, scholars, ministers, musicians, singers, activists and Black Christians, all calling for a theology constructed from the experiences of Black people that fights for social, political and economic justice.

God of the Oppressed is in production, however, BPMW is seeking additional investors/partners. Media inquiries and interested investors should call Dante at 919-475-9879 or email him at dante@blackpearlmw.com.

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