Shoutin' in the Fire

May 1, 2021

Not so long ago, Stewart was an emerging leader at his mostly white evangelical church in Georgia and was excited to become its first Black preacher. Then Donald Trump was elected president, and Stewart and his family began facing uncomfortable microaggressions that escalated to more overt racism. Stewart soon journeyed from the white church in search of a faith that embraces Blackness and represents the genuine love exemplified by Jesus himself. Currently, he is studying at Emory University's Candler School of Theology.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2021
A former collegiate star athlete and theologian considers the ongoing battle for Black civil rights in America. "Our lives are not just resistance," writes Stewart. "Our lives are not just lessons. We are not heroes. We are not villains. We are human--as beautiful as we are terrible." The recognition of Black humanity forms the core of this eloquent book. The author recounts going from a pious childhood (his nickname was Church Boy) to a college career playing football at Clemson, where well-meaning White Christians took him under their wing and deracinated him to the point that he was close to despising not just his fellow Blacks, but his own Blackness: "I had passed into the other world, the white world, and I had become free, and wet, and washed, and clean, and white as snow, and white as white folk desired me to become." Then came Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and the slain parishioners at a Charleston church, and the misgivings came. Stewart turned away. "It wasn't Jesus nor James Baldwin who radicalized me," he writes. "It was white people. Apathetic white people." Drawing on a churchly tradition of vigorous sermonizing, Stewart examines the fruits of that radicalization--e.g., the phenomenon of Black rage, which, though "tricky in America," is a perfectly appropriate response to injustice. While justly enraged himself, he insists on Black humanity and the necessity of embracing not just the struggle and the anger associated with it, but also the very human impulse to love, embrace, and even forgive: "Jesus does not hurt people in order to love them...he did not cover up his pain by enacting it onto others." Stewart's Christian message is broadly ecumenical, with its deeply felt demand that things must change in a society that, as far as Black people are concerned, "loves your production, but...does not value your body." An inspired and inspiring treatise that deftly blends religious faith with political activism.

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October 1, 2021

In this debut, Stewart effectively blends personal narrative and storytelling to discuss his experience as a Black man who has struggled to understand his identity in a world that primarily values and affirms whiteness. He discusses his formative years growing up in a home where Pentecostal faith and traditional spirituality were emphasized, and his college years at Clemson, where his self-identity as a person of value came from his talent as a football player. He then addresses his years in evangelical Christianity, during which he deemphasizes his Blackness and rejects his family's spiritual faith and tradition. Finally, Stewart describes embracing Blackness and rejecting American exclusion, in part because of news stories about police brutality against Black men. This memoir includes fascinating stories about Stewart's grandmother, who experienced racism and prejudice her entire life and was reluctant to share this painful past with her grandson. Stewart concludes by reflecting on the world he wants for his son. VERDICT This faith-centered memoir will find an audience particularly among readers interested in the intersection of religion, gender, and politics.--John Jaeger, Johnson Univ., Knoxville, TN

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.