Educational Media Reviews Online

Black Nation is a feature-length documentary about Detroit’s “The Shrine of the Black Madonna.” Spearheaded by church leader and Yale graduate [Jaramogi] Menelik Kimathi, the Shrine promotes and provides spiritual guidance, outreach services, and a sense of pan-African unity to its congregation. The congregation is predominately African Americans who are suffering within the throes of economic suicide, and dealing with the destruction of the black male. It is no coincidence that the film opens with the song “Strange Fruit” which exposes racism and the lynching of African Americans. According to a recent post on Forbes online, “residents of the Motor City top the list of America’s most dangerous cities for the fourth straight year due to gang-related violence.”

From an historical perspective, during the 1920s and ‘30s many African Americans flee an agricultural, racist, rural south to what they believe are better living and working conditions in liberal northern cities. Flourishing industrial cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and New York are flooded with unskilled migrants. The realities of urban living for unskilled laborers equate to exploitation in the workforce, and unequal access to housing and education. Once a booming and thriving industrial city for most of early 20th century, by the 1970s the need for human labor begins to diminish. A job once done by thousands of African Americans is now replaced by sophisticated machinery and technology. Over the next four decades, Detroit continues to slide into a black hole plagued with economic uncertainty. As unemployment rises, so does the crime rate. Detroit has the highest crime rate among the top 10 cities in the United States. Abandoned homes, factories, family-owned restaurants and businesses are all reminders that this once booming metropolis has fallen into impenetrable urban decay.

It is within this decaying environment that leaders of the Shrine offer hope and renewal to its congregation. The Shrine has been a part of the Detroit landscape since 1953 when [Jaramogi] Abebe Agyeman “began its mission as a socially conscious, religious institution. [It] has provided and continues to provide the theological, philosophical, and programmatic foundation to build "institutional power" for Black People. [It] is committed to transforming the spiritual emptiness, economic powerlessness and social disorganization that plagues the Black community.”

Under [Jaramogi] Menelik Kimathi’s guidance, respected leaders and volunteers provide a variety of outreach services to its members, such as bible study, emotional support, job training, and workshops to teach young men how to become better adults. To become better self-sufficient as an institution, the Shrine purchases land for the harvesting and selling of crops, sells books and related art from its bookstore, and provides tours of its African Holocaust Museum. Since its inception, it has expanded operations to several U.S. cities. The Shrine remains a beacon of spiritual renewal for the African American community in spite of the city’s negative portrayal in the media.

The technical aspects of the film are good, and it includes archival footage of Detroit, and the Shrine’s early leaders and congregation. This reviewer enjoyed listening to the gospel music provided by the organist and choir. I found it perhaps odd that no mention of Motown was included in the film as it may, or may not have had an impact on the African American community.

This film will provide an excellent discussion about African Americans living in urban areas and how technology has affected thousands of lives and businesses. I recommend this title be included in school, public, and academic media collections.