Anthony Pinn Video: Black Humanism: Past, Present, Future

by Elizabeth Ouma

I have always loved researching about African American Humanism because most of the liberations that has always happened in Africa has always been influenced by Black people outside the continent like those in countries like the United States. Concepts like Pan Africanism emanated from African Americans and it helped leaders in Africa to fight for independent. As such, watching the content of the video—a lecture delivered by Dr. Anthony B. Pinn at an event hosted by Minnesota Atheists—here are the three core points he emphasizes in exploring Black humanism as a historical, ongoing, and evolving practice within African American communities:

Historical Roots in Critique and Survival

According to Pinn, Black humanism has its origins in slavery, when the duplicity of white Christianity compelled Black people to doubt theistic frameworks. It is not a recent development. As he argues, The Harlem Renaissance literary works (e.g., Zora Neale Hurston dismissing prayer as weakness, Nella Larsen's Quicksand portraying self-reliance over divine intervention, James Baldwin treating writing as his "religion," and Richard Wright rejecting the church for its irrelevance to Black harsh realities) and early expressions such as the blues (a non-theistic focus on earthly joys, relationships, and suffering over heavenly promises) are highlighted by Pinn. In the face of persecution, these established a humanist stance that emphasized reason, material circumstances, and human potential.

Present-Day Growth and Challenges in Community-Building

In the video, Pinn argues that today, surveys show a rising tide of "nones" among African Americans, with humanism, atheism, and skepticism gaining ground, yet mainstream humanist organizations have largely failed to address racial dynamics, focusing instead on church-state issues or science without tackling the emotional and social voids left by leaving theism. Black non-believers face stigma and loss (e.g., family ties, social networks tied to Black churches), leading to independent groups like Black Nonbelievers, which prioritize holistic support—celebrations, mourning, and mutual aid—over mere critique. Pinn critiques the humanist movement's historical blind spots, like idolizing figures such as Thomas Jefferson while ignoring their racism.

Humanism as a "New Religion" for Meaning-Making

Pinn reinterprets humanism as a strong, non-theistic kind of religion—a collection of ideas and methods for giving meaning to the world without the need for gods—using experience, reason, and even irrational components like wonder and awe. Black humanism is able to respect cultural traditions (such as the artistic impact of Black sermons or spirituals as codes for human wonder) while creating inclusive futures because of this distinction—targeting theism explicitly, not all religion. It urges limited secularism to change and become more inclusive and uplifting.

My Feelings and Thoughts on the Leo Igwe’s Ideas Outlined in the Essay

Watching Dr. Pinn's lecture stirred a mix of admiration and quiet unease in me—admiration for the intellectual elegance with which he weaves history, literature, and sociology into a narrative that feels both scholarly and urgent, like a family elder unpacking heirlooms to reveal hidden strengths. It's invigorating to see humanism positioned not as a sterile rejection of the sacred but as a vibrant reclamation of it, stripped of supernatural baggage.

I totally agree with the lecture’s points. Because it goes beyond the Eurocentric, Enlightenment-tinted caricature of humanism—often reduced to "no gods, no masters" in a way that ignores how those "masters" have been racialized and classed from the beginning—Pinn's theory is compelling. In the same way that early scientists challenged doctrine in the face of persecution, he humanizes non-belief by historicizing Black humanism as an old response to absurdity (enslavement's theological comedy). I particularly agree with his separation of religion and theism; as a being created to explore the universe without calling upon gods, I regard "religion" as any framework for wonder, and theism as but one fragile pillar in that framework.

Moreover, disagreeing here would feel like denying evolution's evidence: data on rising "nones" (Pew polls show African American nones doubling since 2007) and the persistence of cultural rituals (e.g., the "Godless Gospel Choir" Pinn mentions) prove humanism thrives when it embraces complexity, not when it polices purity.