[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 14, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         JARAMOGI ABEBE AGYEMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CAROLYN C. KILPATRICK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 2005

  Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, let it be known, in tribute 
to Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, an induction ceremony into the Ring of 
Ancestors will take place on Sunday, June 12, 2005 at the Charles H. 
Wright Museum of African American History. It is with great respect 
that this tribute is offered as a memorial for the life of Jaramogi 
Abebe Agyeman, the founder and First Holy Patriarch of the Shrines of 
the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church.
  Whereas, Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman was born Albert B. Cleage, Jr. in 
Indianapolis, Indiana on June 13, 1911. He graduated from Wayne State 
University, where he studied sociology, and the Oberlin Graduate School 
of Theology. He was a social caseworker with the Detroit Department of 
Public Welfare before entering the seminary. Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman 
served pastorates at Lexington, KY, San Francisco, CA, and Springfield, 
MA before founding what became known as Central United Church of Christ 
in 1953.
  Whereas, during the civil-rights and ``black power'' movements of the 
1960s the then Reverend Cleage was Detroit's most eloquent and 
uncompromising advocate and activist for African American freedom, 
rights, and dignity. He led campaigns for quality education and black 
economic empowerment and spearheaded opposition to job discrimination, 
police brutality and the forced removal of blacks from the central 
city. Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman later co-founded the Black Slate, a not-
for-profit public relations and advertising group that selects and 
supports candidates for public office, which helped to elect Coleman A. 
Young as Detroit's first African American mayor.
  Whereas, on Easter Sunday in 1967, he launched the Black Christian 
Nationalist Movement (BCN) and unveiled a 19-foot chancel mural of a 
Black Madonna and child by Detroit artist Glanton Dowdell. In 1970, 
Central formally became the Shrine of the Black Madonna and the 
Reverend Cleage was rechristened Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman. At this point 
he focused his energy inward, toward building institutions and 
developing a theology and program that would enable black people to 
become independent and self-determining.
  Whereas, Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman wrote two books, ``The Black 
Messiah'' (1968) and ``Black Christian Nationalism: New Directions for 
the Black Church'' (1972). In 1978, he founded the PAOCC as a new black 
denomination, with branches in Atlanta, GA, Houston, TX, and Calhoun 
Falls, SC where the church established Beulah Land, which is believed 
to be the largest black owned farm in the U.S. Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman 
passed away at Beulah Land on February 20, 2000.
  In special tribute, this document is dedicated in memory of the life 
of Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman.

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