Navigating the Deep River: Spirituality in African American Families

by Archie Smith Jr. and Jr. Smith, Archie

The river metaphor has played an important role in the struggles of African Americans in a racist society. Smith's emphasis on such metaphors helps create an ecological approach to pastoral care that takes seriously American history, democracy, racism, the environment, and black experience within a multicultural context.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0829812180
• ISBN13: 9780829812183
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: United Church Press
• Length: 181 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Challenging. Thought provoking. Visionary. Hopeful.

A "must" for therapists and pastoral care providers alike, Navigating the Deep River challenges institutionalized, constrained, individualistic models of care. Professor Smith encourages us to explore the systemic dimensions of the therapeutic task and to consider seriously broad strategies for transformation. He reminds us of the hopefulness embedded in an African American spirituality rooted in the traditions and legacies of black history, a spirituality that holds great power to sustain and offer hope but which often is trivialized or ignored by the therapeutic community. While not naive about the church's ability to alienate and oppress, a strong ecclesiology undergirds the author's thinking. Through a three dimensional model of agency, reflexivity, and depth of meaning the author forms new understandings of interventions and their potentialities. Questions formulated for both therapist and client guide the process. The volume is punctuated w! ith vignettes from Dr. Smith's life, compelling case studies from his practice, biblical study that instructs and inspires, ancient and contemporary words of prophets. These narratives and insights are couched in the metaphor of the river, a rich cultural and theological symbol in African American communities past and present. The nature of the metaphor allows for plural and intriguing, sometimes paradoxical, meanings to emerge. The water represents the raging and oft oppressive American mainstream. At the same time, water symbolizes a holy agent of transformation and hope. The hope evidenced in this volume is not facile; it is deeply rooted in the personal and painful realities of discrimination and invisibility to which this book gives witness. How can therapists be trained so that they are encouraged to help shatter and humanize oppressive social structures, to stem the rising tides of despair? Are our therapeutic practices far too limited for our multi-cultura! l contexts? Are we prone in our practice to underestimate ! the debilitating and continuing effects of racist attitude and practice? Are we aware of our own? Navigating the Deep River is an enlightening and unsettling read; it invites us to ask these questions and to travel through uncharted waters for answers.