Damon Lamar Reed - Forgiven

Damon Lamar Reed's artwork Forgiven epitomises the way in which the intersection of

cultural, political, and religious ideals impacts the lived experience of African American men

in the Western world. Reed, through his paintings, strives to empower a younger generation

of black men to reclaim their religious identities by appealing to them through a more modern

lens of musical, artistic, and cultural references combined with traditional religious and

societal themes. Reed states that he takes his inspiration from "the Bible, old photographs

from family albums, songs with a message that align with my beliefs, my own lyrics (which I

have started to incorporate into my paintings), and everyday life" (Reed 2020). This essay

aims to illustrate how Forgiven challenges the societal essentialism of African American

bodies by emphasising the intersection between race, sexuality, and masculinity in a religious

context and encouraging black men to reclaim their multifaceted religious identities.

From a visual standpoint, religious imagery is evident in the painting. The halo and white

clothing on the man in the background and the cross on the gold chain are indisputably

references to Christianity. However, Reed's painting differs from traditional Western religious

iconography in style and how the subjects are accessorised. For example, the bright fuchsia of

the shirt in the foreground is a departure from traditional religious portrayals, alluding to a

sense of individuality whilst subverting conventional norms of masculinity. Furthermore,

cultural cues such as the clothing (sagged trousers and hoodies) appeal to a more modern

audience than traditional religious imagery. Reed's artist statement affirms that his intended

audience is "inner-city youth" and that "social, political, and spiritual concerns have always

been important to me" (Reed 2020). This is reaffirmed by the fact that the religious focal

points in this painting are both black men, a demographic rarely represented in Western
culture as religious figures. The whitewashing of religious figures, particularly the portrayal

of a "white Jesus", became ubiquitous through European trade and colonisation. The quote,

"for too long many black males have been on their knees praying to an old white man with

grey hair" (Hopkins 2002), aptly demonstrates how the lack of representation of black men in

post-colonial interpretations of Christianity reinforces the societal hierarchy of race. Reed's

attempt to appeal to a younger generation with his artwork is clearly in an effort to give them

the religious representation and sense of belonging in a religious context that generations of

black men before them lacked.

The black male religious identity is deeply intersectional and therefore impacted by a

plethora of factors. The sexualisation of black men, for example, interferes with Western

society's ability to view them as "pure" religious figures. Frantz Fanon's assertion that "[The

black man] is turned into a penis. He is penis." (Fanon 1986, 170) highlights the impact of

sexualisation on the identity of black men. They are dehumanised and homogenised to the

point that other facets of their identities, such as religion, are erased and ignored, effectively

excluding them from religious spaces. The vilification and sexualisation of black men is

exemplified by the 'Triangle of Desire' (Hopkins 2004), a historical basis for the idea of black

male sexualisation, where black men and white men both vie for the bodies of white women.

This basis forces men of colour to carry a "disproportionate load of the legacy of white men's

evil sexual acts against white and black women" (Hopkins 2004, 185). It also reinforces the

white saviour complex, as the vilification of black men then implies that white women must

be ‘saved’ from them by white men, once again concretising a moral hierarchy in which

black men are portrayed as immoral and impure, and thus the antithesis of Christian ideals.
Another way in which the black male religious identity is sculpted by societal norms is the

impact of widespread gender norms and ideals of masculinity. Reed's painting depicts a

deviation from traditional masculinity, with one man helping and embracing the other, openly

communicating emotion in the facial expressions of both men, exhibiting a sense of

compassion and vulnerability. This mirrors the idea that religion creates a space in society

that enables men to display these typically feminine characteristics, as opposed to the usual

norm in Western culture where men are encouraged to be stoic and emotionless. In the "It's

not Macho, is it?" study (Nyhagen 2020), the interviewed men expressed "a hybrid form of

masculinity” that aligns itself with stereotypically ‘feminine’ characteristics effectively

demonstrating that the church represents an interesting dichotomy pertaining to their

perception of masculinity. Christianity has been used to encourage softness and compassion

in men, but it has also been used to reinforce patriarchal and heteronormative structures. For

example, the idea that men are the spiritual leaders of their families and communities has

been used to justify the exclusion of women from leadership positions within the church.

Moreover, masculinity is intersectional and inherently affected by race. Fanon's writing

highlights the effects of systematic racism on the psyche of black men and their perceptions

of themselves, particularly in relation to their own masculinity. The internalisation of

inferiority by black men, according to Fanon, is a consequence of being required to be black

in relation to the white man. This dynamic of inferiority is rooted in the societal perception of

whiteness as a symbol of masculinity (Fanon, 1986). Whiteness thus becomes the standard to

which black men are forced to compare themselves in order to be accepted as man, ultimately

leading to a loss of individual identity. Because white masculinity is positioned as the norm,

and men of colour are often subject to stereotypes that portray them as hyper masculine or
threatening, men of colour can feel a pressure to either conform to these stereotypes or to

completely reject them through discursive distancing (Nyhagen 2020).

However, it’s important to note that the participants in the "It's not Macho, is it?" study

(Nyhagen 2020) were all white, British, heterosexual, middle class men, and therefore black

men are likely to experience church and discursive distancing in different ways. The church

in Nyhagen’s study was majoritarily white and the culture fostered by mostly white churches

especially in the US is very different to that of majoritarily black churches. In the United

States, the black church, historically, has been a place of refuge, community, and political

mobilisation for African Americans, particularly in times of segregation and oppression,

fostering a sense of community, morality and empowerment that counteracts the harmful

stereotypes about black masculinity. In contrast, many mainstream white Christian

denominations have more rigid reinforced patriarchal and traditionalist structures, resulting in

a lack of space for the voices and experiences of people of colour.

Furthermore, for white men, discursive distancing can often reinforce their dominant position

within religious institutions, as they use language to distance themselves from the

experiences and perspectives of marginalised groups, resulting in the perpetuation of

structures of power and privilege that marginalise people of colour within religious contexts.

For black men, discursive distancing can have the opposite effect, reinforcing their

marginalisation and otherness within religious institutions. Black men may be excluded from

religious discourse, or their experiences and perspectives may be downplayed or erased,

leading to a sense of alienation and disconnection from their religious communities. In both

cases, discursive distancing can contribute to the perpetuation of systemic racism within

religious institutions, aptly demonstrating the scale at which race alters one’s experience of
religious spaces. Men of colour may feel the need to completely renounce hegemonic

masculinity and emphasise their emotional sensitivity or non-threatening behaviour to

counteract harmful stereotypes of violence and hypersexuality, or alternatively, feel a pressure

to conform to society's expectations of them as stoic, unemotional and hypersexual. This can

lead to further difficulties in reconciling these rigid binary identities with their own religious

identities and the associated set of morals and ideals. Reed’s artwork completely rejects the

idea that black men need to fit in one of these two moulds, asserting instead that they should

be allowed to have complex and individualistic personalities that go beyond simple identifiers

of race, gender or religion.

To conclude, Damon Lamar Reed's painting Forgiven serves as an empowering tool. It

challenges the essentialization of black male bodies and appeals to a younger generation of

black men through a modern lens while still maintaining traditional religious and societal

themes. The painting is a powerful reminder of the importance of representation in religious

contexts and the need for a more intersectional approach to black male religious identity. It is

a call to action for society to break down the narrow barriers of essentialism and embrace the

diversity and complexity of black male identities both inside and outside of religious spaces.
 Works Cited

Fanon, Frantz. 1986. black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press.

Hopkins, Dwight N. 2002. “A New black Heterosexual Male”: Heart and Head. New York:

Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780312299187_5.

Hopkins, Dwight N. 2004. “The Construction of the black Male Body”: Eroticism and

Religion”: Pinn, A.B., Hopkins, D.N. (eds) Loving the Body. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403980342_11.

Nyhagen, Line. 2020. “It’s Not Macho, Is It?”: Contemporary British Christian Men’s

Constructions of Masculinity. The Journal of Men’s Studies.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1060826520981719.

Reed, Damon L. 2020. “Damon Reed Artist Statement” Chicago Public Art Group.

http://www.chicagopublicartgroup.org/damon-reed.