“We would know that the early Greek and Roman Christians portrayed Jesus as a person of African ancestry. Justinian I, the Eastern Roman emperor who ruled from 527 to 565 A.C.E., commissioned coins to be minted with the face of an African Jesus on one side and his own distinctively European face on the other. Many Europeans of this era revered Africans and openly worshiped the “Black Madonna and Child” in shrines throughout Europe. As Europeans became more nationalistic, they developed a psychological need to create God in their own image, and the complexion of their religious icons changed from black to white. When Europeans became to colonize the world and enslave people of color, they imposed this new image of God on those the conquered.Michelangelo’s painting of Adam and Eve in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Italy is still accepted by people throughout the world as the legitimate likeness of the first couple. No one suspected that Michelangelo’s aunt and uncle were the models for the painting in 1508. Most of us have seen the image of Jesus the Christ and his disciples as portrayed by Leonardo da Vinci in his painting “The Last Supper.” We have been captivated by the beauty of this fifteenth century masterpiece, but few of us know that da Vinci hired a model to pose as Jesus, and 12 convicts to pose as his disciples. In reality, the image that we have held in such high esteem is unworthy of the admiration it has been given. It is a technically flawless painting but a terrible deceptive religious icon.” -From, “Survival Strategies For Africans In America” By: Anthony Browder
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