Keep Your Head Up: America's New Black Christian Leaders, Social Consciousness, and the Cosby Conversation

There has been an epidemic among African-Americans for many generations. I am excited that this book highlights the reality of the epidemic from a Christ-centered paradigm, focusing on him and not the false American dream of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.’ I pray this book alarms the redeemed to the reality of this call. This is a generational issue that beckons the talents, resources, visions, and gifts from the body of Christ at large.

Keep Your Head Up is candid, convicting, and balanced. Bradley assembles a great team of Christian thinkers who create a dialog between Augustine, Bell, Hooks, Ice Cube, and William Julius Wilson on one hand and Bill Cosby, Alvin Poussaint, and Eric Michael Dyson on the other. The writers provide great cultural, statistical, and historical analysis of the Come On, People and Is Bill Cosby Right? approaches to complex social issues within Black America and of how far we have to go to overcome. Along the way, they redefine black church, black theology, and what it means to be African-American, producing a fresh new call for the church to hear the truth. This is a significant discussion needed in every church in America so that the One New Man’ can solve the institutionalized and self-inflicted problems facing the African-American community. This work demonstrates that the applied gospel in the hands of the church of Jesus Christ is sufficient to meet the needs of a community that often still faces the reality of living in a present hell.

Dr. Bradley’s call for psychological and spiritual wholeness is a daring, needed charge to our ethnic communities. It is my hope that the thorough brand of freedom he envisions will accompany the resurgence of the gospel in our cities and families.

Keep Your Head Up challenges the churches to not let traditions and culture keep them from missing the past two generations of young people who have been unchurched. Bradley encourages the church to be intentional in building open, listening relationships with those who have been influenced by hip-hop and gangsta rap. The church must become more user-friendly to these dear ones in our communities.

Dr. Bradley consistently brings poignant insights into the Christian, black, and hip-hop communities. Here he gives worldview-shifting challenges and profound, timeless solutions. I’m grateful to know him and have this book in my hands.