“Black conservatives at Howard Divinity face a painful choice: compromise core biblical convictions or endure professional sabotage and social exile.”
In a commentary posted at The BLEXIT Pulse, Project 21 Ambassador Charisma Peoples opens up about the disappointment, disillusionment and marginalization she’s experienced at Howard because of her conservative beliefs.
She writes:
A divinity school should be where Scripture is honored above ideology, where diverse perspectives sharpen rather than destroy each other, and where students are evaluated on their faithfulness to God’s Word—not their allegiance to progressive politics.”
Read her courageous testimony below.
I came to Howard University School of Divinity expecting to deepen my faith and sharpen my theological understanding. Instead, I found myself targeted, isolated, and persecuted—not for any moral failing, but for holding conservative Christian beliefs while Black.
Charisma Peoples
The persecution began subtly but escalated under Dean Kenyatta Gilbert’s leadership into a coordinated campaign of harassment. When I expressed support for conservative principles, I became a pariah. Every scholarship I applied for was denied. Every conference opportunity I sought was rejected. The pattern was unmistakable—my academic qualifications hadn’t changed, but my political and theological views had become disqualifying. Students openly mocked me. Faculty created classroom environments so hostile that expressing biblical views invited ridicule and retaliation. When Charlie Kirk passed away, some students cruelly mocked his death—a display of callousness that revealed the depths of their ideological capture.
What I’ve witnessed at Howard Divinity exposes a disturbing trend: Black liberals weaponizing the legitimate struggles of our community as a Trojan horse for progressive ideology that contradicts Scripture itself. They invoke the pain of slavery, Jim Crow, and ongoing injustice—real struggles deserving recognition—but then smuggle in teachings fundamentally incompatible with Christianity. Disagree, and you’re not just wrong; you’re a traitor to your race.
The theological drift is alarming. Professors who are ordained ministers openly teach that Jesus Christ is not the exclusive path to God, directly contradicting John 14:6. They reframe biblical villains like Jezebel as liberators. At Opening Convocation 2023, Dean Gilbert boasted that his “third eye was aligned”—language rooted in New Age mysticism and Eastern spirituality, not Christian orthodoxy. The school actively promotes practices like Hoodoo, veneration of Orishas, ancestor worship, and Ancient Kemet spirituality, presenting them as compatible with—or even enriching to—Christian faith.
This isn’t theological diversity; it’s syncretism that violates the First Commandment. Yet questioning these practices is treated as evidence of colonized thinking rather than biblical fidelity.
Scripture warned us: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). False prophets don’t always announce themselves. Sometimes they wear academic robes and speak in liberation’s language while leading people away from Christ.
Black conservatives at Howard Divinity face a painful choice: compromise core biblical convictions or endure professional sabotage and social exile. This shouldn’t be the price of theological education. A divinity school should be where Scripture is honored above ideology, where diverse perspectives sharpen rather than destroy each other, and where students are evaluated on their faithfulness to God’s Word—not their allegiance to progressive politics.
The Black church has survived slavery, segregation, and systemic racism by anchoring itself in the unchanging truth of Scripture. We must not allow that foundation to be eroded by those who use our community’s suffering to justify abandoning biblical truth. Our ancestors didn’t endure the Middle Passage so their descendants could be taught that all roads lead to God and Jesus is just one option among many.
Howard University School of Divinity must decide: Will it be a school that trains faithful ministers of the Gospel, or an institution that produces social activists with theological degrees? Right now, it’s failing those of us who came seeking the former and found only the latter—along with persecution for refusing to conform.
Project 21 Ambassador Charisma Peoples is a Christian conservative writer and contributor who is working on her Masters in Divinity at Howard University. This was first published at The BLEXIT Pulse.
