American Jesus

About Harlem's edge, a homeless black man wanders with a garbage bag of crosses over his shoulder and a dog at this side. On the Manhattan streets, three white men on a New Year's Eve drive, alcohol tracing their veins with white pride tattooed on their arms. In Central Park, all four lives collide. After a brutal assault, they leave his body before a Fifth Avenue house of God. At the altar he sheds his rainbow-colored clothes to kneel naked and beaten before the Son. And there before the cross, he envisions himself to be this man. From the opulence of Manhattan to the forgotten of Harlem comes the story of one who rises above the hatred and ignorance of man to become more than a man. A man who may or may not be Christ. A man who attempts to raise a hand against the violence of poverty, the violence of neglect, the violence of apathy. But perhaps there has not been just one Son of God. Perhaps, God has had many children. And each time one is sent, one is murdered, one is crucified.Austin, Virginia is the author of 'American Jesus' with ISBN 9780940121720 and ISBN 0940121727.