I am Cyril Chavis Jr., and I am the President and Founder of Hidase Publishing. The word hidase (ሕዳሴ) means “renewal” or “renaissance” in Amharic. We are a Black owned business creating content to contribute to African renewal everywhere, every way.
The Problem
The African Christian wants content that is both faithful to Jesus and particularly mindful of the uniqueness of the experiences of Africans — wherever they might find themselves on the globe (African Americans, Afro-LatinX, continental Africans, etc.). African Christians are looking for simple, accessible content that speaks frankly and compellingly to the African experience from the Christian faith.
What prevents us from getting this content? Most of the publishing companies that seek to produce Christian content are owned by those who are not familiar with the African experience or African theological traditions. On the other hand, many of the African owned publishing companies lack resources and are often not speaking from the rich resources of the Christian faith. There are very few African and Christian publishing companies. Both content consumers and content creators of African descent must face the discouraging reality that those who are largely unfamiliar with the unique aspects of their experience are assessing, editing, distributing, and profiting off of their raw resources. Such is the general pattern of the global West after European colonialism.
This is a problem because every community and culture must have content producers from that particular culture who are bringing the timeless truths of Christianity to bear upon its own experiences, and they must do this in ways that uniquely arise from that experience. Such has always been the way that the good news of Jesus advances in ways that bring long-lasting renewal in any culture. For example, this is the origin and beauty of the black church in the U.S. Christianity will only thrive in a culture or community, especially a marginalized one, to the degree that it owns the process by which it does theology.
Where We Come In
This is where Hidase Publishing steps in. At Hidase, we know what it is like to care about both Jesus and Africana, yet to feel as though you must choose between one or the other when it comes to Christian content and books. We know what it is like to grieve the fact that so often we as Africans — diaspora and continent — do not have the resources nor avenues to create and consume Christian content from our own cultures.
Vision and Mission
Our vision is to see African renewal everywhere and every way for the glory of Jesus. We contribute to this by creating content that addresses the African experience from the rich resources of the historic, global Christian faith. In creating this content, we publish Christian authors whose works are assessed, edited, and distributed by Africans to Africans. All of the profits from our content will advance the vision and mission of Hidase, as we are not an imprint of a larger publisher.
As Christians, we are a part of God’s universal church that seeks to bless the whole world, so we invite all people to participate in and benefit from our mission. To be focused on Africans is not to be against others. No, we seek to partner with all in order to bring the LORD God’s renewal to every people.
Our Plan
Whether it is blog posts, articles, columns, podcasts, vodcasts, books, curriculum, etc., Hidase Publishing creates accessible and applicable content of all kinds.
We plan to create accessible content. We seek to speak to the every-day reader, thus we want our content to be easy to consume. Our content will communicate profound truths in simple ways. Our content will communicate many ideas as concisely as possible. Our content will be organized in ways that encourage engagement.
We plan to create applicable content. We seek to speak to the every-day reader about every-day life. Thus, we want our content to be practical. Our content will aim to change the ways that people live and engage the world.
We plan to create aesthetic content. We seek to create a beautiful experience for our audience. Thus, we want our content to be artful. We want to create content that is pleasing to the touch, eyes, ears, and nose.
We plan to create adoring content. We seek to adore Jesus and thereby glorify him in all of our content. In whatever topic we address, we want to address it in a way that displays who Jesus is, in our words and actions. As we display who Jesus is, we will pull from the Bible as the final authority in all things. We aim to be theologically orthodox and ministry-minded.
Join Us!
We invite you to participate in our mission!
First, check out our content. Go to our website and explore. Whether tuning into a podcast, buying a book, or reading a blog post — we invite you to enjoy our content. Please give us feedback! Send us an email or give us a rating or review.
Second, share our content. As you find things that you enjoy, share it with your friends! Give us a shoutout on social media. Send an article to your friend.
Third, contribute to our content. We want to hear from you! If you are a writer, media producer, artist, etc. please reach out to us. We want to pull from every and all backgrounds of the African experience — diaspora and continent.
If you would like to contribute to our mission by giving or investing in our company, please reach out as well! We would love to connect with you.
Why We Are Important
For us, success look like African Christians everywhere embracing Jesus who is good news to Africans; entering the ancient, global church as their own; engaging African communities with the good news; and enriching the ways they see the world and themselves through biblical engagement.
Without Hidase Publishing, African Christians will lack a necessary outlet that displays you can unapologetically love both Africana and Jesus at the same time. Without Hidase Publishing, African content producers will continue to have publishers who may or may not understand Africana experiences assess, edit, distribute, and profit from their artistic raw resources.
Grow With Us
Be patient with us as we grow! We are quickly building, and I am confident that the LORD will build as we build. We believe in our mission, and we are deeply motivated to see it manifest. We invite you to contribute to African renewal everywhere, every way for the glory of Jesus. Will you join us?