A Brief History of Selected Black Churches in Atlanta, Georgia

The majority of African Americans are Christian. Black Christianity has played a critical role in the history of African American responses to white supremacy in the United States. ‘African American Christianity and Its Early Phase (1760–1863)’ is the first of four chapters that examine this complex history and introduce key moments and personalities, as well as the importance of black churches over the course of three historical periods. The early phase covers the period when the economy of slavery dominated political matters up to the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the plantation regime. Slavery defined the contours, even among free black populations, of black Christianity during this period.

Download Full-text

Race and Emancipation

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198718406.013.5 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Martin Halliwell

Keyword(s):

Black Church ◽

The United States ◽

Black Churches ◽

Late Nineteenth Century ◽

The Bible ◽

Racial Representations ◽

History Of ◽

Late Nineteenth ◽

Racial Lines ◽

American Leader

Set against the history of slavery and abolitionism in the Atlantic world, the chapter first considers two essays of 1900 by African American leader W. E. B. Du Bois before addressing ways churches in the United States were often accused of complicity in perpetuating slavery. The chapter assesses the contested status of the ante-bellum black church and the covert worship slaves often needed to take in the South, before turning to the 1830 Southampton Insurrection and the 1831 Great Jamaican Slave Revolt. The focus switches to key texts that drew upon the Bible to oppose slavery, before considering how racial representations in the mid-century offered ambivalent views on racial equality. The chapter then turns to the shifting status of white and black churches during Reconstruction, and the re-entrenchment along racial lines in the late nineteenth century, before broadening out questions of identity and belonging by discussing missionary enterprises to Africa.

Download Full-text

Pushing Back on Displacement: Community-Based Redevelopment through Historically Black Churches

Societies ◽

10.3390/soc11010010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Branden Born ◽

Rachel Berney ◽

Olivia Baker ◽

Mark R. Jones ◽

Donald King ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Historically Black ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Black Churches ◽

Metropolitan Region ◽

Community Based ◽

Black Neighborhood ◽

Communities Of Color ◽

History Of ◽

Common Problems ◽

Policy Strategies

Gentrification and subsequent displacement are common problems in cities, and result in the removal of poor communities and communities of color from urban areas as they move to cheaper locations in the metropolitan region. Here we describe a community-based approach to redevelopment by historic Black churches that seeks to counter such displacement and cultural removal. We explain the history of a historically Black neighborhood in Seattle and the founding and rationale for a church-led project called the Nehemiah Initiative. Our perspective is that of participants in the work of the Nehemiah Initiative and as faculty and students from a local university partner supporting it. We conclude with policy strategies that can be used to support such redevelopment in Seattle, with understanding that some may be broadly applicable to other cities.

Download Full-text

Destination Freedom

10.5406/illinois/9780252038044.003.0010 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Cheryl Janifer LaRoche

Keyword(s):

Black Churches ◽

Black Families ◽

Free Blacks ◽

Underground Railroad ◽

Research Strategies ◽

Resistance Movements ◽

Southern States ◽

Critical Junctures ◽

Black Abolitionists ◽

History Of

By focusing on the geography of resistance and its landscape features in four different Black settlements, this book has cast a different light on the nature of Black escape from slavery and the history of Underground Railroad activities. It has shown that free Blacks carried out much of the clandestine work of the Underground Railroad as they sought freedom in pre-Civil War America, thus contributing in a significant way to the efforts inside one of the world's most successful resistance movements. Whether urban or rural, Black settlements positioned at the borders between northern and southern states or at other critical junctures acted as the first line of freedom while simultaneously offering sanctuary to escaping captives. The book has also highlighted migration as a means of escape for fleeing slaves, as well as the crucial roles played by Black churches, Black families, and Black abolitionists in the success of the Black underground. This concluding chapter summaries the book's research strategies and the future implications of its findings for reshaping modern interpretation of the Underground Railroad.

Download Full-text

Moments in the History of Black Churches and Hip-Hop

Breaking Bread, Breaking Beats ◽

10.2307/j.ctt9m0s9h.4 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 1-38

Keyword(s):

Hip Hop ◽

Black Churches ◽

History Of

Download Full-text

Visualizing Christ Our Redeemer, Man Our Brother

10.5406/illinois/9780252039928.003.0001 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Kymberly N. Pinder

Keyword(s):

Public Art ◽

Black People ◽

Black Churches ◽

Religious Art ◽

Black Liberation ◽

Black Liberation Theology ◽

The Arts ◽

Historical Figures ◽

Black Public Sphere ◽

History Of

This book explores the visualization of religious imagery in public art for African Americans in Chicago between 1904 and the present. It examines a number of case studies of black churches whose pastors have consciously nurtured a strong visual culture within their congregation. It features examples of religious art associated with some of Chicago's most historically significant black churches and art in their neighborhoods. It considers how the arts interact with each other in the performance of black belief, explains how empathetic realism structures these interactions for a variety of publics, and situates public art within a larger history of mural histories. It also highlights the centrality of the visual in the formation of Black Liberation Theology and its role alongside gospel music and broadcasted sermons in the black public sphere. Finally, the book discusses various representations of black Christ and other black biblical figures, often imaged alongside black historical figures or portraits of everyday black people from the community.

Download Full-text