Dexter Avenue and “The Daybreak of Freedom”

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Richard Lischer
Keyword(s):  
Black Church ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Baptist Church ◽  
Central Location ◽  
Old City ◽  
The City ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
The Church

This chapter details the events that followed Martin Luther King, Jr.’s arrival in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954 when he assumed the pastorate of the most distinguished Negro church in the city, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Dexter was built during Reconstruction on the site of one of the city’s four slave pens. As a black church, it therefore occupies an incongruously central location in the old city of Montgomery. King approached Dexter Avenue Baptist Church as the first test of all that he had learned from the church and his mentors. Even before the Boycott of 1955–56, Dexter had proved to be every bit the challenge he was looking for.

Baptists against Racism and Ethnic Conflict… Worldwide!

2012 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Denton Lotz
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Conflict ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Ethnic Violence ◽  
Baptist Church ◽  
International Summit ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Prophetic Witness ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
General Secretary

One of the most significant and rewarding experiences for me during my tenure as general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance was to sponsor an International Summit on Baptists against Racism and Ethnic Conflict. This significant summit was held from January 8 – 11, 1999, in the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr.'s home church. At this summit we learned of the tragedy of racism worldwide. We learned that we needed to expand our definition of racism to include ethnic violence. We came as Christians and discovered the power of Christ to bring reconciliation and unity. The latter part of this article will review some of the horrific examples of racism and ethnic conflict worldwide. We will also celebrate the prophetic witness of many Baptist congregations worldwide in fighting against racism and ethnic violence.

A (Multi-) Story-formed Community: The Bible and Politics at Ebenezer Baptist Church

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristopher Norris ◽  
Sam Speers
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
The Other ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Baptist Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Martin Luther King

This article analyzes the ways multiple formative narratives interact to shape the identity and political practices of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, home of Martin Luther King. We argue that the two key narratives of gospel story in scripture and the church’s particular civil rights legacy form the identity and practice of this community in complicated ways: sometimes they are synthesized, sometimes one narrative is temporally merged into the other, and sometimes they operate as competing narratives, generating a tension. We offer three anecdotes from our original research that illustrate the relationship between these narratives and demonstrate that Ebenezer is a community whose identity and political practices are formed by the overlap and interplay of multiple narratives.

scholarly journals Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center, Custodian of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection: “Until Further Notice”

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-166
Author(s):  
Loretta Parham
Keyword(s):  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
University Of Georgia ◽  
University Center ◽  
Morehouse College ◽  
The University ◽  
The City ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
E Mail

On June 23, 2006, the American Library Association was holding its Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first major conference to return to the city post Hurricane Katrina. My scheduled visit of four days was abruptly cut short as a result of two communications: a call from Walter Massey, President of More-house College in Atlanta, Georgia, and an e-mail from William Potter, Dean of the University of Georgia Libraries. By the time the day was over, I learned that a collection of manuscripts and books documenting many of the writings, speeches, and notes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. . . .

Some Black Broadcasters Spoke Concerning the Civil Rights Movement

2019 ◽  
pp. 93-104
Author(s):  
Bala J. Baptiste
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Black Press ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Meetings ◽  
Core Member ◽  
The City ◽  
Martin Luther King

The verdict is mixed concerning the extent black broadcasters in the city provided interpretation of issues related to the modern Civil Rights Movement between 1954–1968. The black press, owned by African Americans and relatively independent, covered civil rights news locally and nationally. For example Louisiana Weekly in New Orleans provided quotes from speeches, such as those delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. The paper also published commentary concerning the movement. Nevertheless, broadcaster Larry McKinley produced programming targeting blacks. He was so moved by a King speech in 1957 that he attempted to join the rights group CORE, but could not "turn the other cheek." CORE representatives asked him to go on air and broadcast times and locations of rallies and other public meetings. McKinley also interview foots soldiers such as CORE member Jerome Smith who was terribly brutalized by white terrorists in Birmingham during the Freedom Rides in 1961.

The City Imagined

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Barron ◽  
Rhys H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Church Leadership ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Organizational Practice ◽  
Multiracial Congregations ◽  
The City ◽  
The Church

The concluding chapter reviews the three major concepts discussed in the book—racialized urban imaginary, managed diversity, racial utility—and how they relate to the analysis of the congregation and to each other. Drawing on examples from across the chapters, the conclusion shows that a set of images about what is authentically urban, and that urban-ness is connected to African Americans as well as consumer culture, inform the actions of the church leadership and the church members. In order to realize their imaginary, church leaders hope to foster a diverse congregation, but they want to manage the diversity so that they do not become seen as a “black church” or threaten the leaders’ authority in the congregation. The utility of using racial identity to accomplish these goals is a common organizational practice. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the prospects for multiracial congregations and American religion.

What He Received

2020 ◽  
pp. 87-114
Author(s):  
Richard Lischer
Keyword(s):  
Classical Tradition ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Martin Luther King

This chapter considers the preaching and sermons of Martin Luther King, Jr. Like all preachers, King relied on what had been given him. For the construction of his sermons, what he received was a body of titles, outlines, and formulas from other preachers. The outlines followed the conventional sermon schemes he had learned in the black church and from his seminary teachers. The formulas were what classical orators would have called proofs of the speaker’s arguments. The proofs illustrate or substantiate the often unexceptional arguments with a sensual beauty that overshadows the logic of the ideas themselves. Together, the outlines and the proofs constitute what the classical tradition called the topoi, or “places,” where a culture or religious tradition “stores” its nuggets of wisdom and its basic methods of telling the truth.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Black Theology-Black Church

1984 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Cone
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
Martin Luther King

“Even though there are important differences between King and me, I think that they can best be understood from within the context of the black church rather than in the context of white liberal and neo-orthodox theologies of North America and Europe. Such views as represented by King and me, as well as many others, can be found throughout the black religious tradition. There is no need to turn to white Western theology for an explanation.”

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