Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Vaughn A. Booker
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
African American ◽  
Religious History ◽  
Religious Culture ◽  
American Religious History ◽  
Artistic Expression ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Duke Ellington ◽  
Religion And Race

The introduction defines the scope of the book, its position in existing literature on African American religious history, and its sources and subjects for studying religion and race through African American jazz musicians. It defines the concept of race representation as it operates throughout the book, offers an overview of the consumer challenge to cultivating Christian race representatives, and discusses popular black religious representation in various forms of entertainment in the twentieth century. The introduction discusses the organization of the book: part 1, “Representations of Religion and Race,” and part 2, “Missions and Legacies.” Part 1 presents thematic studies of African American religious history through jazz artistry. Part 2 includes close studies of individual religious expression through the work of Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams, and a consideration of the posthumous legacies of these musicians. The introduction also outlines the chapter structure of the book and previews key takeaways for understanding Afro-Protestantism through artistic expression and religious culture in the conclusion.

Lift Every Voice and Swing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughn A. Booker
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
African American ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Black Popular Culture ◽  
Duke Ellington ◽  
American Protestantism

In the twentieth century, jazz professionals became race representatives who also played an important part in shaping the religious landscape of twentieth-century African American Protestantism. They wielded the power to both define their religious communities and craft novel religious voices and performances. These music celebrities released religious recordings and put on religious concerts, and they became integral to the artistry of African American religious expression. This book argues that with the emergence of new representatives in jazz, religious authority for African Americans found a place and spokespeople in popular culture beyond traditional Afro-Protestant institutions and religious life. It examines jazz musicians’ expressions of belief, practice, and unconventional positions of religious authority. It demonstrates that these jazz professionals enacted theological beliefs and religious practices that echoed, contested with, and diverged from the predominant African American religious culture. The lives and work of Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Mary Lou Williams anchor this book’s narrative of racial and religious representations as well as of religious beliefs and practices in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Through these African American jazz women and men, this book illuminates the significant Afro-Protestant cultural presence that informed, surrounded, and opposed their professional and personal lives while also contributing significantly to their artistry. This book’s focus on jazz musicians offers a novel rethinking of African American religious history by bringing the significant artistic dimensions of Afro-Protestant religion into focus as it impacted black popular culture in the twentieth century.

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