African Art, Pt 1; Churches of Free Negroes, Pt 4; The Reaction (1820-1865), Pt 1

Our Scripture verse for today is Ephesians 3:20-21 which reads: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

Our History of Black Americans and the Black Church quote for today is from Lee June, a professor at Michigan State University and the author of the book, “Yet With A Steady Beat: The Black Church through a Psychological and Biblical Lens.” He said, The nature of the Christian message is one that, when properly understood and applied, gives meaning to life. The church, with its message of hope and its vision of humankind that are abstracted from a biblical viewpoint, makes a profound impact on the believer. The church and its message actually give new meaning to life. This meaning in turn gives a direction to life.”

In this podcast, we are using as our texts: From Slavery to Freedom, by John Hope Franklin, The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier, and The Black Church In The U.S. by William A. Banks. 

Our first topic for today is titled “The African Way of Life — The Arts (Part 1)” from the book, “From Slavery to Freedom” by John Hope Franklin. 

In some areas of art, Africans attained a high degree of expression. In carvings and sculptures of wood, stone, and ivory, their work displayed an originality both in technique and subject matter that marked them clearly as a people with an abundant capacity for aesthetic expression. There was, of course, a great degree of variation from place to place in the level of expression attained, but hardly any community failed to show some inclination toward the use of certain art forms. Benin bronze and brass works of rosettes, doorplates, and metal vases reflect great skill in the use of this difficult medium. Among the Yoruba the delicacy of form seen in the terra-cotta pieces is a testimonial to the rare artistry that these people possessed. The statuettes of people and animals widely used by African communities in religious rites serve as a reminder that almost everywhere some Africans concerned themselves with artistic activities. From Timbuktu to the Congo there was considerable work in wood, gold, silver, ivory, clay, and the like, and it cannot be denied that many of these pieces bear witness to the fact that African art was not only indigenous but also worthy of the name. 

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Our second topic for today is “The Institutional Church of the Free Negroes, Part 4” from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

The relation of the free Negroes to the white Christian churches may be seen first in the activities of the early Negro preachers and their relations with white congregations. This was natural since, as we have seen, the Negro preacher slave as well as free, occupied a dominant position in the religious activities  of Negroes. The traditional African priesthood had disappeared and a church organization only grew up gradually among the Negroes.

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Our third and final topic for today is from “The Black Church in the U.S.: Its Origin, Growth, Contributions, and Outlook” by  Dr. William A. Banks.

Today we are looking at the section titled, “Reaction — 1820 to 1865”

CAUSES BEHIND THE REACTION

In the critical era of 1820-65, slavery became an extremely important part of the South’s economy. First, in the industrial revolution that took place, the invention of the cotton gin increased a slave’s ability to clean cotton by 50 pounds a day. New machines like the wool-comber, spinning jenny, and steam engine played their part in increasing the slave’s value. For those who stooped so low, slave breeding became a lucrative practice. This had a great demoralizing effect upon the Blacks who had practically no family life as it was. New machines meant greater production; this required more slaves, who, in turn, became more valuable.

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