The Civil Rights Movement, The Religion of the Slaves, and the Early Slave Trade

Our Scripture verse for today is Romans 8:38-39 which reads: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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, “As the ‘Black Church’ developed over time, there was carved out a powerful and unique role for the Black pastor. The Black pastor began to be perceived as, and was, a leader within both the local community and larger society. Historically, at least, the Black pastor was often the most educated and most articulate person within the community and was called upon to be its spokesperson.”

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. If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to purchase any one of these books from our website, HistoryBABC.com.

Our first topic today is a continuation of some good work done for the “God In America” series titled “The Origins of the Black Church” which was aired by the Public Broadcasting Service. This is just a brief historical overview; we will delve into these topics in greater detail in upcoming episodes.

Our second topic for today is “The Religion of the Slaves: The Christian Religion Provides a New Basis of Social Cohesion, Part 3” from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. 

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

Our fourth topic for today is a continuation of our look at the earliest African states from the book, “From Slavery to Freedom” by John Hope Franklin. We are going to continue looking at Songhay.