Overview

Explore the background and contemporary significance of Black religious activism in the USA. In 1787, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones left the predominantly white St. George Methodist Episcopal Church to protest the racism and discrimination they faced. A few years later, both men created their own African American Christian denominations to meet the political and spiritual needs of Black communities. Over the following 200 years, Black leaders created countless religious organizations to meet those same needs, and contemporary Black religious communities continue to play an important role in local, regional, and national politics today. An overview essay provides readers with a broad understanding of the movement, while a chronology situates key events in their historical context. Alphabetically arranged reference entries follow, providing objective and fundamental information about the people, organizations, and events that have shaped Black religious activism from Harriet Tubman to Raphael Warnock, the birth of the megachurch to the Black Lives Matter movement. Readers are encouraged to extend their understanding of the topic with cross-references and suggestions for further reading after each entry.

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard A. Thomas (Fort Worth Independent School District, USA)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Edition:   Annotated edition
ISBN:  

9781440870217

ISBN 10:   1440870217
Pages:   216
Publication Date:   08 January 2026
Recommended Age:   From 7 to 17 years
Audience:   Primary & secondary/elementary & high school ,  College/higher education ,  Educational: Primary & Secondary ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Alphabetical List of Entries Series Foreword Preface Overview Acknowledgments A to Z Abolition Movement Adam Clayton Powell Ahmadiyya Mission in America Albert Cleage Alexander Crummell AME and AMZ Church A. Phillip Randolph Azusa Street Revival Baynard Rustin Black Lives Matter Church of God of Saints and Christ Commandment Keepers Conjure in the Antebellum David Walker Edward Wilmot Blyden Ella Baker Fannie Lou Hamer Father Divine and the Peace Mission Movement Frederick Haynes and Friendship West Baptist Church Free African Society Great Migration Harriet Tubman Henry Highland Garnet Holiness Movement James Cone/Black Liberation Theology John Lewis Katie Canon/Womanist Theology Louis Farrakhan and Nation of Islam Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr. Megachurch Movement Million Man March MOVE National Negro Convention Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey Noble Drew Ali and the Moorish Temple Pauli Murray Pentecostal Movement Progressive Baptist Convention Rainbow/PUSH/Jesse Jackson Raphael Warnock Richard Allen Robert Alexander Young and the Ethiopian Manifesto Smallwood Williams and Bible Way Church Southern Christian Leadership Conference UNIA and Marcus Garvey Voodoo in the South William Barber and the New Poor People's Campaign Annotated Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Richard A. Thomas, MDiv, ThM, is an educator in the Fort Worth Independent School District, USA.

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