To the casual observer, it has become obvious that America needs more and deeper racial education and reconciliation. Many of the efforts focus their literature on social topics like being anti-racist. In this book, Gates offers a different take – a history of African-American religion. Religion and social justice understandably intermix in this tale. He provides us with a beautiful, cogent expression of how America got to its present situation. He also offers us hope for how we can continue to grow out of these roots.
Gates is a celebrated, elite academic scholar of African-American culture. His writing is accessible to the general reader yet filled with a careful selection of facts. He weaves this tapestry into a coherent, compelling story. He begins his conversation with the arrival of enslaved Africans into St. Augustine, Florida, in the 1500s (yes, before 1619). Focusing on the intersection of religious practice and culture, he continues this story through the remaining colonies. He includes slave rebellions, emancipation, failed Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and subsequent civil-rights efforts.
In talking about the church, he rightly includes Islam in the discussion. He talks about how black culture has never completely separated from the religious sphere, largely because of oppressing social factors. Important figures – including many females other accounts overlook – each have pericopes delving into their individual biographies and impacts. Gates is inclusive, but not to a fault. He grasps the main story of the black church and does not forget its impact.
To be frank, this book brought me to tears and also enlivened my soul. This book offers a deep account of how America came to where it is today. History offers a way of understanding ourselves so that we can reposition ourselves for the future without repeating past mistakes. It can also provide deep fonts of inspiration for that future. Gates offers us the full sweep of history with all its problems and its beauties. Readers of any and every color can use this work to educate themselves about current cultural trends through this poignant book.
The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song
By Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Copyright (c) 2021
Penguin Audio
ASIN B08JCRHX5R
Audiobook
Genre: Religion, History
www.amazon.com