1st Edition

Black Religious Intellectuals The Fight for Equality from Jim Crow to the 21st Century

By Clarence Taylor Copyright 2002
    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    Professor Clarence Taylor sheds some much-needed light on the rich intellectual and political tradition that lies in the black religious community. From the Pentecostalism of Bishop Smallwood Williams and the flamboyant leadership of the Reverend Al Sharpton, to the radical Presbyterianism of Milton Arthur Galamison and the controversial and mass-mobilization by Minister Louis Farrakhan, black religious leaders have figured prominently in the struggle for social equality in America.

    Collegeowledgements Introduction Black Intellectuals: A More Inclusive Perspective Chapter 1. Sticking to the Ship: Manhood, Fraternity, and the Religious World View of A. Philip Randolph Chapter 2. Expanding the Boundaries of Politics: The Various Voices of the Black Religious Community of Brooklyn, New York Before and During the Cold War Chapter 3. The Pentecostal Preacher as Public Intellectual and Activist: The Extraordinary Leadership of Bishop Smallwood Williams Chapter 4. The Reverend John Culmer and The Politics of Black Representation in Miami, Florida Chapter 5. The Reverend Theodore Gibson and the Significance of Cold War Liberalism in the Fight for Citizenship Chapter 6. A Natural Born Leader: The Politics of the Rev. Al Sharpton Chapter 7. The Evolving Spiritual and Political Leadership of Louis Farrakhan: From Allah's Masculine Warrior to Ecumenical Sage Chapter 8. Ella Baker, Pauli Murray, and The Challenge to Male Patriarchy Notes Bibliography

    Biography

    Clarence Taylor is Professor of History and African New World Studies at Florida International University. He is the author of The Black Churches of Brooklyn and Knocking at Our Door: Milton A. Galamison and the Struggle to Integrate New York City Schools, and co-edited with Jonathan Birnbaum Civil Rights since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle.

    "Men and women of god, religious institutions, faith, and spiritual symbolism have been a constant presence within the political struggles of black America. Using the intellectual biographies of a wide range of twentieth century leaders, Clarence Taylor exposes the kinship between African-American religious and secular traditions. With sensitive treatments of gender, race, and class, Taylor identifies religion as a medium of empowerment. Black Religious Intellectuals will excite a new conversation about the heterogenous religious currents in African-American intellectualism." -- Craig Steven Wilder, Professor of History, Dartmouth