Jonathan Chism – författare

Black Religion in America is an introduction to the religious history of African Americans from the period of slavery to the twenty-first century. It analyses Black people’s varying religious responses to W.E.B. Du Bois’s notion of double consciousness, the experience of racial exclusion in America, of having “two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings, two warring ideals in one dark body.”The book traces the social justice thought and activism of Black Christians, Conjurors, Muslims, Pentecostals, Humanists, and various esoteric prophets across historical epochs, introducing students to major religious groups and innovators within African American religious history who have striven for full social inclusion. It offers a narrative interpretation of Black religion that engages this current generation of students grappling with enduring marginalization in the post-civil Rights and post-Obama era. This is to say, despite the victories of the Civil Rights Movement, culminating for some with the historic election of Barack Obama in 2008, Black religions have not provided a panacea for lingering social inequities. Still, throughout American history, Black people have continuously creatively employed religion to respond to changing oppressions.The book underscores the intersectionality of Black religious women and examines their experience and resistance of racism, sexism, and classism. Featuring student-friendly pedagogy including discussion questions, it's a must-read for all students of African American Religion, Religion in America, or African American History, interested in studying how Black religion has factored in the long struggle for social justice in America.

Black Religion in America is an introduction to the religious history of African Americans from the period of slavery to the twenty-first century. It analyses Black people’s varying religious responses to W.E.B. Du Bois’s notion of double consciousness, the experience of racial exclusion in America, of having “two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings, two warring ideals in one dark body.”The book traces the social justice thought and activism of Black Christians, Conjurors, Muslims, Pentecostals, Humanists, and various esoteric prophets across historical epochs, introducing students to major religious groups and innovators within African American religious history who have striven for full social inclusion. It offers a narrative interpretation of Black religion that engages this current generation of students grappling with enduring marginalization in the post-civil Rights and post-Obama era. This is to say, despite the victories of the Civil Rights Movement, culminating for some with the historic election of Barack Obama in 2008, Black religions have not provided a panacea for lingering social inequities. Still, throughout American history, Black people have continuously creatively employed religion to respond to changing oppressions.The book underscores the intersectionality of Black religious women and examines their experience and resistance of racism, sexism, and classism. Featuring student-friendly pedagogy including discussion questions, it's a must-read for all students of African American Religion, Religion in America, or African American History, interested in studying how Black religion has factored in the long struggle for social justice in America.

Mason Temple, the headquarters of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), looms large in the history of the Civil Rights Movement because of its connection to the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who delivered his last sermon there during the Sanitation Workers Strike on April 3, 1968. This book highlights the unsung contributions local activists from the COGIC made to the historic strike and to the broader civil rights struggle in Memphis. It troubles the rigid otherworldly versus this-worldly binary that has inaccurately framed black religious activism and bolstered the view that saints’ theology influenced their detachment from the civil rights struggle. It explores the Memphis Movement from the angle of activist saints and describes their involvements in civil rights organizations such as the Ministers and Citizens League, the Memphis Branch of the NAACP, and the Community on the Move for Equality. Ultimately, analysis of Memphis saints’ activism reveals local grassroots activists’ vigorous commitment to working to galvanize and mobilize black pastors and churches to work collaboratively to advance the freedom struggle, including through coordinating voter registration drives, aiding desegregation efforts, and assisting sanitation workers in their struggle for economic justice. This work provides a historical blueprint and a source of inspiration for fostering collective activism among denominationally diverse black churches in the 21st century.

Mason Temple, the headquarters of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), looms large in the history of the Civil Rights Movement because of its connection to the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who delivered his last sermon there during the Sanitation Workers Strike on April 3, 1968. This book highlights the unsung contributions local activists from the COGIC made to the historic strike and to the broader civil rights struggle in Memphis. It troubles the rigid otherworldly versus this-worldly binary that has inaccurately framed black religious activism and bolstered the view that saints’ theology influenced their detachment from the civil rights struggle. It explores the Memphis Movement from the angle of activist saints and describes their involvements in civil rights organizations such as the Ministers and Citizens League, the Memphis Branch of the NAACP, and the Community on the Move for Equality. Ultimately, analysis of Memphis saints’ activism reveals local grassroots activists’ vigorous commitment to working to galvanize and mobilize black pastors and churches to work collaboratively to advance the freedom struggle, including through coordinating voter registration drives, aiding desegregation efforts, and assisting sanitation workers in their struggle for economic justice. This work provides a historical blueprint and a source of inspiration for fostering collective activism among denominationally diverse black churches in the 21st century.

This volume critically and constructively examines Jeremiah Wright Jr.’s life and legacy, focusing on his patriotic promotion of inclusion within the church and society. The mainstream media disrespectfully reduced Wright to a viral soundbite. The condemnation of Wright and the devaluing of his name and contributions testify to how black liberation theology and black prophetic witness and activism have been misunderstood by Christians in the United States across racial lines. The contributors offer a nuanced discussion of Wright’s sermons, ministry, and legacy. By revisiting Wright’s controversial sermons in the context of racial injustices during the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, we contend that Wright exemplified a commitment to prophetic patriotism and courageously spoke the truth about national sins despite the costs. Prophetic patriotism has been and remains necessary to inspire America to strive to fulfill its noble democratic ideals.

This book argues that critical race theory (CRT)—which originated within Legal Studies during the 1970s—has permeated multiple academic disciplines and informs the ethical commitments of scholars in diverse fields of study. Critical Race Studies Across Disciplines includes essays by scholars of African American studies from various disciplines, who directly and indirectly incorporate CRT through signaling a commitment to scholar-activism or scholactivism. Scholactivists hope to understand the roots of anti-Black racism and to actively oppose all forms of oppression. Drawing on CRT, the volume counters the colorblind rhetoric of those who dismiss the notion of systemic racism, discount racial inequities, and disregard racial justice advocates as malcontents fanning the flames of racial dissension. The contributors of this collection challenge racism centering the stories, perspectives, and counter-narratives of African American soldiers, teachers, students, writers, psychologists, and theologians who continually defy and resist oppression in myriad ways.