Description
By: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The instant New York Times bestseller and companion book to the PBS series.
“Absolutely brilliant . . . A necessary and moving work.” —Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again
“Engaging. . . . In Gates’s telling, the Black church shines bright even as the nation itself moves uncertainly through the gloaming, seeking justice on earth—as it is in heaven.” —Jon Meacham, New York Times Book Review
From the New York Times bestselling author of Stony the Road and The Black Box, and one of our most important voices on the African American experience, comes a powerful new history of the Black church as a foundation of Black life and a driving force in the larger freedom struggle in America.
For the young Henry Louis Gates, Jr., growing up in a small, residentially segregated West Virginia town, the church was a center of gravity—an intimate place where voices rose up in song and neighbors gathered to celebrate life's blessings and offer comfort amid its trials and tribulations. In this tender and expansive reckoning with the meaning of the Black Church in America, Gates takes us on a journey spanning more than five centuries, from the intersection of Christianity and the transatlantic slave trade to today’s political landscape. At road’s end, and after Gates’s distinctive meditation on the churches of his childhood, we emerge with a new understanding of the importance of African American religion to the larger national narrative—as a center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy, as a magnet for political mobilization, as an incubator of musical and oratorical talent that would transform the culture, and as a crucible for working through the Black community’s most critical personal and social issues.
In a country that has historically afforded its citizens from the African diaspora tragically few safe spaces, the Black Church has always been more than a sanctuary. This fact was never lost on white supremacists: from the earliest days of slavery, when enslaved people were allowed to worship at all, their meetinghouses were subject to surveillance and destruction. Long after slavery’s formal eradication, church burnings and bombings by anti-Black racists continued, a hallmark of the violent effort to suppress the African American struggle for equality. The past often isn’t even past—Dylann Roof committed his slaughter in the Mother Emanuel AME Church 193 years after it was first burned down by white citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, following a thwarted slave rebellion.
But as Gates brilliantly shows, the Black church has never been only one thing. Its story lies at the heart of the Black political struggle, and it has produced many of the Black community’s most notable leaders. At the same time, some churches and denominations have eschewed political engagement and exemplified practices of exclusion and intolerance that have caused polarization and pain. Those tensions remain today, as a rising generation demands freedom and dignity for all within and beyond their communities, regardless of race, sex, or gender. Still, as a source of faith and refuge, spiritual sustenance and struggle against society’s darkest forces, the Black Church has been central, as this enthralling history makes vividly clear.
The instant New York Times bestseller and companion book to the PBS series.
“Absolutely brilliant . . . A necessary and moving work.” —Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again
“Engaging. . . . In Gates’s telling, the Black church shines bright even as the nation itself moves uncertainly through the gloaming, seeking justice on earth—as it is in heaven.” —Jon Meacham, New York Times Book Review
From the New York Times bestselling author of Stony the Road and The Black Box, and one of our most important voices on the African American experience, comes a powerful new history of the Black church as a foundation of Black life and a driving force in the larger freedom struggle in America.
For the young Henry Louis Gates, Jr., growing up in a small, residentially segregated West Virginia town, the church was a center of gravity—an intimate place where voices rose up in song and neighbors gathered to celebrate life's blessings and offer comfort amid its trials and tribulations. In this tender and expansive reckoning with the meaning of the Black Church in America, Gates takes us on a journey spanning more than five centuries, from the intersection of Christianity and the transatlantic slave trade to today’s political landscape. At road’s end, and after Gates’s distinctive meditation on the churches of his childhood, we emerge with a new understanding of the importance of African American religion to the larger national narrative—as a center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy, as a magnet for political mobilization, as an incubator of musical and oratorical talent that would transform the culture, and as a crucible for working through the Black community’s most critical personal and social issues.
In a country that has historically afforded its citizens from the African diaspora tragically few safe spaces, the Black Church has always been more than a sanctuary. This fact was never lost on white supremacists: from the earliest days of slavery, when enslaved people were allowed to worship at all, their meetinghouses were subject to surveillance and destruction. Long after slavery’s formal eradication, church burnings and bombings by anti-Black racists continued, a hallmark of the violent effort to suppress the African American struggle for equality. The past often isn’t even past—Dylann Roof committed his slaughter in the Mother Emanuel AME Church 193 years after it was first burned down by white citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, following a thwarted slave rebellion.
But as Gates brilliantly shows, the Black church has never been only one thing. Its story lies at the heart of the Black political struggle, and it has produced many of the Black community’s most notable leaders. At the same time, some churches and denominations have eschewed political engagement and exemplified practices of exclusion and intolerance that have caused polarization and pain. Those tensions remain today, as a rising generation demands freedom and dignity for all within and beyond their communities, regardless of race, sex, or gender. Still, as a source of faith and refuge, spiritual sustenance and struggle against society’s darkest forces, the Black Church has been central, as this enthralling history makes vividly clear.
You may also like
熱銷中 Top Trending
![Press Start! #15 Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep! (Branches)](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/PressStart_15MegaMoleGirlDigsDeep_Branches_{width}x.webp?v=1720090411)
Press Start! #15 Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep! (Branches)
Sale priceHK$47.00
Regular priceHK$98.00
In stock![Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (US)(Paperback)(Roald Dahl) PRHUS](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/CharlieandtheChocolateFactory_Paperback_RoaldDahl_{width}x.jpg?v=1633797035)
![Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (US)(Paperback)(Roald Dahl) PRHUS](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/CharlieandtheChocolateFactory_Paperback_RoaldDahl_2_{width}x.jpg?v=1633797038)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (US)(Paperback)(Roald Dahl)
Sale priceHK$59.00
Regular priceHK$90.00
In stock![Disney/Pixar Inside Out 2: Go to Sleep, Anxiety!](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/Disney_PixarInsideOut2GotoSleep_Anxiety_670b18f5-930c-40ef-bcdf-dcf5197fa045_{width}x.jpg?v=1721553025)
Disney/Pixar Inside Out 2: Go to Sleep, Anxiety!
Sale priceHK$115.00
Regular priceHK$180.00
In stock![The Epic Guide to Dragon Masters: A Branches Special Edition (Dragon Masters) (正版) (Tracey West)](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/TheEpicGuidetoDragonMastersABranchesSpecialEdition_DragonMasters_TraceyWest_{width}x.webp?v=1720118963)
The Epic Guide to Dragon Masters: A Branches Special Edition (Dragon Masters) (正版) (Tracey West)
Sale priceHK$75.00
Regular priceHK$120.00
In stock![Murdle: Solve 100 Devilishly Devious Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles (Murdle Puzzle Series) (G.T Karber)-Activity: 益智解謎 Puzzle & Quiz-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/MurdleSolve100DevilishlyDeviousMurderMysteryLogicPuzzles_1_{width}x.webp?v=1713022396)
![Murdle: Solve 100 Devilishly Devious Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles (Murdle Puzzle Series) (G.T Karber)-Activity: 益智解謎 Puzzle & Quiz-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/MurdleSolve100DevilishlyDeviousMurderMysteryLogicPuzzles_2_{width}x.webp?v=1713022400)
Murdle: Solve 100 Devilishly Devious Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles (Murdle Puzzle Series) (G.T Karber)
Sale priceHK$119.00
Regular priceHK$195.00
In stock![Dragon Masters #26 (正版) Cave of the Crystal Dragon (Branches) (Tracey West)-Fiction: 歷險科幻 Adventure & Science Fiction-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/DragonMasters_26_CaveoftheCrystalDragon_Branches_TraceyWest_{width}x.webp?v=1712741516)
Dragon Masters #26 (正版) Cave of the Crystal Dragon (Branches) (Tracey West)
Sale priceHK$42.00
Regular priceHK$69.00
In stock![Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #07 Winter Turning (Tui T. Sutherland)-Fiction: 歷險科幻 Adventure & Science Fiction-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/71PFp5FWpHL._SL1200_{width}x.webp?v=1712764615)
Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #07 Winter Turning (Tui T. Sutherland)
Sale priceHK$88.00
Regular priceHK$130.00
In stock![Pearson Longman Level-up! English Test Papers (with Online diagnostic assessment^破解常犯錯誤)-Supplemental: 英文科 English-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/e1a_{width}x.webp?v=1712704159)
![Pearson Longman Level-up! English Test Papers (with Online diagnostic assessment^破解常犯錯誤)-Supplemental: 英文科 English-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/e1b_{width}x.webp?v=1712704165)
Pearson Longman Level-up! English Test Papers (with Online diagnostic assessment^破解常犯錯誤)
Sale priceHK$63.00
Regular priceHK$73.00
In stock![Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5 Book Paperback Boxed Set (w/poster)](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/Percy_Jackson_and_the_Olympians_Collection_5_Book_3cff5df8-fe7d-4bd3-b22b-707c03d6b7d7_{width}x.jpg?v=1719467367)
![Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5 Book Paperback Boxed Set (w/poster)](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/Percy_Jackson_and_the_Olympians_Collection_5_Book_-5_d7a1823a-248b-4229-b85b-bc220e008346_{width}x.jpg?v=1719467367)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5 Book Paperback Boxed Set (w/poster)
Sale priceHK$287.00
Regular priceHK$450.00
In stock![Harry Potter (正版) Children Edition #1-7 (7 Books) (J.K. Rowling) (printed in UK) - 買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/HarryPotter_ChildrenEdition_1-7_7Books_J.K.Rowling_printedinUK_1_{width}x.jpg?v=1662716295)
![Harry Potter (正版) Children Edition #1-7 (7 Books) (J.K. Rowling) (printed in UK) - 買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/HarryPotter_ChildrenEdition_1-7_7Books_J.K.Rowling_printedinUK_11_{width}x.jpg?v=1662716295)
Harry Potter (正版) Children #1-7 Collection (7 Books)(J.K. Rowling)(printed in UK)
Sale priceFrom HK$449.00
Regular priceHK$799.00
In stock![Heroes of Olympus Paperback Boxed Set, The-10th Anniversary Edition](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/HeroesofOlympus_Collection_5Books_10thAnniversaryEdition_RickRiordan_{width}x.jpg?v=1721547583)
![Heroes of Olympus Paperback Boxed Set, The-10th Anniversary Edition](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/Heroes_of_Olympus_Collection_5_Books_10th_Anniversary_Edition_{width}x.jpg?v=1721547583)
Heroes of Olympus Paperback Boxed Set, The-10th Anniversary Edition
Sale priceHK$319.00
Regular priceHK$500.00
In stock