Black gods of the metropolis
Book Description
Drawing from groundbreaking anthropological research conducted in Philadelphia during the early 1940s, this illuminating study explores the vibrant spiritual landscape of African American religious communities and their profound influence on social transformation. Arthur Huff Fauset's meticulous fieldwork reveals how black churches served as unique laboratories for experimentation in business, politics, social reform, and cultural expression during a time when such opportunities were severely limited elsewhere.
Through detailed primary accounts, readers discover the fascinating origins and practices of significant modern religious movements, including early formations that would later evolve into well-known organizations like the Nation of Islam. The work also uncovers the important contributions of lesser-known and forgotten spiritual communities that played crucial roles in shaping African American religious history.
Fauset's prescient analysis demonstrates how these early spiritual movements contained the seeds of future social change, accurately predicting the direction that mainstream black religious leadership would eventually take in the civil rights era. The book offers valuable insights into how marginalized communities create spaces for spiritual innovation and social empowerment.
Enhanced by historian Barbara Dianne Savage's thoughtful foreword examining the complex relationship between black intellectuals and religious practices, this work provides essential understanding of how spirituality and social consciousness intersected in urban African American communities. For readers interested in the intersection of faith, community organizing, and social justice, this study offers profound lessons about the transformative power of grassroots spiritual movements.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Short (< 200 pages) (~4 hours)
📄 Length: 126 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore African americans, religion
- ✓ Explore African americans--religion
- ✓ Explore Cults
- ✓ Explore Religion
- ✓ Explore Cults--united states
- ✓ Explore African americans, pennsylvania, philadelphia
- ✓ Explore Sects, united states
- ✓ Explore African Americans
