Passionately Human, No Less Divine
Book Description
During one of America's most transformative periods, millions of African Americans journeyed from the rural South to northern cities, carrying with them deeply rooted spiritual traditions that would reshape urban religious life forever. Wallace D. Best explores this profound spiritual transformation in Chicago, revealing how migrating communities didn't simply adapt to city churches but instead revolutionized them from within.
This groundbreaking study unveils how Southern black religious practices took root in Chicago's urban landscape, creating an entirely new form of sacred expression. Rather than abandoning their folk religious heritage, these communities wove together rural spiritual wisdom with the realities of modern city living, forging a unique religious identity that honored both past and present.
The transformation was led primarily by women, who comprised over seventy percent of black Protestant church membership and became the driving force behind this spiritual evolution. Their influence helped establish religious practices that bridged the gap between traditional Southern spirituality and contemporary urban experience.
Best demonstrates how this religious metamorphosis paralleled other cultural movements of the era, showing that just as jazz and blues emerged to express black modernity in secular spaces, urban African American religion developed its own distinctive voice. The result was a sacred order that remained authentically connected to ancestral roots while embracing the possibilities of city life, creating a powerful model for spiritual adaptation and growth.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~7 hours)
📄 Length: 250 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore African americans, religion
- ✓ Explore Negers
- ✓ Explore Religion
- ✓ Explore United states, church history, 20th century
- ✓ Explore Chicago (ill.)
- ✓ Explore African Americans
- ✓ Explore Binnenlandse migratie
- ✓ Explore Church history
