Skip to main content

The Black Church Story and Song - A Review

 


The Black Church

 This is our Story.

 This is our Song.

 

By Louis Gates Jr.

 and others

Reviewed by

  Geoffrey W. Sutton

This 2-part special on PBS condenses some 400 years of African American Christian history into 4 hours. I add my appreciation to the praise of more popular editorials and comments who liked the presentation. The PBS page includes a variety of additional information.

I understand the criticism by those who point to people or events omitted from the narrative. I am less inclined to be critical because I have not studied "The Black Church." I understand from a search online that universities offer several courses in programs devoted to Black Church or African American church studies. A 4-hour documentary cannot possibly cover what is included in even one 30+ hour course.

I did wonder about the phrase, "The Black Church," which certainly leaves the impression that all Black Americans share the same beliefs, practices, and values. Now I see that the term is a sociological construct capturing a more or less list of features about Black American religion that developed during the 200+ years of slavery, continued during the era or segregation, and provided a source of empowerment during the movement for civil rights. Of course, the work of the Black Church is not done.


The PBS program does a good job of helping viewers learn the primary features of this sociological construct aptly presented in the subtitle about stories and songs. There is a nice balance of moving back and forth between story and song in the narrative. Appropriately, Gates interviews people who are experts in the primarily Protestant Christian stories mixed with stories of Black history--as others have said, The Black Church was an invisible church. In the history of music, we listen to spirituals and gain insight into the importance of spirituals beyond Sunday worship to daily life on plantations and during marches for freedom. As with the expert interviews commenting on  stories, we hear from Black artists about their spiritual and musical careers.

I think the video series might have explained the concept of The Black Church early on. The concept is obviously not fixed as even in the 21st century, African Americans continue to address inequality and injustice as such appear in contemporary laws, policies, and attitudes. 

The Black Church offers an opportunity for people like me to better appreciate their history and richness of their spirituality as well as the importance of the church to nourish them amidst a culture of repression.

Gates evokes emotion as many stories bring a smile and feelings of joy and others provoke anger at injustice and deep sorrow for painful experiences. The stories and songs make the whole presentation a moving experience.

Gates does not ignore the concerns of the church, which are also faced by white evangelicals and other Christians. Examples include sexism, genderism, and the role of social change and politics.

**********

It is possible that some viewers would come away from the series with a stereotype of African American spirituality. So, a couple of points about diversity.

There are many Black Christians in Catholic churches. And many of these Catholics had roots in Spanish and French North America, which covered considerably more territory than the smaller British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard. Their story is different. And their story is about African Americans and their faith.

The PBS special does mention Islam, but it is not easy to see how African American Muslims fit with The Black Church story. The same may be said about African Americans in other faith traditions.

**********

In the end, The Black Church becomes more like a metaphor for Black faith traditions. The emphasis on story and song makes a lot of sense and the examples of preaching and singing inspire. It is not just an academic treatise as Gates asks others about the nature of their faith and then makes it personal as he tells the story of his conversion in the church where it happened.

The Black Church is a two-part series. Here is an interview with Henry Louis Gates Jr. about the series.







Related Posts

Slavery and Racism

Psychology of Race and Ethnicity

Do the Shackles of Slavery Haunt Christian Moral Teaching?

Black Lives Matter - Love Your Neighbor

Overcoming Prejudice- Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


The Black Church book on Amazon

The Black Church video on Amazon


About Louis Gates
According to an online profile from Google Search, Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. is an American literary critic, professor, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

Links to Connections

Checkout My Website   www.suttong.com

  

See my Books

  AMAZON       

 

  GOOGLE STORE

 

FOLLOW me on

   FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton  

  

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton

 

   PINTEREST  www.pinterest.com/GeoffWSutton

 

Read published articles:

 

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   

 

  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

WILLPOWER Setting & Reaching Goals- Book Review by Sutton

WILLPOWER Rediscovering the Greatest    Human Strength By Roy Baumeister & John Tierney Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton I go to a gym, which is crowded in January. Regulars know the early Happy-New-Year commitments to fitness will weaken sometime in February. Roy Baumeister has spent a good part of his career studying self-control. His book, Willpower   written with Tierney,  entertains and informs us with an organized set of findings explaining factors that influence self-control. Two critical factors weaken our judgments: food and sleep. We need glucose and sleep to be at our best when it comes to making wise decisions and marking progress toward our goals. A pretty woman can loosen a man’s grip on his career--we hear these news stories from time to time as one political group takes aim at each other's leaders--men who failed at sexual self-control and sadly blame women for their lack of self-control. Fat shaming happens. T

A Christmas Carol offers lessons in Psychology and Faith A Book Review

A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens A Review by Geoffrey W. Sutton My copy of A Christmas Carol was a gift on Christmas day, 1963. Two Christmases before I had walked the cold, fog-laden, smog drenched streets of Old London with my dad whilst my mother visited with her family. It was a grey day and a grey week. We took turns warming parts of our body by fireplaces here and there. After five years in the U.S. we had returned home to London on the occasion of my maternal grandmother’s death.  Dickens’ story paints a familiar tale textured by my early memories and enriched today by having watched my favourite rendition of A Christmas Carol ( 1984 ) with my wife on Christmas eve. My interest in reviewing the book is not just for a pleasant walk about the old streets of London but I'm motivated by a sense of appreciation for the poetic and colourful artistry with which Dickens plumbs the hopes and fears of humanity. So, follow

Gender Identity & Faith—A Review

  Gender Identity & Faith Clinical Postures, Tools, and Case Studies For Client-Centered Care   By   Mark A. Yarhouse &   Julia A.   Sadusky Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton Gender Identity & Faith is not for everyone. Yarhouse and Sadusky have written a guidebook for mental health professionals who need a resource to help patients and their families who are seeking assistance with two identity issues—gender identity and religious identity. The authors are not focused on changing gender identity. Instead, they provide readers with specific ideas to help their patients explore their perceived conflicts between gender and religious identity. Although the authors use the words religious and conventionally religious , the book is focused on Christian patients who perceive a conflict between two salient components of their self-identity. Most Americans are religious and most Americans identify as Christian. It is generally known that some Christians are m