Black Religious Intellectuals: The Fight for Equality from Jim Crow to the 21st Century

by Taylor,Clarence

• ISBN13: 9780415933278
• ISBN10: 0415933277
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2002-09-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

When assessing the legacy of black intellectuals in the 20th century there has been a general tendency to overlook the impact of black religious leaders. InBlack Religious Intellectuals and the Fight for Equality from the Age of Jim Crow to the Dawn of the 21stCentury, Professor Clarence Taylor sheds some much-needed light on the rich intellectual and political tradition that lies in the black religious community. From the Pentecostalism of Bishop Smallwood Williams and the flamboyant leadership of the Reverend Al Sharpton, to the radical Presbyterianism of Milton Arthur Galamison and the controversial and mass-mobilization by Minister Louis Farrakhan, black religious leaders have figured prominently in the struggle for social equality in America. Taylor shows how black leaders were able to carve out a space for religion as part of a progressive political agenda. Examining leaders from diverse religious and political backgrounds, he reveals the complex and innovative ways that blackreligious notions were continually reworked and reconstructed to accommodate the communities they served. In the tradition of Cornel West, Hazel Carby, and Harold Cruse, Taylor gives us a valuable, though-provoking work that credits black church leadership for its important role in not only the fight for equality but also in shaping intellectual thought in this country.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction. Black Intellectuals: A More Inclusive Perspective	1	(10)
Sticking to the Ship: Manhood, Fraternity, and the Religious World View of A. Philip Kandolph	11	(26)
Expanding the Boundaries of Politics: The Various Voices of the Black Religious Community of Brooklyn, New York, before and during the Cold War	37	(11)
The Pentecostal Preacher as Public Intellectual and Activist: The Extraordinary Leadership of Bishop Smallwood Williams	48	(31)
The Reverend John Culmer and the Politics of Black Representation in Miami, Florida	79	(15)
The Reverend Theodore Gibson and the Significance of Cold War Liberalism in the Fight for Citizenship	94	(24)
``A Natural-Born Leader'': The Politics of the Reverend Al Sharpton	118	(32)
The Evolving Spiritual and Political Leadership of Louis Farrakhan: From Allah's Masculine Warrior to Ecumenical Sage	150	(31)
Ella Baker, Pauli Murray, and the Challenge to Male Patriarchy	181	(18)
Notes	199	(18)
Bibliography	217	(4)
Index	221