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The History of Black Americans and the Black Church

The church and religion has played and continues to play a big role in the African-American community. Yet, many of us who grew up in the traditional black church do not have an understanding of how our faith evolved under the duress of slavery and discrimination to be and to represent what it does today. The purpose of this broadcast is to provide that background knowledge while also pointing out the dividing line between what is just tradition and true faith in Jesus Christ.
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Now displaying: May, 2015
May 29, 2015

Our Scripture verse for today is Romans 12:15 which reads: "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

Our History of Black Americans and the Black Church quote for today is from Lee June, a professor at Michigan State University and the author of the book, "Yet With A Steady Beat: The Black Church through a Psychological and Biblical Lens." He said, "Christian self-actualization differs radically from humanistic self-actualization. Humanistic self-actualization occurs when an individual becomes all that one can be within the context of human standards and parameters. However, Christian self-actualization occurs when one becomes all he or she can become since the Christian's personal development is moderated by and occurs within the context of Jesus Christ and the parameters and principles of Scripture. The Christian becomes self-actualized as movement toward maturity or perfection is occurring. For believers in Christ Jesus, perfection does not mean sinless, but implies growth and movement toward maturity. Jesus, for example, indicated in Matthew 22:37-40 that for Christians the great commandment in the law is: 'Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' Hence, the self-actualized Christian would express love and have mature relationships on three dimensions: to God, to fellow humanity, and to self. Martin Luther King Jr. aptly suggested that to live a complete life; that is, a self-actualized life, one must be complete on all three dimensions."

In this podcast, we are using as our texts: From Slavery to Freedom, by John Hope Franklin, The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier, and The Black Church In The U.S. by William A. Banks.

Our first topic for today is titled "The African Way of Life -- Social Organization (Part 3)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin. 

It must not be assumed that people at the lower levels of the social order enjoyed no privileges or respect. All were regarded as necessary to society and were respected for what they contributed. They were accorded numerous privileges because their acknowledged skills earned for them the right to move from one place to another and entrance into groups that otherwise would have been closed to them. 

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Our second topic for today is "The Institutional Church of the Free Negroes, Part 1" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

Negroes Who Were Free Before the Civil War 

The twenty Negroes who were sold to the Virginia settlers by a Dutch man-of-war in 1619 were not slaves, since there was no precedent in English law for slavery. These Negroes and those imported later were "absorbed in a growing system (servitude based upon English apprenticeship and vagrancy laws) which spread to all the colonies and for nearly a century furnished the chief supply of colonial labor." Little is known of what became of the first twenty Negroes who were introduced into the Virginia colony. However, there is a record of the baptism of a child of one couple among them.

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Our third and final topic for today is from "The Black Church in the U.S.: Its Origin, Growth, Contributions, and Outlook" by  Dr. William A. Banks

Today we are looking at the section titled, "Early Black Churches Led by Whites, Part 2"

In the years after the Revolutionary War, determined efforts were made for real independence -- religious independence. The first distinctive Black Baptist church in America was founded at Silver Bluff, S.C., between the years 1773 and 1775. with help by a White deacon, named W. Palmer. It is known that George Liele (or Lisle) preached there. Liele was born a slave about 1750, probably in Virginia, and later taken to Georgia. 

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May 22, 2015

Our Scripture verse for today is 1 Corinthians 1:10 which reads: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."

Our History of Black Americans and the Black Church quote for today is from Lee June, a professor at Michigan State University and the author of the book, "Yet With A Steady Beat: The Black Church through a Psychological and Biblical Lens." He said, "Abraham Maslow, a psychologist, defined the human's highest need as the need for self-actualization. That is, all that a person can be one must be. Christianity, biblically practiced and exercised, takes the individual to one's highest level and allows the person to become fully who he or she is. The true church allows individuals to become all that one could become. The true church allowed and allows total development by an individual. In the true church, the individual can develop all dimensions—mind, body, soul, and spirit."

In this podcast, we are using as our texts: From Slavery to Freedom, by John Hope Franklin, The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier, and The Black Church In The U.S. by William A. Banks.

Our first topic for today is titled "The African Way of Life -- Social Organization (Part 2)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin. 

Our second topic for today is "The Invisible Institution Comes Into Existence, Part 3" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. 

Our third and final topic for today is from "The Black Church in the U.S.: Its Origin, Growth, Contributions, and Outlook" by  Dr. William A. Banks. Today we are looking at the section titled, "Early Black Churches Led by Whites, Part 1"

May 1, 2015

Our Scripture verse for today is Philippians 4:19 which reads: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Our History of Black Americans and the Black Church quote for today is from Lee June, a professor at Michigan State University and the author of the book, "Yet With A Steady Beat: The Black Church through a Psychological and Biblical Lens." He said, "The 'Black Church' has historically been a spiritual and unique psychological sustaining force for Black people. Many have observed that, without God and the 'Black Church,' Blacks in America would not have survived the horrors of the middle passage and slavery. From all indications, and contrary to some observers, the historical faith of Black people as practiced in Christianity was authentic and genuine. It was 'other­worldly,' but also 'this-worldly.' It allowed individuals to sustain hope, bear pain, endure agony, and maintain a sense of sanity -- with the hope and belief that a better day was coming by and by. Even those who do not share this faith would have to admit as history unfolded that a better day did come for Black people."

In this podcast, we are using as our texts: From Slavery to Freedom, by John Hope Franklin, The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier, and The Black Church In The U.S. by William A. Banks. If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to purchase any one of these books from our website, HistoryofBlackAmericansAndTheBlackChurch.com.

Our first topic for today is titled "The African Way of Life -- Social Organization (Part 1)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin. 

As among other peoples, the clan, a group of families related by blood, was the basis of social organization in early Africa. The foundation of even economic and political life in Africa was the clan, with its inestimable influence over individual members. Although the eldest male was usually the head of the clan, relationships were traced through the mother rather than the father. Women were central figures in African society because they were, through marriage, the keys to appropriating land and, through their labor and that of the children they bore, the means to cultivating land.

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Our second topic for today is "The Invisible Institution Comes Into Existence, Part 2" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

One qualification which the Negro preacher among the slaves needed to possess was some knowledge of the Bible. However imperfect or distorted his knowledge of the Bible might be, the fact that he was acquainted with the source of sacred knowledge, which was in a sense the exclusive possession of his white masters, gave him prestige in matters concerning the supernatural and religious among his fellow slaves. His knowledge of the sacred scriptures had to be combined with an ability to speak and communicate his special knowledge to the slaves.

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Our third and final topic for today is from "The Black Church in the U.S.: Its Origin, Growth, Contributions, and Outlook" by  Dr. William A. Banks

Today we are looking at the section titled, "White Churches with Black Membership"

Attending the master's church was the first step. The first Black converts attended the churches of masters who permitted them to engage in religious activity. It was not so much an expression of Christian brotherhood as it was an opportunity to keep an eye on the Blacks. 

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