Page 4
February 23, 2000
B la c k H is to r y
®Ije ^Inrtlanò ffibaeruer
F OCUS
Christian and Christian-
based denominations
M
onth
The black
church
y The Schomburg Center
Christianity has served a pivotal and complex role in
African American history. Upon their arrival in the United States,
enslaved Africans were denied the right to practice their own African
faiths, while also being turned away from joining whites in their
worship. They therefore found their own way to worship, incorporating
mysticism and dynamic physical and oral expression, while
developing their own perspectives on Christian faith. In the years
before the Civil War, many Protestant clerics supported slavery from
their pulpits, while others denounced it. After the Civil War, white
churches often rejected black parishioners, leading black clergy and
worshipers to form their own churches, which quickly became the
backbone o f black communities across the country. During the
1950s and 1960s, many o f those churches and their clerics spearheaded
the civil rights movement.
y Dan Bell
o f the Portland Observer
The Black Church may be said to
be the “womb” o f the African-
American experience. It served as
protective incubator preserving the
heritage o f the African diaspora.
Consequently, it is the singular
institutional vessel that carried the
culture o f Africa that has been
retained by the African Americans
and delivered it as the “ Black
experience” in its present state.
One must recognize that it was in
the context o f Christianity that
African slaves were able to preserve
their culture, traditions, and rituals.
Albeit in a disguised manner under
the watchful eye o f the slave master.
It was in this form that the African
culture and heritage survived. The
existence o f the Black Christian
experience even preceded officially
c o n d o n ed m a rria g e am o n g st
African Americans.
Moving beyond slavery, the Black
Church became the fulcrum o f the
African-American experience.. It
serves as a reservoir for education.
Backstage at the Apollo Theatre during the night o f the National
Deliverance o f Prayer lead by Adam Clayton Powell. Jr. on March
28, 1956. Clara Ward o f the Ward Singers leads a prayer service
while her mother. Mrs. Gertrude Ward. Apollo employee Russell
Cooper and Ward Singer Katherine Parham, eyes closed, join in
prayer.
political, economic, social, and
artistic endeavors.
Characteristically, the Black Church
differentiates itself in its perception
o f the “Black sacred cosmos.” In
the African-American experience,
th is has com e to be the
amalgamation o f European thought
as w ell as A fric a n in h e rite d
perceptions. God is seen as Divine
Father or “Great Creator Artist”
whose son, Jesus Christ, was
mediator, brokering through love
a freedom in which God’s children
would be able to serve Him. At the
same time, there was the message
o f Moses whose wrathful God
would, if necessary, violently free
His people, as exemplified in the
w ell-k n o w n B lack sp iritu a l,
(Please see ‘C h u rc h ’ page 5)
h ttp ://
www.portland
observer.net
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