A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

In many cases, the need for independent Black churches was birthed in part by the harmful practices of white Christianity. White churches prohibited Black people from partaking in the sacraments, regulated where they could sit, and justified this inferiority with oppressive interpretations of the Bible. Further, while much of Black Church formation has been about subversion, oppressive interpretations of the Bible did not totally disappear, especially when considering the role of women in ministry. Often, the histories of Black Churches start with women but the pulpits never suggest this fact. More explicit, Black women have been the life-line of the Black Church, but their names and work tend to be omitted from the archives. As the story of the Black Church continues, Black women have continued to struggle attaining senior leadership roles within mainline denominations.

In 1873, on Easter Sunday, more than 150 African Americans are killed in northwest Louisiana. The event became known as the Colfax Massacre.

In 1871 The Fisk University’s Jubilee Singers begin their first national tour.

In 1831, Jarena Lee, the first Black woman authorized to preach in the AME church, writes, “The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee”, the first autobiography written by an African American woman.

Yale students singing in the Gospel Choir

In 1974, the Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon becomes the first African-American woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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In 1958, Alvin Ailey (pictured left), forms the Alivin Ailey dance troupe in New York.

In 1919, Black spiritual leader, Father Divine (pictured to the right), establishes the Peace Mission Movement in Sayville, New York.

James Varick, World Method- ist Museaum, Lake Junaluska, NC

In 1953, James Baldwin published his Figure: his first novel, the semi-autobiographical, “Go Tell It On The Mountain”.

In 1955, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association which leads the year-long boycott against the city’s racially segregated bus line.

In 1959, Gospel artist, Mahalia Jackson sings “Trouble of the World” in the drama film, “Imitation of Life”.

In 1969, American theologian, James Cone writes his first book, “Black Power & Black Theology”.

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