Our Scripture verse for today is Psalm 119:93 which reads: "I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me."

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 now begins to discuss statement which are frequently heard in the black church which he calls "innocent but dangerous." The first such statement is: "Anything dead needs to be buried.” Lee June says, “Devotion leaders or speakers often make this statement when they seek to ‘liven up’ the church service. Such a statement is intended to get the people more involved and outwardly expressive by ‘saying amen,’ singing, clapping, standing, shouting, and so on. This statement is innocent in the sense that the person who utters it is typically sincere and truly desires to get people involved in the worship experience and to express themselves physically. The statement, however, can be detrimental because it equates emotions with spirituality and worshiping. It is further potentially detrimental because it does not allow for the individuality or diversity of worship expressions. Some people are more reserved when it comes to emotions and still others feel deeply but do not express it outwardly. Some express themselves by meditating; others do so by crying and some by silently reflecting on and worshiping God. Such a statement also can rob, or at least interfere with, an individual who might want to quietly worship and meditate."

Our first topic for today is titled "The Slave Trade and the New World (Part 7)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

The Big Business of Slave Trading, continued

The Africans offered stiff resistance to their capture, sale, and transportation to the unknown New World. Hence wars broke out between tribes when the members of one sought to capture members of another to sell them to the traders.

Queen Nzinga of Matamba (Angola today) attempted to coordinate a war of resistance against the Portuguese, as did Tomba of the Baga people in what is the Republic of Guinea today. Although their resistance was effective, they were not able to forestall the slave trade.

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Our second topic for today is "The Negro Church: A Nation Within a Nation, Part 8" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier.

--- The Church and Education

Negroes in the cities contributed to the support of schools for Negro children. Generally, the support which the free Negroes provided was greater in southern cities like Baltimore, Washington, and Charleston, South Carolina, than in New York and Philadelphia. As early as 1790, the Brown Fellowship Society in Charleston maintained schools for the free Negro children. An important fact about the schools which the free Negroes maintained was that many of them were Sunday schools.

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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 part 8 of Chapter 4: "Reconstruction and Retaliation -- 1866 to 1914"

--- FRUSTRATING SECULAR CONDITIONS, Continued

Kenneth Clark described this period as the "nadir" of the Negro in American life. It came, he said, "as a seemingly abrupt and certainly cruel repudiation of the promises of Reconstruction for inclusion of the Negro into the political and economic life of the nation. This was a period when the white crusaders for racial justice and democracy became weary as the newly freed Negroes could no longer be considered a purely Southern problem; when the aspirations for and movement of the Negroes toward justice and equality were curtailed and reversed by organized violence and barbarity perpetrated against them; when as a result of abandonment and powerlessness, the frustrations; bitterness, and despair of Negroes increased and displaced optimism and hope."

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Our Scripture verse for today is Psalm 138:2 which reads: "Jesus saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

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, "Rituals, offerings, songs, and prayers are all vital in the life of a church community. The rituals of baptism and communion, as well as prayer, have clear biblical sanctions. Songs, likewise, are critical to worship. The challenge is to continue these practices in a manner that is consistent with Scripture."

Our first topic for today is titled "The Slave Trade and the New World (Part 6)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

The Big Business of Slave Trading, continued

It must not be assumed that trading in slaves involved the simple procedure of sailing into a port, loading up with slaves, and sailing away. In addition to the various courtesy visits and negotiations that protocol required and that the traders were inclined to follow in order to keep the local leaders in good humor, it was often difficult to find enough "likely" slaves to fill a ship of considerable size. Frequently, traders had to remain at one place for two or three weeks before enough slaves were rounded up to make the negotiations worthwhile. It was not unusual for a ship to be compelled to call at four or five ports in order to purchase as many as 500 slaves. Local inhabitants frequently had to scour the interior and use much coercion to secure enough slaves to meet the demands of the traders.

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Our second topic for today is "The Negro Church: A Nation Within a Nation, Part 7" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. 

--- The Church and Economic Cooperation

As DuBois pointed out more than fifty years ago, "a study of economic co-operation among Negroes must begin with the Church group." It was in order to establish their own churches that Negroes began to pool their meager economic resources and buy buildings and the land on which they stood. As an indication of the small beginnings of these churches, we may note that the value of the property of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1787 was only $2,500. During the next century the value of the property of this organization increased to nine million dollars. The Negroes in the other Methodist denominations, and especially in the numerous Baptist Churches, were contributing on a similar scale a part of their small earnings for the construction of churches.

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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 part 7 of Chapter 4: "Reconstruction and Retaliation -- 1866 to 1914"

--- FRUSTRATING SECULAR CONDITIONS

The years 1865-1914 are often considered the worst period in the American Negro's history. One writer referred to this period as: "the silent era, a time in which even those churches which had vociferously championed the abolition of slavery largely ignored the racial problems gathering during these years and turned their backs on the liberated slaves. (It is not coincidental that this was also the era of a vigorously expanded Protestant foreign mission program -- a possible compensation abroad for a glaring default at home) In this era, the North, preoccupied with its rapid industrial development, not only neglected the Negro it had freed, and left him to flounder, but also in a nationwide political maneuver returned the Negro to the control of his former master and to a condition little better than his previous slavery."

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Our Scripture verse for today is Colossians 2:9-10 which reads: "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:"

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." On the matter of Negro spirituals, he quoted W.E.B. DuBois who wrote: “What are these songs, and what do they mean? I know little of music and can say nothing in technical phrase, but I know something of men, and knowing them, I know that these songs are the articulate message of the slave to the world. They tell us in these eager days that life was joyous to the black slave, careless and happy. I can easily believe this of some, of many. But not all the past South, though it rose from the dead, can gainsay the heart-touching witness of these songs. They are the music of an unhappy people, of the children of disappointment; they tell of death and suffering and unvoiced longing toward a truer world, of misty wanderings and hidden ways.”

Our first topic for today is titled "The Slave Trade and the New World (Part 6)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

The Big Business of Slave Trading, continued

During the Seven Years' War England transported more than 10,000 slaves to Cuba and approximately 40,000 to Guadeloupe. By 1788 two-thirds of all slaves brought by England to the New World were sold in foreign colonies. Naturally the planters in the English colonies objected to their competitors in the New World being provided with slaves by British traders. What the planters did not realize, perhaps, was that the slave trade had itself become an important factor in England's economic life. If England's colonies were the foundation of the English economic system, certainly in the eighteenth century the slave trade was an important cornerstone of that system.

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Our second topic for today is "The Negro Church: A Nation Within a Nation, Part 6" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

--- The Church as an Agency of Social Control, Part 3

There was, of course, moral support for a patriarchal family to be found in the Bible and this fact contributed undoubtedly a holy sanction to the new authority of the Negro man in the family. However, there were more important ways in which the Negro church gave support to Negro family life with the father in a position of authority. As we have pointed out, after Emancipation the Negro had to create a new communal life or become integrated into the communities created by the Negroes who were free before the Civil War. Generally, this resulted in the expansion and complete transformation of these communities. The leaders in creating a new community life were men who with their families worked land or began to buy land or worked as skilled artisans.

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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 part 6 of Chapter 4: "Reconstruction and Retaliation -- 1866 to 1914"

--- THE BAPTISTS (Continued)

Obviously, the ministers who established these local Baptist assemblies were for the most part unlettered. There was no hierarchy or centralized authority. Each church was its own sovereign body; there was not then and is not now any such thing as the "Baptist Church." This lack of centralization meant that the Baptists were initially not nearly as strong and influential as the better organized AME Church. Nonetheless, with freedom came the organization of larger Baptist bodies or conventions.

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Our Scripture verse for today is Isaiah 7:14 which reads: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

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, "There is found in some songs a deep religious, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and theological significance. The songs sung in 'Black churches' often speak of a brighter day, assurance, hope, being on the battlefield, heaven, victory, and the power of God. Many observers of religion and gospel singing will admit that few sing with such creativity, melody, fervor, and emotion as Black people."

Our first topic for today is titled "The Slave Trade and the New World (Part 3)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

Doubtless, some Africans who were sold to the east and north during the period of Muslim domination found their way into the markets of Western Europe. It was not until the end of the fourteenth century, however, that Europeans themselves began to bring slaves into Europe. Both Spanish and Portuguese sailors were exploring the coast of Africa in the wake of the great wave of expansionism that had swept over Europe. They went to the Canary Islands and to innumerable ports on the mainland as far as the Gulf of Guinea...

Our second topic for today is "The Negro Church: A Nation Within a Nation, Part 3" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

--- The “Invisible Institution” Merges with the Institutional Church (Continued)

It is our purpose here to show how an organized religious life became the chief means by which a structured or organized social life came into existence among the Negro masses. The process by which the “invisible institution” of the slaves merged with the institutional churches built by the free Negroes had to overcome many difficulties. These difficulties arose chiefly from the fact that there were among the free Negroes many mulattoes and that they, as well as the unmixed Negroes, represented a higher degree of assimilation of white or European culture. This was often reflected in the difference of the character of the religious services of those with a background of freedom and those who were just released from slavery...

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 part 3 of Chapter 4: "Reconstruction and Retaliation -- 1866 to 1914"

TREMENDOUS CHURCH GROWTH

But what about the church? How did it fare? It grew by leaps and bounds and easily became the very center of Negro social life: a means for self expression, recognition, and shelter from the cruel white world. Many mutual-aid societies and orders were founded which, along with the churches, offered help in time of sickness and death. The Negro preacher became a very important factor in the life of his people, more so than ever before. Two things happened. The "invisible" church of the Southern plantations during slavery time now became visible, adding for the most part to the size and number of independent Baptist and Methodist Negro churches...

Our Scripture verse for today is John 6:35 which reads: "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

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, "At offering time, the technique of announcing amounts is used [in the black church]. Sometimes the appeal is for people to match the pastor in giving a certain amount that is stated from the pulpit. Thus, the ‘real’ Christian is the one who can match the pastor. Another technique is to ask for a certain amount based on one's ‘status’ in the church. For example, pastors may be asked to give one amount, ‘ministers’ another, deacons another, and so on. All of these, while they may be effective in securing the desired offering, violate basic scriptural principles and more than often induce guilt."

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 Slave Trade and the New World (Part 2)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

It was the forces let loose by the Renaissance and the Commercial Revolution that created the modern institution of slavery and the slave trade. The Renaissance provided a new kind of freedom—the freedom to pursue those ends that would be most beneficial to the soul and the body. It developed into such a passionate search that it resulted in the destruction of long established practices and beliefs and even in the destruction of the rights of others to pursue the same ends for their own benefit.

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Our second topic for today is "The Negro Church: A Nation Within a Nation, Part 2" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

--- The “Invisible Institution” Merges with the Institutional Church (Continued)

The most obvious result of the merging of the “invisible institution” of the church which had grown up among the slaves with the institutional church of the Negroes who were free before the Civil War was the rapid growth in the size of the Negro church organization. But there was a much more important result of this merger which is of primary concern to our study.

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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 part 2 of Chapter 4: "Reconstruction and Retaliation -- 1866 to 1914"

THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD -- 1866 to 1877

Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, Negroes found themselves far from enjoying equality. True, in those restless days immediately following the Civil War, commonly called "Reconstruction," many blacks held positions of prominence and power. In fact, in the early 1870s, seven Negroes were in Congress at the same time. A total of twenty were elected to the House of Representatives during this era; two were preachers.

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Our Scripture verse for today is Hebrews 12:28 which reads: "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."

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, "While the biblical expectation of giving for believers is carried out through tithes and offerings, many congregations still succumb to other methods of receiving and raising money. Although some of these practices are understandable historically, there seems to be no real justification or rationale for many of the various fund-raising practices that continue. Here I am speaking of such practices as baby contests, the selling of dinners, Tom Thumb weddings, Ms. Church contests, etc. All of these activities seem to have outlived their usefulness as viable fundraising efforts, particularly as a way to regularly support the congregation. More fundamentally, these practices can bring shame upon the name of Jesus Christ and often communicate to those outside of the congregation that there is a level of spiritual immaturity operating among the members."

Our first topic for today is titled "The Slave Trade and the New World (Part 1)" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

When the Christians of Western Europe began to turn their attention to the slave trade in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they were not introducing a new practice. Although they displayed much originality in approach and technique, they were engaging in a pursuit that had been a concern for countless centuries. As a matter of fact, slavery was widespread during the earliest known history of Africa as well as of other continents. Doubtless there was cruelty and oppression in African slavery as there was anywhere that the institution developed. At least in some portions of Africa there was no racial basis of slavery.

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Our second topic for today is "The Negro Church: A Nation Within a Nation, Part 1" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

The “Invisible Institution” Merges with the Institutional Church

The Civil War and Emancipation destroyed whatever stability and order that had developed among Negroes under the slave regime. An educated mulatto minister of the AME Church who went from the North to the South following Emancipation wrote: “The whole section (in the neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina) with its hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children just broken forth from slavery, was, so far as these were concerned, dying under an almost physical and moral interdict. There was no one to baptize their children, to perform marriage, or to bury the dead. A ministry had to be created at once -- created out of the materials at hand.”

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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 part 1 of Chapter 4: "Reconstruction and Retaliation -- 1866 to 1914"

JIM CROW

If the material which has been covered thus far in this text could be entitled "Slavery to Freedom," the next section, embracing the Civil War to World War 1, can be called "Freedom to Jim Crow." Jim Crow is a slang term for the post Civil War practice of systematically segregating and suppressing the American black man. It was the successful attempt by whites to shackle the freed blacks and to establish a permanent caste system based on race. Jim Crow was a character in a play by Thomas D. Rice who died in 1860. In the play, performed in a New Orleans theater, the Negro folk-nonsense ballad was sung by a Negro cripple who flopped about the stage imitating the motions of a crow. It was such a success that black-faced comedians of both races all across the country tried their hand at it. The term probably came to have its present meaning because it describes the Negro crippled by the many segregation laws established at this time.

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Our Scripture verse for today is Psalm 1:1-2 which reads: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

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, "Within the 'Black Church' and depending on the denomination, the ritual of baptism is performed differently. For some it is done by total immersion and others practice 'sprinkling.' Some baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit while others baptize in the name of Jesus only. But regardless of the specific practice, this act has tremendous spiritual and psychological significance to the one being baptized as well as upon the congregation. In baptism, one experiences identification with Jesus Christ, a movement from being a 'sinner' to becoming a 'saint.' It is a washing away of sins, a cleansing, and is part of becoming a new person in Christ."

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 Christian Kongo" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

The kingdom of Kongo in West Central Africa was founded in the fourteenth century. It was unique for its voluntary conversion to Catholicism, which occurred after the Kongolese king Nzinga a Nkuwu asked Portuguese priests to baptize him in 1491. He adopted his baptismal name João I and established trade and religious relations with Portugal, allowing Portuguese merchants and priests into his kingdom. However, in Kongo, Africans and not the Portuguese controlled the church, and thus Catholic worship melded indigenous religious beliefs and practices with Christianity.

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Our second topic for today is "The Institutional Church of the Free Negroes, Part 8" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

The Free Negroes Establish Their Own Churches (Continued)

With the division of congregations came the development of a distinct religious observance combining elements of African ritual, slave emotionalism, southern suffering, and individual eloquence. Working-class Baptist and Methodist church services fused African and European forms of religious expression to produce a unique version of worship that reflected the anguish, pain, and occasional elation of nineteenth-century black life in the United States.

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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 continuing with part 5 of Chapter 3: "Reaction -- 1820 to 1865"

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE CIVIL WAR

By the 1850s, cotton had become king, accounting for nearly half of the total value of our exports. And the black man who worked the cotton had become a great divider of men. Things were heading toward a climax in the 1850s and, as time wore on, turbulence increased. Deciding which states would become free of slavery was a problem. Slave owners and abolitionists were at each others' throats. The novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, by H. B. Stowe appeared in 1352 and had a tremendous impact against slavery. The Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court was handed down in 1857. Scott, taken to free territory by his master, filed a lawsuit for his freedom, but the court denied it, claiming he could not sue because he was not a citizen.

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Our Scripture verse for today is Colossians 1:9 which reads: "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."

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, "Although what is called the ‘Black Church’ is still the most powerful institution within the Black community, there is a need for some midcourse corrections. Though there are many encouraging signs, the dangers are there also. Our challenge in the years ahead is to continue to maximize the resources that will advance Christ's church as a whole."

Our first topic for today is titled "The New World Experience" from the book, "From Slavery to Freedom" by John Hope Franklin.

As Van Sertima has ably pointed out in his book, They Came Before Columbus, peoples of African descent arrived in the United States before Christopher Columbus allegedly discovered America. It should also be noted that there were Africans who were on the same ship with Columbus during his exploration. The fact remains, however, that most African Americans arrived in the United States as slaves, and a few arrived as indentured laborers.

In the early 1400s, the Portuguese began to make their way along the west coast of Africa. It was Portugal that led Europe in its search for an all-water route to the East—India, China, and the East Indies.

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Our second topic for today is "The Institutional Church of the Free Negroes, Part 7" from The Negro Church in America by E. Franklin Frazier. He writes:

The Free Negroes Establish Their Own Churches

After Richard Allen and Absalom Jones organized the Free African Society, they differed as to whether Negroes should model their church organization after the Methodist or after the Protestant Episcopal Church. Allen was of the opinion that the Methodist form of worship was more suited to the religious needs and form of worship to which the Negroes had become accustomed. As a consequence of this difference between Jones and Allen, Jones organized the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas but the majority of the Negroes who had seceded from the white church followed Allen.

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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 continuing with part 4 of Chapter 3: "Reaction -- 1820 to 1865"

NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES AND SLAVERY

Not only were scriptures cited in an attempt to support the belief that Negroes were cursed, but they were used to support the very institution of slavery itself. These passages include Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; Titus 2:9-10; 1 Peter 2:18-19; and Philemon.

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