When Richard Allen established the African Methodist Episcopal Church–the first religious denomination established by African Americans in the United States–he set in motion an organization that would play a critical role in driving the spiritual, social and educational advancement for millions of followers—both in the United States and around the world.
Continue reading Richard Allen and the AME Church, Part 2: Legacy
Arguably three of the most influential African Americans of the 19th century are Harriet Tubman, the ‘Moses’ of her people; the abolitionist Frederick Douglass; and Sojourner Truth. They may in fact be three of the most influential Americans of any race of that era. Truth was an itinerant preacher, anti-slavery activist, and women’s rights activist. Born a slave she would develop into an acclaimed public speaker, achieving a stature that was matched by very few of any race. Luminaries of her era sought an audience with her, including Douglass, the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, women suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and president Abraham Lincoln himself. More than a hundred years after her death her life remains a shining example of incredible courage, of an unshakable faith in God, and an uncanny ability to use that faith in deceptively simple but highly effective ways in the fight for justice, equality and respect among all peoples. Continue reading Sojourner Truth Part 1: Isabella
Amid a driving rain Air Force One touched down in Havana, Cuba on the afternoon of Sunday, March 20, 2016. The President and the First Family descended the steps under a family of stiff black umbrellas, and TV reporters and pundits struggled to find a metaphor that fit the historic occasion. Finally one commentator, steel in the voice, proclaimed. ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’—there you have it, a reference to Dylan’s song from 1963. Continue reading Bob Dylan and the Gospel Songs