Black Gods of the Metropolis
Negro Religious Cults of the Urban North

Arthur Huff Fauset. Foreword by Barbara Dianne Savage. Introduction by John Szwed

144 pages | 5 1/4 x 8
Paper 1970 | ISBN 978-0-8122-1001-9 | $17.95s | £12.00 | Add to shopping cart

"A foundational text in fields as diverse as religion and urban studies, Black studies and anthropology—a must read!"—Lee D. Baker, author of From Savage to Negro

Stemming from his anthropological field work among black religious groups in Philadelphia in the early 1940s, Arthur Huff Fauset believed it was possible to determine the likely direction that mainstream black religious leadership would take in the future, a direction that later indeed manifested itself in the civil rights movement. The American black church, according to Fauset and other contemporary researchers, provided the one place where blacks could experiment without hindrance in activities such as business, politics, social reform, and social expression. With detailed primary accounts of these early spiritual movements and their beliefs and practices, Black Gods of the Metropolis reveals the fascinating origins of such significant modern African American religious groups as the Nation of Islam as well as the role of lesser known and even forgotten churches in the history of the black community.

In her new foreword, historian Barbara Dianne Savage discusses the relationship between black intellectuals and black religion, in particular the relationship between black social scientists and black religious practices during Fauset's time. She then explores the complexities of that relationship and its impact on the intellectual and political history of African American religion in general.

"Fauset's falls into the select group that includes works of Ralph Ellison, LeRoi Jones, and Albert Murray, that is, the writings of those who have best recognized the distinctiveness and power of Afro-American culture, and given it its proper place in the world."—John F. Szwed, Yale University

"A pioneering work in the sociology of African-American religion."—Utopian Studies

Arthur Huff Fauset (1899-1983) was a civil rights activist, educator, folklorist, and author of several works, including Sojourner Truth, a biography.

Barbara Dianne Savage is Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. She is author of Broadcasting Freedom: Radio, War, and the Politics of Race, 1938-1948.

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