Overview
"As an academically informed enterprise, African American theology began in the late 1960s when African American scholars and progressive pastors sought to shape the religious nature and meaning of social transformation in the wake of the major successes of the civil rights movement. African American theology—which includes black theology and womanist theology—arose as a theological and religious response to injustice. It revolved around epistemologies, ontologies, and other ideas that were meant to speak theologically to the lived experience of African Americans. This book explores sources, doctrines, internal debates, current challenges, and future prospects concerning African American theology. It discusses the Christian tradition, scripture, culture / cultural production, African American history, and African American experience in relation to African American theology, along with doctrines of God, Christology, womanist theology as a corrective to black theology, the importance of embodiment in African American theology, the nature and meaning of liberation, ontological blackness as the marker of African American identity, and the meaning of globalization for African American theology’s concern with economic justice."
From: Pinn, Anthony B., Katie G. Cannon, Anthony B. Pinn, and Katie G. Cannon. "Introduction." The Oxford Handbook of African American Theology. : Oxford University Press, July 01, 2014. Oxford Handbooks Online. Date Accessed 12 Feb. 2020 <https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199755653.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199755653-e-035>.
Selected Reference Works
African American Religious Studies by ISBN: 0822309262Publication Date: 1989-06-26This anthology provides a coherent, interdisciplinary theoretical base for students of African American religious studies and will assist in the design of programs and courses for lay theological education and training. To this end, the editor has assembled material from Old and New Testament studies, theology, church history, pastoral counseling, worship, and social action.
Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery by Call Number: REF E441 .D53 1997ISBN: 0275957993Publication Date: 1997-02-19In 1988 Greenwood Press published the Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery to wide acclaim by the library community and scholars in the field. The Dictionary was issued at a time when the study of slavery commanded a central place in American historical thinking and, increasingly, in a host of other disciplines as well. Interest in slavery has not abated. Yet, despite a growing sophistication in methodology and complexity of analysis, the basic contours of the study of slavery remain much the same as when the Dictionary first appeared. To take the latest scholarship into account, the editors have added a new introduction surveying the principal themes in research and writing over the past decade and have appended a bibliography, arranged by broad thematic areas keyed to topics treated in the text. In 1988 Greenwood Press published the Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery to wide acclaim by the library community and scholars in the field. It was selected as a Best Reference Book by Library Journal, a Choice Outstanding Academic Book, and an American Library Association Outstanding Reference Book. Historian John Hope Franklin declared it an indispensable tool for all students of human bondage, while the Journal of the Early Republic announced it has something for everyone interested in Afro-American slavery, from the general reader to undergraduate student to professional historian. The Dictionary appeared at a time when the study of slavery commanded a central place in American historical thinking and, increasingly, in a host of other disciplines as well. Interest in slavery has not abated. Yet, despite a growing sophistication in methodology and complexity of analysis, the basic contours of the study remain much the same as when the Dictionary was first issued. To take the latest scholarship into account, the editors have appended a bibliography, arranged by broad thematic areas keyed to topics treated in the text. The bibliography, augmented by the historiographical review of the scholarship of the last decade, makes the Dictionary an invaluable guide for students and scholars alike.
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History by Call Number: REF E185 .E54 2006ISBN: 0028658167Publication Date: 2005-12-16This second edition is an expansion of the 1996 classic and its 2000 supplement. Whereas the first edition focused almost exclusively on the United States, this new set identifies and addresses broad themes critical to understanding the texture of the cultures, achievements, challenges, and promise of the 150 million people of African descent who live in North America, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. It is an authoritative and comprehensive information about Black history, figures, and accomplishments throughout the Americas now have a defining and current reference.
Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora by Call Number: REF DT16.5 .E53 2008ISBN: 9781851097005Publication Date: 2008-07-29The authoritative source for information on the people, places, and events of the African Diaspora, spanning five continents and five centuries. The field of African Diaspora studies is rapidly growing. Until now there was no single, authoritative source for information on this broad, complex discipline. Drawing on the work of over 300 scholars, this encyclopedia fills that void. Now the researcher, from high school level up, can go to a single reference for information on the historical, political, economic, and cultural relations between people of African descent and the rest of the world community. Five hundred years of relocation and dislocation, of assimilation and separation have produced a rich tapestry of history and culture into which are woven people, places, and events. This authoritative, accessible work picks out the strands of the tapestry, telling the story of diverse peoples, separated by time and distance, but retaining a commonality of origin and experience. Organized in A-Z sections covering global topics, country of origin, and destination country, the work is designed for easy use by all. * More than 500 A-Z entries * Contributions from hundreds of leading scholars * Maps showing key locations in the African Diaspora
The Jim Crow Encyclopedia by Call Number: REF E185.61 .J53 2008ISBN: 9780313341816Publication Date: 2008-09-30Jim Crow refers to a set of laws in many states, predominantly in the South, after the end of Reconstruction in 1877 that severely restricted the rights and privileges of African Americans. As a caste system of enormous social and economic magnitude, the institutionalization of Jim Crow was the most significant element in African American life until the 1960s Civil Rights Movement led to its dismantling. Racial segregation, as well as responses to it and resistance against it, dominated the African American consciousness and continued to oppress African Americans and other minorities, while engendering some of the most important African American contributions to society. This major encyclopedia is the first devoted to the Jim Crow era. The era is encapsulated through more than 275 essay entries on such areas as law, media, business, politics, employment, religion, education, people, events, culture, the arts, protest, the military, class, housing, sports, and violence as well as through accompanying key primary documents excerpted as side bars. This set will serve as an invaluable, definitive resource for student research and general knowledge. The authoritative entries are written by a host of historians with expertise in the Jim Crow era. The quality content comes in an easy-to-access format. Readers can quickly find topics of interest, with alphabetical and topical lists of entries in the frontmatter, along with cross-references to related entries per entry. Further reading is provided per entry. Dynamic sidebars throughout give added insight into the topics. A chronology, selected bibliography, and photos round out the coverage. Sample entries include Advertising, Affirmative Action, Armed Forces, Black Cabinet, Blues, Brooklyn Dodgers, Bolling v. Sharpe, Confederate Flag, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Detroit Race Riot 1943, Ralph Ellison, Eyes on the Prize, G.I. Bill, Healthcare, Homosexuality, Intelligence Testing, Japanese Internment, Liberia, Minstrelsy, Nadir of the Negro, Poll Taxes, Rhythm and Blues, Rural Segregation, Sharecropping, Sundown Towns, Booker T. Washington, Works Project Administration, World War II.
New World A-Coming by Call Number: BL625.2 .W45 2016ISBN: 9781479888801Publication Date: 2017-02-07Winner of the 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Book Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions Shows how early 20th-century resistance to conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America that still resonate today When Joseph Nathaniel Beckles registered for the draft in the 1942, he rejected the racial categories presented to him and persuaded the registrar to cross out the check mark she had placed next to Negro and substitute "Ethiopian Hebrew." "God did not make us Negroes," declared religious leaders in black communities of the early twentieth-century urban North. They insisted that so-called Negroes are, in reality, Ethiopian Hebrews, Asiatic Muslims, or raceless children of God. Rejecting conventional American racial classification, many black southern migrants and immigrants from the Caribbean embraced these alternative visions of black history, racial identity, and collective future, thereby reshaping the black religious and racial landscape. Focusing on the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, Father Divine's Peace Mission Movement, and a number of congregations of Ethiopian Hebrews, Judith Weisenfeld argues that the appeal of these groups lay not only in the new religious opportunities membership provided, but also in the novel ways they formulated a religio-racial identity. Arguing that members of these groups understood their religious and racial identities as divinely-ordained and inseparable, the book examines how this sense of self shaped their conceptions of their bodies, families, religious and social communities, space and place, and political sensibilities. Weisenfeld draws on extensive archival research and incorporates a rich array of sources to highlight the experiences of average members. The book demonstrates that the efforts by members of these movements to contest conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America about the nature of racial identity and the collective future of black people that still resonate today.
Reference Library of Black AmericaCall Number: REF E185 .R44 1997ISBN: 0787615358The essential Black History reference set for the 21st century, THE REFERENCE LIBRARY OF BLACK AMERICA is the complete source of information on African-Americans. Just a few of the major areas covered in this five volume series are chronology, inventors & scientists, women, music, sports, media, military, organizations, law, literature, significant documents, landmarks & a great deal more. Each volume also contains African-American award recipients, guide to Black colleges, extensive bibliography & a volume-specific cumulative index. Aimed at middle & high schools, this outstanding series also offers a wealth of material for colleges & as a teacher resource guide.
Research Resources
- America: History and LifeIndexes books and journal articles on the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
- African-American Newspapers: The 19th CenturyThis collection of African American newspapers contains information about cultural life and history during the 1800s and includes first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers CollectionSearch the full-text of nine major African American newspapers - Chicago Defender, The Baltimore Afro-American, New York Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, Los Angeles Sentinel, Atlanta Daily World, The Norfolk Journal and Guide, The Philadelphia Tribune, and Cleveland Call and Post. Dates available vary for each newspaper based on their individual histories but collectively cover from 1893 - 2005. Track local, regional, national, and international events, arts, history, military issues, civil rights, social news, popular culture and more.
- Slavery abolition & social justice This link opens in a new window
This resource on trans-Atlantic slavery and abolition brings together original manuscript and rare printed material (manuscripts, pamphlets, books, paintings, maps and images) from dozens of libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. It includes significant coverage of Slavery Today, US court records from the local, regional and State Supreme Court level, documents on the Islamic slave trade, as well as sources on urban slavery, interracial education, the Day Law in Kentucky, desegregation and social justice. All printed items are full text searchable and manuscripts have document level indexing.
- ATLA religion database with ATLASerialsIndexes comprehensively scholarly and non-scholarly journals in religion and theology. This resource is a definite "must consult" for those undertaking bibliographic research in Christian religious studies. One of the oldest continuing indexes of religious journal literature, its retrospective journal coverage goes back as far as 1949 and in some cases to the 19th century. The breadth and depth of its coverage renders this index extremely versatile. Its content and search features make it relevant for research in a number of religion specific areas including Biblical Studies, Church history, Systematic Theology, Philosophical Theology, and Ministry studies, as well as denomination specific research. Full-text access is frequently available. EBSCOhost.
Uniquely Baylor Resources
- The Black Gospel Music Restoration Project/Royce-Darden CollectionThe purpose of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project (BGMRP) is to identify, acquire, preserve, record and catalogue the most at-risk music from the black gospel music tradition. This collection will primarily contain 78s, 45s, LPs, and the various tape formats issued in the United States and abroad between the 1940s and the 1980s. Additionally, any ephemera that may be of use to scholars – including PR photos and press packets, taped interviews, informal photographs, tour books and programs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and sheet music – will also be acquired as it becomes available. The ultimate goal is to have a copy of every song released by every black gospel artist or group during the target time period.
In March 2020, alumni from Bishop College, a historic university established in 1881 in Marshall, Texas, for African American Baptist students, have graciously agreed to donate the college’s archives to Baylor University. These archives will be held in The Texas Collection, adding to its holdings that encompass the rich history of Baptist institutions established in our state as well as African American historical archives.
Members of Baylor’s Truett Seminary and University Libraries are looking forward to celebrating and sharing the legacy and memory of Bishop College through the gift of the donated archives. Items in the gifted archives await processing, but the archives may include handwritten sermons, speeches and commencement addresses, letters from significant figures including Martin Luther King, Sr., as well as audio recordings.
As these archives begin to arrive on Baylor’s campus, The Texas Collection will work to process them and will announce when they are available to the public for research.
