This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience - Hardcover

Juan Williams; Quinton Hosford Dixie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060188634 ISBN 13: 9780060188634

Publisher: William Morrow, 2003

Synopsis

This Far by Faith is the story of how religious faith inspired the greatest social movement in American history -- the U.S. Civil Rights movement.

America's struggle, rise, and triumph from slavery to equal rights for all is a living testament to the power of deep, personal faith for Americans of all colors. The black experience in America, even black music, is defined by a steady, burning religious faith and the power it offered to people who were viewed as powerless, even less than human, until the flame of faith showed them that they were equal members of God's family. That everlasting faith in God and trust in God's justice, as well as the power of prayer and its appeals to conscience, remains central to the concept of democracy and one nation under God that all Americans value.

Arriving on ships named Brotherhood and John the Baptist, slaves who had previously embraced tribal religions in their home countries faced the Christianity of their captors. Africans did not simply adopt the religion of the European colonists; they used the power, principles, and practices of Christianity to blaze a path to freedom and deliverance. In the process, the moral fabric of the nation was tested and took on a new texture and strength unique to America.

In the early to mid-twentieth century, black people used organized faith to meet, finance, and plan their struggle for freedom. The church was a living well of strength and comfort for black Americans; the one place where they maintained their public dignity. It was the black church that produced civil rights leaders from Martin Luther King Jr. to Malcolm X. And the white churches and synagogues provided key allies that were necessary to boost the Civil Rights movement to success.

Juan Williams, author of Eyes on the Prize, the landmark book on the history of the Civil Rights movement, and Quinton Dixie, a professor of religious studies and African American studies at Indiana University, bring to life the pivotal moments facing men and women of faith in this monumental history. The stories begin with ministers leading rebellions against slavery and towering men and women who used faith in God to rise above the brutality of being demeaned as slaves. Here are stories of politics, tent revivals, and the importance of black churches as touchstones for every step of the faith journey that became the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Using archival and contemporary photography, historical research, and modern-day interviews, and featuring messages from some of today's foremost clergymen and women, This Far by Faith is the first in-depth treatment of this social history and a companion to a major public television series.

About this title

About the Author:

Juan Williams is the author of the acclaimed PBS series companion volume Eyes on the Prize. He is a senior correspondent for NPR, political analyst for Fox News, and the host of America's Black Forum. Williams worked at the Washington Post for twenty-three years as a columnist, editorial writer, and White House correspondent. He has won an Emmy Award for his television documentary writing and has contributed features to Fortune, Atlantic Monthly, Ebony, GQ, New Republic, and Black Issues Book Review. He is a graduate of Haverford College in Pennsylvania.

From Publishers Weekly:

Williams, who wrote the companion volume to the award-winning PBS documentary Eyes on the Prize, and Dixie, an Indiana University professor, offer a well-illustrated companion volume to the upcoming PBS series "This Far by Faith." They follow the traditional contours of other studies of African-American religious history, beginning with slavery and following the tale through the emergence of free black churches; the nadir of the late 19th century; the Great Migration; the rise of black nationalism and urban religious traditions in the early 20th century; the civil rights movement; and the embrace of alternative religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and the Five Percenters in the 1970s through the 1990s. One particularly interesting segment discusses those mid-20th century black Christian leaders who adopted conservative stances on integration; Williams and Dixie have done a great service by presenting these ministers' views alongside the more familiar stories of civil rights leaders, demonstrating the ideological diversity of the African-American church. At times, the book's writing style can be abrupt and jerky, switching from one historical figure to the next, or between different cities, without transitions to help the reader. The prose is also overburdened with romantic language about heroes who laid their all at the altar of sacrifice, etc.-a device that may work well over six separate installments of a television series, but quickly becomes redundant in print. The real strength here is not the writing but the 76 memorable photographs and illustrations, which powerfully attest to the courage and religious convictions of generations of African Americans.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060188634
• ISBN 13: 9780060188634
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 326