This theme is echoed throughout the book and appears in different forms.Įarly in the book, for example, Raboteau observes that the religious experience of slaves differed between the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere. And it still deserves attention today for its insights.Ĭhief among those insights is his tracing of the transformation of African religious practices as Africans were transported to the New World. That book became important in opening doors to a much-neglected area of American religious history. ed., 2004), which was based on his dissertation.
I recommend it as an accessible, evenhanded historical overview of the African American religious experience in the American colonies and the United States.Ī couple of decades before publishing Canaan Land, Raboteau wrote Slave Religion: The “Invisible Institution” in the Antebellum South* (Oxford University Press, 1978 rev. African American Religion combines meticulously researched historical facts with a fast-paced, engaging narrative that will appeal to readers of any age.When I’ve had the opportunity to teach the history of religion in America, I’ve regularly used Albert Raboteau’s Canaan Land: A Religious History of African Americans* (Oxford University Press, 2001). From the African Methodist Episcopal Church to the Nation of Islam and from the first African slaves to Louis Farrakhan, this far-reaching book chronicles the evolution of an important and influential component of our religious and historical heritage.
Raboteau traces the subtle blending of African tribal customs with the powerful Christian establishment, the migration to cities, the growth of Islam, and the 200-year fight for freedom and identity which was so often centered around African-American churches.
Father Divine, a fiery preacher who established a large following in the 1920s and 1930s, convinced his disciples that he could cure not only disease and infirmity, but also poverty and racism.Īn in-depth examination of African-American history and religion, this comprehensive and lively book provides panoramic coverage of the black religious and social experience in America. Martin Luther King, Jr.-America's best-known champion of civil liberties-was a Baptist minister. Throughout African-American history, religion has been indelibly intertwined with the fight against intolerance and racial prejudice.
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