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Henry Louis Gates Jr. Quotes

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Famous Henry Louis Gates Jr. Quotes

“White planters used the Bible to justify slavery; Black people, held in bondage, used the spirituals to express their own beliefs in God, justice, and freedom. Frederick Douglass called the songs "a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.”

Black History Black Christian Black Churches

Book:The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

Source: The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

“...the great blues musician W.C. Handy said, "I think these spirituals did more for our emancipation than all the guns of the Civil War.”

Black History Black Christian Black Churches

Book:The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

Source: The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

“..we find some of the deepest traces of Islam and other traditional African religions in places like Sapelo Island, home of the Gullah Geechee people. Islam's strong roots persisted here in ways that creolized Black Christianity.”

Black History Black Churches

Book:The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

Source: The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

“Estimates of the percentage of enslaved Africans who were Muslim arriving in North America vary widely...between 8 and 20 percent is a reasonable estimate...”

Black History Black Churches

Book:The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

Source: The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

“Active in the antislavery effort, helping enslaved persons, including Frederick Douglass, find safety in the North, the AME Zion Church also counted Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman as members. These abolitionists were believers who framed their powerful arguments for freedom and equality in the language of scripture and an uncorrupted Christianity.”

Black History Black Churches

Book:The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

Source: The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song