From the earliest days of slavery, when enslaved people were allowed to worship at all, their meetinghouses were subject to surveillance and destruction. Church burnings and bombings by anti-Black racists have continued to the present day, a hallmark of the violent effort to suppress the African American struggle for equality. Gates takes us on a journey spanning more than five centuries, from the intersection of Christianity and the transatlantic slave trade to today's political landscape. We emerge with a new understanding of the importance of African American religion to the larger national narrative: as a center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy, as a magnet for political mobilization, as an incubator of musical and oratorical talent that would transform the culture, and as a crucible for working through the Black community's most critical personal and social issues.

The freedom faith -- A nation within a nation -- Speakers of the word -- God will make a way -- Crisis of faith -- Epilogue. On the Holy Ghost : the beautiful and the sublime, the vision and the trance -- Appendix. Great voices in the African American preaching tradition.