The Talking Book: African Americans and the BibleYale University Press, 2008 M10 1 - 295 pages A striking narrative of the Bible’s central role in African-American history from the early days of slavery to the present The Talking Book casts the Bible as the central character in a vivid portrait of black America, tracing the origins of African-American culture from slavery’s secluded forest prayer meetings to the bright lights and bold style of today’s hip-hop artists. The Bible has profoundly influenced African Americans throughout history. From a variety of perspectives this wide-ranging book is the first to explore the Bible’s role in the triumph of the black experience. Using the Bible as a foundation, African Americans shared religious beliefs, created their own music, and shaped the ultimate key to their freedom—literacy. Allen Callahan highlights the intersection of biblical images with African-American music, politics, religion, art, and literature. The author tells a moving story of a biblically informed African-American culture, identifying four major biblical images—Exile, Exodus, Ethiopia, and Emmanuel. He brings these themes to life in a unique African-American history that grows from the harsh experience of slavery into a rich culture that endures as one of the most important forces of twenty-first-century America. |
From inside the book
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... conjure , " " roots , " or " hoodoo , " bases many of its incan- tations on biblical texts and figures . Whether as slaves absconding from plantations, terrorized sharecroppers in flight from Jim Crow, or Civil XI Prologue.
... Civil Rights activists protesting discrimination and disenfranchisement, Afri- can Americans have spoken of escape from oppression as an Exodus and their goal of a better life as the Promised Land. In the 1930s, littérateurs of the ...
... Civil War . At Christmas the slaves on Hilton Head Island invited her to preach for them . After her sermon , of which , she was convinced , her audience " understood very little , " the congregation engaged in a rousing chorus of " Joy ...
... , night schools , and Sunday schools across the South after the end of the Civil War , Booker T. Washington noted , “ The great ambition of the older people was to try to learn to read the Bible before they died . THE TALKING BOOK 19.
... Civil War. In Douglass we find both incarnation and synthesis of the forces that inform the African- American encounter with the Bible — the critical adoption of Evangelical religion, the relentless quest for literacy, and unflagging ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
41 | |
49 | |
5 Exodus | 83 |
6 Ethiopia | 138 |
7 Emmanuel | 185 |
Postscript | 240 |
Notes | 247 |
Subject Index | 275 |
Scripture Index | 284 |