African-American Religious Movements the African-American Religious Experience

African-American Religious Movements

The African-American religious experience went through a period of "…extraordinary change" in the years between WWI and WWII (Fulop, et al., 1997, p. 314). Several "sects" and "cults" worshiped in storefront churches, moving from "mainline churches" into organizations that had political, fraternal and "benevolent" approaches to spirituality. But as to mainline Black churches, between 1926 and 1936, the Black Baptist movement grew from 3.2 million to 3.8 million and hence by 1936 the Black Baptist congregation had become the largest Christian church affiliated with the African-American community; indeed, 67% of "all Black Church members" were connected to the Black Baptist movement (Fulop, 315). This growth within the Back Baptist faith was partly due to the decrease in Black membership of the African Methodist church, the Churches of Christ and the Churches of the Living God (Fulop, 315).

Nation of Islam: Wallace D. Fard came to the United States in 1930 -- starting in Detroit -- and brought with him the religious practice known today as "Nation of Islam." According to the book by Richard Brent Turner (Islam in the African-American Experience, Second Edition), Fard began his work by "…assuming the guise of an Arab street peddler… [and he] told his audiences in Detroit that the "…Black men in North America are not Negroes, but members of the lost tribe of Shaba," and he also said the Caucasians were the real "colored people" but that they had lost their "original color" (Turner, 2003, p. 148). Fard peddled silk and other wares from Asia and Africa. Fard claimed to be a prophet from the "Holy City of Mecca," and he spoke to black audiences about the religions of people in Africa; he also "openly and vehemently attacked the white race, Christianity, and the teachings of the Bible" (Turner, 149).

The Nation of Islam "…used this kind of propaganda… to attract thousands of black converts in the 1930s," Turner explained (p. 129). Many African-Americans were influenced by the propaganda and converted to Islam and hence the movement grew, especially in large urban areas like New York City. "Lower class blacks" were "anxious to buy his goods and hear his stories," Turner continues on page 148, and that's how the Nation of Islam movement began. Today the Nation of Islam (known by some of its leaders like Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, and others) advocates for peace, for the unity of black people "and all humanity" in the "Brotherhood of Man" (www.noi.org).

Father Devine's Peace Mission: Father Devine's Peace Mission was among the most "unorthodox religious movements in America," according to an article in the Public Broadcast Service (PBS). He claimed to have been told by God to become a preacher at the "Azusa Street Revival," a Pentecostal revival meeting in the early 20th century. He was a charismatic preacher who claimed that he was going to create an "interracial paradise on earth." He also claimed that he was the one messenger from God who could desegregate every component of U.S. society (PBS). And though his message caught on, he was arrested (with "dozens of his disciples") in Sayville, Long Island, in1931 (PBS). What was the reason for the arrest? He was charged with "invading the county with his religious practices," including having black men and white women "living in the same house together" (PBS). He ministered to "the whole person, body as well as soul," and low-income people were drawn to that philosophy, PBS explained. Although he established 150 "peace missions" around the U.S., his largest mission was in Harlem, which was struggling greatly due to the Great Depression.