In observance of Black History Month, ICNY recounted African American religious history milestones on Twitter. Throughout the month of February, ICNY issued one or two daily “milestone missives” to its Twitter audience, moving in chronological order from the early arrivals of blacks in America to the latest developments in diverse faith traditions. The entire digest of “tweets” are collected below.
African American religious history is rooted in diverse African faiths sharing a belief in 1 God, & ancestors as a spiritual link.
Africans enslaved in America appropriated ideas, gods & practices from each other while strengthening the beliefs they shared.
Up to 20% of Africans brought to America as slaves were Muslim, often serving as overseers due to their ability to read & write.
The 1st Catholic of African descent was Estbam, a slave brought to the New World in 1536.
Bilali Mahomet was enslaved in 1725; his diary records the struggle to practice Islam as a slave, abstaining from pork, etc.
Some blacks joined Methodist, Baptist & Presbyterian evangelical churches during Great Awakening of early 1700’s.
The 1734 “Great Awakening” led many blacks to convert to Christianity & caused more whites to question the ethics of slavery.
1st independent black church in US may have been a slave congregation in Virginia or Silver Bluff Church in S.C., est. 1774.
St. Thomas’s African Episcopal Church was formed in 1794 under the leadership of Absalom Jones.
In late 1700’s, the Bethel African Episcopal Church was established & in turn founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
NYC’s racially mixed St. John’s Street Church served as focal point 4 1700’s development of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
The cultural blending of slaves in the Caribbean islands helped form the tradition known as Voudoun (a.k.a. “voodoo”)
The word “Vo-du” comes from West African Fon language & means “God.” Beliefs are drawn from multiple W. African cultural groups.
The 19th C. 2nd Awakening with its camp meetings attracted blacks to evangelical Protestantism, & produced “spiritual” music form.
Christianity served as inspiration in 3 best known slave rebellions in US history: Gabriel Proesser, Denmark Vesey, & Nat Turner.
Early 1800’s: Joy Street Baptist Church in Boston & Abyssinian Baptist Church in NYC arose from racially mixed congregations.
Venerable Pierre Toussaint was former slave who gained freedom in NYC in 1807, where he became noted philanthropist.
In 1829 the Oblate Sisters of Providence was 1st successful Roman Catholic sisterhood founded by women of African descent.
Though illegal in 1840’s, Catholic “Sisters of the Holy Family” was founded by free black woman Henriette Delille in New Orleans.
The 1st African Catholic parish, Chapel of the Nativity, developed in Pittsburgh in 1844.
Following its creation in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention initiated missionary work among slaves.
1st black ordained priests in U.S. were the Healy brothers. James also became the 1st African American bishop in 1854.
As early as the Civil War some blacks participated in white Jewish synagogues in southern states.
Augustus Tolton was 1st Roman Catholic priest in U.S. publicly known to be black when he was ordained in 1886.
The 1st black National Baptist association – the National Baptist Convention USA – was formed in 1895.
Thomas Dorsey (b. 1899) created the musical style known today as “gospel,” by blending secular blues music with sacred text.
Noble Drew Ali founded Moorish Science Temple of America in 1913, inspired by Islam, Buddhism, etc. & emphasized self-sufficiency.
Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Assoc. (UNIA) formed in 1914 advocated a return to Liberia in the African motherland.
In 1916 French priest Ignatius Lissner & ex-nun Elizabeth Williams founded Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary.
The earliest African American humanists were of the early 20th century “Harlem Renaissance” artistic movement.
The Nation of Islam (NOI) was founded in Detroit by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930 to improve conditions for African Americans.
Elijah Muhammad led the Nation of Islam from 1934 until 1975, & mentored Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad Ali, et al.
In 1945 World Order of Congregational Churches recognized Voodoo as a religion practiced in 1,000 communities in Louisiana alone.
The Hanafi Madhab Center was created in Washington D.C. in the 1950’s & includes basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabar as a member.
Circa 1952, Malcolm X rose to become a leader & public face of the Nation of Islam, until he left in disillusionment in 1964.
Martin Luther King Jr. led 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott & served as 1st president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Returning from Mecca pilgrimage in 1964, Malcolm X changed his name to El Hajj Malik el-Shabazz & formed Muslim Mosque Inc.
On Feb. 21 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated, survived by wife Betty Shabazz, an educator & advocate who raised 6 children alone.
In 1970, Shaykh Khalid Ahmad Tawfiq began the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem.
Warith Deen Mohammed disbanded the original Nation of Islam in 1976 & transformed it into the American Society of Muslims.
In 1990 Imam Warith Dean was 1st Muslim invited to open U.S. Senate with prayer, & later participated in Clinton’s inauguration.
In 1989, Sister Thea Bowman became 1st African-American woman to receive a Doctorate in Theology from Boston College.
Louis Farrakhan is the current head of the Nation of Islam. In 1997 he organized the “Million Man March” in Washington, DC
Sheilah Edwards became the 1st African American vice-general director of a Buddhist organization (Soka Gakkai) in 1997.
Sources include:
Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/african.htm
Archdiocese of NY: http://www.archny.org/
“Islam in America” by Jane I. Smith, published by Columbia University Press, 1999.
National Humanities Center: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/aareligion.htm.
“This Far by Faith” PBS documentary: http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/
“The African American Religious Experience in America” by Anthony B. Pinn, published by Greenwood Press in 2006.
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