The Black Church

Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discusses the origins of Black church and its continued influence as the spiritual, cultural, and political epicenter of the African American community.

In the late 1960s, Pentecostal choirs emerged to bring youthful energy back to the Church. The Edwin Hawkins Singers were one of the groups that rose to stardom with their single “Oh, Happy Day.”

In this intimate four-hour series from executive producer, host, and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., we trace how this came to be in the 400 year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and endurance, grace and resilience, thriving and testifying, freedom and independence, solidarity and speaking truth to power.

Between 1920 and 1960, African Americans had built immense political power allowing them to demand a higher level of accountability from the federal government.

In 1949, Thurman published “Jesus and the Disinherited,'' promoting the discipline of non-violence. Inspired by his ideas, Martin Luther King Jr. urges his followers to follow his word.

In 1954, Reverend Franklin recorded his popular sermon “The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest” in New Bethel Baptist Church, becoming one of the first church leaders to take advantage of the medium.

In the early days of the phonograph, jazz and blues recordings created by Black artists were marketed as Race Records. The most popular amongst the African American community were religious sermons.

In the 1920s, women’s place in society was beginning to change. The Church struggled to accept the transforming culture - something the institution still battles with today.

In the first decade after the Civil War, thousands of Black Churches were built across the South to uplift a community that had been degraded in bondage.

More than 40 years after Charleston’s staple Black church was destroyed, Reverend Cain started rebuilding the significant place of worship, which became the flagship of the A.M.E denomination.

Founded to be seminaries, divinity schools, and training grounds for ministers and teachers, HBCUs understood themselves to be doing the work of God.

Gospel music was at the heart of the Civil Rights movement, lifting the spirits of those fighting for racial equality.