Redemption of Africa and Black Religion (Black Paper) (English and English Edition) [Paperback]

St. Clair Drake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1970 | Series: Black Paper

This monograph explains the role of religion in the colonies of Africa and among the people of African descent in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

St. Clair Drake was one of the preeminent scholars and educators who was involved in the development of Black nationalist thinking. He was an associate of a number of the early African leaders and activists who formed the Pan African Federation and the All Africa Peoples' Conference. He taught at Roosevelt College in Chicago and at Stanford University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Third World Press; First Edition (US) First Printing edition (June 1, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0883780178
• ISBN-13: 978-0883780176
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,458,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A LITTLE-KNOWN STUDY, December 29, 2010

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This review is from: Redemption of Africa and Black Religion (Black Paper) (English and English Edition) (Paperback)

St. Clair Drake (1911-1990) was an American sociologist, professor at Roosevelt University, and chair of the African-American studies program at Stanford University. He was responsible for creating the first African American Studies Department at Stanford. He was also the author of books such as Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City and Black Folk Here and There: An Essay in History and Anthropology (Afro-American Culture and Society Monograph Ser Vol. 9).

Here are some quotations from this brief 1970 book:

"In the French West Indies, a 'free colored' group formed a distinct social stratum with well-defined privileges not accorded to the blacks. All house servants and free colored persons were bound to the white segment of plantation society by similarity of culture and outlook, and sometimes by kinship. They were both admired and hated by 'field Negroes,' and were, themselves, often divided in mind and spirit by conflicting loyalties." (Pg. 16)

"(Frederick) Douglass became one of America's great leaders of the Abolition Movement, but unlike many of his associates, he never displayed any special interest in Africa despite this episode that he relates in his autobiography." (Pg. 21-22)

"(T)he sobering fact had to be faced that what a black majority could do on the island of Haiti was quite different from what a black minority embedded in the heart of a large white nation would realistically hope for." (Pg. 30-31)

"Negro folk theologians were able to find the texts to counter the derogatory scriptural interpretations. Black preachers may have been advising the slaves to obey their masters and wait for the Lord to show his hand, but they were also building group pride and self-respect by naming their churches 'African' and painting a verbal picture of a glorious past." (Pg. 48)