Read on Twitter
Since I’ve long covered Black churches and religion and race at @RNS, check out my live-tweeting during the airing of #BlackChurchPBS. Here’s my story about book by @HenryLouisGates and the related series: https://religionnews.com/2021/02/05/henry-louis-gates-new-book-tv-series-distills-centuries-of-black-church-history/
. @johnlegend, an executive producer of #BlackChurchPBS, recently told journalists “I just grew up around a family full of folks who loved to sing and loved to sing about Jesus.” My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2021/02/08/john-legend-credits-childhood-in-pentecostal-church-with-his-music-career-choice/
. @om3, Chicago megachurch pastor featured in #BlackChurchPBS, created a sermon film to honor Ahmaud Arbery after his death. @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2020/05/18/chicago-preacher-otis-moss-iii-uses-film-to-honor-ahmaud-arbery-address-racism/
As you watch, #BlackChurchPBS, here’s my @RNS story that cites the faiths of enslaved people brought to the U.S. – Catholicism, Islam, traditional African religions: https://religionnews.com/2019/08/01/angela-a-first-african-tells-her-story-in-jamestown-but-her-faith-is-a-mystery/
. @HenryLouisGates interviewed a descendant of Muslim slave Bilali Muhammad in #BlackChurchPBS. My @RNS story about @amhistorymuseum exhibit that featured his Arabic document: https://religionnews.com/2017/06/28/exhibit-showcases-the-earliest-stirrings-of-american-religious-diversity/
. @KirkFranklin talked about his faith in #BlackChurchPBS, a story that series producer Stacey Holman told me was “quite moving” in my @RNS advance story: https://religionnews.com/2021/02/05/henry-louis-gates-new-book-tv-series-distills-centuries-of-black-church-history/
#BlackChurchPBS discusses how slaveholders left out Exodus passages that spoke of freedom from Bibles shared with slaves. My @RNS story about ’18 @museumofBible exhibit on same topic: https://religionnews.com/2018/11/27/museum-highlights-slave-bible-that-focuses-on-servitude-leaves-out-freedom/
Here’s my @RNS short video tour of the ’18 @museumofBible “Slave Bible” exhibit @museumofBible, that discussed same topic featured on #BlackChurchPBS:
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, interviewed in #BlackChurchPBS, preached at a Baptist church two years ago on Ash Wednesday, saying “When love breaks out, we all get set free.” My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2019/03/07/episcopal-presiding-bishop-michael-curry-preaches-on-selflessness-at-baptist-church/
George Whitefield, famous for the First Great Awakening and cited in #BlackChurchPBS, encouraged evangelizing slaves in early U.S. visits but later became a slave owner. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2014/12/16/300-years-birth-whitefield-staying-power-evangelicals/
Otis Moss Jr., who said on #BlackChurchPBS, he accepted call to ministry at age 17, has done tag-team preaching with his son @om3. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2017/06/16/like-father-like-son-black-activists-tag-team-preach-on-fathers-day/
First African Baptist Church, cited in #BlackChurchPBS, is one of prominent Black churches where free blacks, former slaves and slaves worshipped in 1700s, early 1800s. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2019/08/01/from-new-york-to-alabama-blacks-worshipped-in-own-spaces-before-slaverys-end/
Jarena Lee, mentioned on #BlackChurchPBS, was eventually licensed to preach by AME Church founder Richard Allen. My @RNS story when Allen honored with 2016 stamp: https://religionnews.com/2016/02/01/ame-church-founder-honored-postage-stamp/
Bishop Vashti McKenzie, interviewed in #BlackChurchPBS, was named AME Church’s first woman bishop in 2016. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2000/09/28/news-feature-first-woman-ame-bishop-begins-her-tenure/
Nat Turner, discussed on #BlackChurchPBS was a slave and a preacher. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2016/10/06/nat-turner-a-rebel-and-a-man-of-faith/
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, cited in #BlackChurchPBS, was honored with a statue at U.S. Capitol in 2013. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2013/06/19/5-religious-facts-you-might-not-know-about-frederick-douglass/
. @HenryLouisGates spoke in #BlackChurchPBS about 11 o’clock on Sunday being the most segregated hour. @mjcressler and I authored a “Beyond the Most Segregated Hour” @RNS series in late 2019, early 2020: https://religionnews.com/category/beyond-the-most-segregated-hour/
The AME Zion Church, cited in #BlackChurchPBS, began its expansion into the South after the Civil War. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2019/08/01/from-new-york-to-alabama-blacks-worshipped-in-own-spaces-before-slaverys-end/
. @HenryLouisGates spoke in #BlackChurchPBS about ministers holding public office during the Reconstruction. Here’s my @RNS story about several African American ministers who have served in Congress: https://religionnews.com/2021/01/05/as-warnock-hopes-to-be-pastor-and-politician-he-has-role-models-who-did-both/
Wondering how #BlackChurchPBS got the subtitle “This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song”? @Oprah had something to do with it, series producer told me. @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2021/02/05/henry-louis-gates-new-book-tv-series-distills-centuries-of-black-church-history/
Rev. Calvin Butts, interviewed in #BlackChurchPBS, said at a 2018 DC news conference of Black preachers: “We have our own view of the gospel message which is the only authentic view.” My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2018/10/09/black-clergy-critiquing-the-national-divide-announce-plan-to-forge-their-own-path/
Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, interviewed in #BlackChurchPBS, talked to me about her 2015 book on the Black church response to deaths of unarmed Black people. My @RNS story https://religionnews.com/2015/05/01/qa-ferguson-baltimore-black-americas-faith-tested/
. @johnlegend, executive producer of #BlackChurchPBS, talked about his Pentecostal roots with journalists and in new documentary series. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2021/02/08/john-legend-credits-childhood-in-pentecostal-church-with-his-music-career-choice/
. @YNPierce, @HUSDivinity dean featured in #BlackChurchPBS, just wrote a book about “grandmother theology,” which she considers a subset of womanist theology. My @RNS story: https://religionnews.com/2021/02/16/howard-divinity-dean-yolanda-pierce-grandmother-theology-black-jesus-and-mariology/
