Description
Book SynopsisExplores the complex role that Black religious leaders playor don't playin twenty-first-century racial justice effortsDr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with many of his Black religious contemporaries courageously mobilized for freedom, ushering in the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. Their efforts laid the groundwork for some of the greatest legislative changes in American history. Today, however, there is relatively limited mass mobilization led by Black religious leaders against systemic racism and racial inequality. Why don't we see more Black religious leadership in today's civil rights movements, such as Black Lives Matter?Drawing on fifty-four in-depth interviews with Black religious leaders and civic leaders in Ohio, Korie Litte Edwards and Michelle Oyakawa uncover several reasons, including a move away from engagement with independent Black-led civic groups toward white-controlled faith-based organizations, religious leaders' nostalgia for and personal links t
Trade Review"An excellent analysis of how dynamics such as the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and a Black Protestant ethic shaped successful efforts by Black clergy in Ohio to get out the vote during the 2012 presidential election. The book also vividly chronicles local tensions between politics and theologies that undermined participation by many of these same leaders with activist groups like Black Lives Matter.
Smart Suits, Tattered Boots is a must read for anyone interested in leadership and civic engagement among contemporary Black ministers and the processes that can foster and/or undermine such efforts." -- Sandra L. Barnes, C. V. Starr Professor of Sociology, Brown University
"Featuring high quality social science research and drawing richly on a wide and appropriate range of works,
Smart Suits, Tattered Boots makes an important contribution to the field." -- Michael Emerson, co-author of Blacks and Whites in Christian America: How Racial Discrimination Shapes Religious Convictions
"One must go quite far back to find articles that highlight the impact of Black church leadership (or really any congregational factors) on social movements … That makes the exposure to a top-notch analysis of the kinds of religious actors that
Smart Suits, Tattered Boots provides especially important." * Mobilization *
