Henry Louis Gates celebrates the Black church through history and stories
The companion book to the PBS series is accessible, comprehensive, and joyful.
gospel music
James Ault’s new documentary offers a window into a vast and exciting musical world.
I listen to these songs with a longing for the unshakeable faith they express.
Poet in black?
Johnny Cash was a lot of things. Was he a literary writer?
In the days after my grandmother died, my aunts introduced me to Iris DeMent's song “Let the Mystery Be." As is true for many people, from the early years of Christian faith, the loss of one dear to me sparked wonderings about what happens after death. I have fuzzy, 15-year-old memories of one of my aunts thinking aloud about the possibility of reincarnation, and older family members assuring us all that my grandmother was sitting at the feet of Jesus.