African American religion and the civil rights movement in Arkansas

"Focusing on the state of Arkansas as typical in the role of ecclesiastical activism, Johnny E. Williams argues that black religion from the period of slavery through the era of segregation provided theological resources that motivated and sustained preachers and parishioners battling racial oppression." "Drawing on interviews, speeches, case studies, literature, sociological surveys, and other sources, Williams explains how the ideology of the black church roused disparate individuals into a community and how the church established a base for many diverse participants in the civil rights movement." "He shows how church life and ecumenical education helped to sustain the protest of people with few resources and little permanent power. Williams argues that the church helped galvanize political action by bringing people together and creating social bonds even when societal conditions made action difficult and often dangerous. The church supplied its members with meanings, beliefs, relationships, and practices that served as resources to create a religious protest message of hope."--Jacket.