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Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights
Black Fire is the first-ever collection of the writings of African American Quakers, from colonial times to the 20th century. Selections are included from the writings of 18 remarkable individuals including correspondence of Benjamin Banneker, an astronomer, son of a freed slave, who exchanged letters with Thomas Jefferson on the injustices of slavery; an 1813 petition to Congress by maritime entrepreneur Paul Cuffe, who traded with Sierra Leone and used his wealth to promote the cause of abolition; the deeply spiritual literary writings of Jean Toomer, pioneer of the Harlem Renaissance; memoirs of human rights activist Mahala Ashley Dickerson, first African American woman admitted to the Alabama bar; and the pacifist arguments of Bayard Rustin, advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., and of Bill Sutherland, who worked with nonviolent revolutionists in South Africa. Also included are interpretation of classic Quaker texts by the popular 20th century minister Howard Thurman and the poetry of Helen Morgan Brooks. “Black Fire is a landmark book that reframes our understanding of Quakerism, for it highlights the degree to which American Quakers were interracial almost from the outset, with black leaders shaping Friends’ spiritual and reform visions. Brilliantly conceived and beautifully edited, it should be required reading for anyone interested in American religion and reform.” --John Stauffer, Chair of History of American Civilization at Harvard and the author of the award-winning Black Hearts of Men and The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. "Black Fire is a unique, much-needed contribution to the continuing conversation about religion and race in the United States, and the place of Quakers in it. The editors have created may well be the definitive anthology." -- Tom Hamm, Quaker historian Includes the works Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806), William Boen (1735-1824), Paul Cuffe (1759-1817), Elizabeth (1766-1866), Sojourner Truth (1799-1883), Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882), Robert Purvis (1810-1898), Jean Toomer (1894-1967), Howard Thurman (1899-1981), Ira DeAugustine Reid (1901-1968), Barrington Dunbar (1901-1978), Helen Morgan Brooks (1904-1989), Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), Mahala Ashley Dickerson (1912-2007), Bill Sutherland (1918- 2010 ), Charles Nichols (1919-2007), George Sawyer (1925-2002), Vera Green (1928-1982).
- GenresReligion
290 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 2, 2018
Weaver’s Black Fire is a fascinating account of prose narratives, accounting for a collective perspective on African-American perspectives on Quakers and practicing core values, structuring a “discernment” effect in narratology regarding the subject. Minimal publications have a composition of African-American Quaker voices, in spite of their three centuries of commitments to both social and spiritual elements of society, culture, and expressionism. Several white academics and theologians have designated this tradition as a form of witchcraft or extremism, while others consider the black prophetic tradition as reactionary to historical racism which fails to respect its authentic liberation effect. The perspectives like that of “Black Fire” form prose that remixes culture and communities, in a way that is more fitting to the moral purpose of the tradition’s creation and continuity.
The Black Prophetic Tradition, as Dr. Cornel West popularly coined as the means in which black occupation of leadership amidst facing extensive social oppression, cosmically transforms cultural concepts and the present experience that eventually shifts worldly conduct through a spiritual realm. It ultimately teaches us not to make decisions on impulsiveness or immorality. This narrative structure mainly concerns “with the project of finding a voice (that previously wasn’t there), with language as an instrument of injury and salvation, of selfhood and empowerment.” This is a powerful tool for remixing Quakerism in a way that sticks to the values in its creation, but also never being out of tune with real-world measures and issues.
The Quakers in America were among the specific first gathering of Christians to point out the numerous perils maintaining the institution of Slavery, particularly regarding the moral and physical assessment in the institution’s violation of the Golden Rule of nonviolence, advocating it eventually would recirculate violence unto their local communities. William Penn pondered it, leading the creation of movements that agitated companions and foes over the issue. In America, the Quakers were at the front line of the Abolition Movement, but Quakerism still has undergone challenges with regards to assessing race or non-friends in spiritual spaces.
The Black Prophetic Tradition acts in a role similarly to that of the facilitator in Quaker-Business, regarding open systems thinking. This pushes for sensing the meaning of context in which both concern-and the sought for response to it-unfolds. Thus, there is necessity for clarity on the system which the concern’s indication and insinuation for the communal interdependence exists.
Toomer:
Toomer, an African American Quaker, displays vagueness towards direct references to racial relations but an enthusiasm for resisting any form of creed. Quakerism similarly involves the regard everybody's wellbeing in conviction of a particular creed, but rather each member using capacity to comprehend themselves and their own identities. Jean Toomer's Quaker conviction associates with his compositions on the place of the African American in the twentieth century Jean Toomer depicts how African Americans could ascend from those past recognizable pieces of proof as depicted as just slaves. They are likewise attempting to discover a voice for themselves, which many later followed.
Toomer’s prose reflects both traditions on the problem separating God and Man, first referencing Fox’s foundation on Quaker philosophy advocating God is within every human being and directly contacting the divine is a necessity. However, he cites a lack of specifics and distinctions on the inner light itself calls means for discourse. He cites that God does not exist in our ignorance or godless tendencies, yet they exist within us, meaning that a single self is non-existent but rather a dual-selves concerning the inward divine presence. Quakers reflect this belief, using terms such as “earthly man” or “spiritual man,” but Toomer’s definition as “Spiritual Self” and “Separated Self” reflects transforming these terms structure to authentically reflect their definitions within his context. The Seperated self is the human element that limits to ability to have a relationship with the divine, as well as prayer or love coming naturally as breathing, thus must be dismantled by Quakers and other spiritual communities alike to truly gain closeness/unity with the Divine through the spiritual self. Thomas Kelly also advocated
not seeking seek possession of separate “several selves” push seeking a collective self-aligned with The Divine.
One part of this testimony I liked was his assertion of human tendency to approach this problem with leniency, which disrupts active focus on seeking God’s kingdom and encourages fondness on world pleasures. This reflects a push for disrupting dominance and active participation, even more prevalent in his description on actively using the body and mind as tools for worship amongst all religious practitioners, whether involving means of external symbols/music to “embody” worship or disconnecting oneself from worldly distractions through mindfulness in a plain manner. Both strategies can be productive in activating the spiritual nature of humans, but also can promote deadness or excitement for worship not truly aligning with God, in which Toomer’s concluding solution as avoiding sterility while creatively seeking aliveness mirrors the true motion of Light & Love.
Other Examples in Black Fire:
Bayard Rustin demonstrates Intersectionality in his “No-Win” policy within movements ignores institutions, aligning them with Moderates. Rustin’s narrative stresses the importance in concerning all social concerns rather than few, in the idea that World affairs/concerns should affect the conscious of every individual if they wish to seek true integrity.
Non-Quaker Howard Thurman’s view on Quakerism’s values being unsatisfactory if denominational tendencies serve as boundaries for spiritual seekers rest, thus pushing Quakers and any religion to complicate tradition in favor of morally remixing as a whole. Thurman seeks to ” Kindle thy Light oh God, so that all my darkness can be clearly defined, and I can Recognize & Respond to Darkness of Others”
Ira de Augustine Reid’s piece stood involves Peace must be balanced as spiritually proper & scientifically supported rather than dismissed on the basis both measures can’t coexist. He indicates a “Looking-Glass” reflective self, balancing the self-conscious and outward actions, similar to the idea of John Woolman emphasizing the importance of conduct. He concludes Quakers must look beyond limited strategies venting controversial matters that isolate voices and Peace must be both Inward & Outward.
Conclusion:
My concluding remark on the multiple perspectives listened, each narrative is uniquely structured to the context of its narrator’s experience. However, they all relate on the idea of “sensing the meaning” of the subject and environment in their narrative that pushes for a evaluating the present culture and its continuity, in which their unique lesson can be a timeless reference for influencing all world-measures.
Some Considerations for relating a relation of the nature of this text:
This “disruptive yet restructuring element” is also common in several African Oral traditions, where the narration truly makes meaning in the timelessly theorizing the space. African Oral traditions pre-dating western influence sometimes ask for a moral basis for the activity that is emphasized by the traditional critique process, an example African Dilemma Tales serve to be debated by listeners, who then indirectly engage the process in community decision-making for ensuring the outcome is not standardized by western objectives. Each stage of the experience is masterfully existent in literature, which indicates the literature is a direct representation of the oral language itself, and equally represented are any conflicts or dynamics influencing that oral (now written) performance.
Cone’s Black theology advocates disapproval in the abstract truths accredited to white theologians: such as their assertion of God as a passive universal being without living the black worldly experience. This breaks the bonded physical and spiritual experience, particularly negating God’s loyalty to the oppressed. If an ultimate higher reality is to have any concrete meaning, it must relate to the very essence of what makes up the entire existence of blackness in both present and history. Cone among many other influential theologians, assert identity is with blackness because it’s all that is known, also specifically what it means for millions living under white supremacy, directing the living experience of the World. Black Theology created a space for Black Power and Christianity amidst dismissal in earlier times, because it allowed voicing conviction on racially biased religious practice and seeking reconciliation from tensions among other religious spaces. Let’s not forget its influence in faith-based human rights advocacy in the civil rights movement and Quaker Peacebuilding in Africa.
The Black Prophetic Tradition, as Dr. Cornel West popularly coined as the means in which black occupation of leadership amidst facing extensive social oppression, cosmically transforms cultural concepts and the present experience that eventually shifts worldly conduct through a spiritual realm. It ultimately teaches us not to make decisions on impulsiveness or immorality. This narrative structure mainly concerns “with the project of finding a voice (that previously wasn’t there), with language as an instrument of injury and salvation, of selfhood and empowerment.” This is a powerful tool for remixing Quakerism in a way that sticks to the values in its creation, but also never being out of tune with real-world measures and issues.
The Quakers in America were among the specific first gathering of Christians to point out the numerous perils maintaining the institution of Slavery, particularly regarding the moral and physical assessment in the institution’s violation of the Golden Rule of nonviolence, advocating it eventually would recirculate violence unto their local communities. William Penn pondered it, leading the creation of movements that agitated companions and foes over the issue. In America, the Quakers were at the front line of the Abolition Movement, but Quakerism still has undergone challenges with regards to assessing race or non-friends in spiritual spaces.
The Black Prophetic Tradition acts in a role similarly to that of the facilitator in Quaker-Business, regarding open systems thinking. This pushes for sensing the meaning of context in which both concern-and the sought for response to it-unfolds. Thus, there is necessity for clarity on the system which the concern’s indication and insinuation for the communal interdependence exists.
Toomer:
Toomer, an African American Quaker, displays vagueness towards direct references to racial relations but an enthusiasm for resisting any form of creed. Quakerism similarly involves the regard everybody's wellbeing in conviction of a particular creed, but rather each member using capacity to comprehend themselves and their own identities. Jean Toomer's Quaker conviction associates with his compositions on the place of the African American in the twentieth century Jean Toomer depicts how African Americans could ascend from those past recognizable pieces of proof as depicted as just slaves. They are likewise attempting to discover a voice for themselves, which many later followed.
Toomer’s prose reflects both traditions on the problem separating God and Man, first referencing Fox’s foundation on Quaker philosophy advocating God is within every human being and directly contacting the divine is a necessity. However, he cites a lack of specifics and distinctions on the inner light itself calls means for discourse. He cites that God does not exist in our ignorance or godless tendencies, yet they exist within us, meaning that a single self is non-existent but rather a dual-selves concerning the inward divine presence. Quakers reflect this belief, using terms such as “earthly man” or “spiritual man,” but Toomer’s definition as “Spiritual Self” and “Separated Self” reflects transforming these terms structure to authentically reflect their definitions within his context. The Seperated self is the human element that limits to ability to have a relationship with the divine, as well as prayer or love coming naturally as breathing, thus must be dismantled by Quakers and other spiritual communities alike to truly gain closeness/unity with the Divine through the spiritual self. Thomas Kelly also advocated
not seeking seek possession of separate “several selves” push seeking a collective self-aligned with The Divine.
One part of this testimony I liked was his assertion of human tendency to approach this problem with leniency, which disrupts active focus on seeking God’s kingdom and encourages fondness on world pleasures. This reflects a push for disrupting dominance and active participation, even more prevalent in his description on actively using the body and mind as tools for worship amongst all religious practitioners, whether involving means of external symbols/music to “embody” worship or disconnecting oneself from worldly distractions through mindfulness in a plain manner. Both strategies can be productive in activating the spiritual nature of humans, but also can promote deadness or excitement for worship not truly aligning with God, in which Toomer’s concluding solution as avoiding sterility while creatively seeking aliveness mirrors the true motion of Light & Love.
Other Examples in Black Fire:
Bayard Rustin demonstrates Intersectionality in his “No-Win” policy within movements ignores institutions, aligning them with Moderates. Rustin’s narrative stresses the importance in concerning all social concerns rather than few, in the idea that World affairs/concerns should affect the conscious of every individual if they wish to seek true integrity.
Non-Quaker Howard Thurman’s view on Quakerism’s values being unsatisfactory if denominational tendencies serve as boundaries for spiritual seekers rest, thus pushing Quakers and any religion to complicate tradition in favor of morally remixing as a whole. Thurman seeks to ” Kindle thy Light oh God, so that all my darkness can be clearly defined, and I can Recognize & Respond to Darkness of Others”
Ira de Augustine Reid’s piece stood involves Peace must be balanced as spiritually proper & scientifically supported rather than dismissed on the basis both measures can’t coexist. He indicates a “Looking-Glass” reflective self, balancing the self-conscious and outward actions, similar to the idea of John Woolman emphasizing the importance of conduct. He concludes Quakers must look beyond limited strategies venting controversial matters that isolate voices and Peace must be both Inward & Outward.
Conclusion:
My concluding remark on the multiple perspectives listened, each narrative is uniquely structured to the context of its narrator’s experience. However, they all relate on the idea of “sensing the meaning” of the subject and environment in their narrative that pushes for a evaluating the present culture and its continuity, in which their unique lesson can be a timeless reference for influencing all world-measures.
Some Considerations for relating a relation of the nature of this text:
This “disruptive yet restructuring element” is also common in several African Oral traditions, where the narration truly makes meaning in the timelessly theorizing the space. African Oral traditions pre-dating western influence sometimes ask for a moral basis for the activity that is emphasized by the traditional critique process, an example African Dilemma Tales serve to be debated by listeners, who then indirectly engage the process in community decision-making for ensuring the outcome is not standardized by western objectives. Each stage of the experience is masterfully existent in literature, which indicates the literature is a direct representation of the oral language itself, and equally represented are any conflicts or dynamics influencing that oral (now written) performance.
Cone’s Black theology advocates disapproval in the abstract truths accredited to white theologians: such as their assertion of God as a passive universal being without living the black worldly experience. This breaks the bonded physical and spiritual experience, particularly negating God’s loyalty to the oppressed. If an ultimate higher reality is to have any concrete meaning, it must relate to the very essence of what makes up the entire existence of blackness in both present and history. Cone among many other influential theologians, assert identity is with blackness because it’s all that is known, also specifically what it means for millions living under white supremacy, directing the living experience of the World. Black Theology created a space for Black Power and Christianity amidst dismissal in earlier times, because it allowed voicing conviction on racially biased religious practice and seeking reconciliation from tensions among other religious spaces. Let’s not forget its influence in faith-based human rights advocacy in the civil rights movement and Quaker Peacebuilding in Africa.
May 28, 2023
Helpful and wide-ranging collection of writing by African American Quakers - some on race, racism, and civil rights; some on pacifism, nonviolence, and international issues; and my personal favourites were some of the passages on worship and spirituality.
February 5, 2022
As a Quaker I found this a thought-provoking book and a welcome expansion of my knowledge of Black Quakers. I appreciated that much of it was direct writings by Black Quakers, with short biographies at the start of each chapter. I appreciate getting the email newsletter from
TheBlackQuakerProject which talks about these Friends and others.
TheBlackQuakerProject which talks about these Friends and others.
October 22, 2025
This book dispells myths we tell ourselves as Friends and teaches black history in a personal way. If I were writing a curriculum on Quaker history, this book would be required reading. It's not perfect. The collection skews heavily male, and some of the selections make the book feel unfocused, but I learned a lot.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews