Black Gods of the Metropolis: Negro Religious Cults of the Urban North

by Arthur Huff Fauset, Richard A. Ippolito, John F. Szwed

Stemming from his anthropological field work among black religious groups in Philadelphia in the early 1940s, Arthur Huff Fauset believed it was possible to determine the likely direction that mainstream black religious leadership would take in the future, a direction that later indeed manifested itself in the civil rights movement. The American black church, according to Fauset and other contemporary researchers, provided the one place where blacks could experiment without hindrance in activities such as business, politics, social reform, and social expression. With detailed primary accounts of these early spiritual movements and their beliefs and practices, Black Gods of the Metropolis reveals the fascinating origins of such significant modern African American religious groups as the Nation of Islam as well as the role of lesser known and even forgotten churches in the history of the black community.

In her new foreword, historian Barbara Dianne Savage discusses the relationship between black intellectuals and black religion, in particular the relationship between black social scientists and black religious practices during Fauset's time. She then explores the complexities of that relationship and its impact on the intellectual and political history of African American religion in general.

Genres: Religion, History, Anthropology, African American, Sociology, Christianity

152 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1944

Reviews

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't know the history behind this, you won't understand it. This is an absolutely fantastic book, and pretty much the only book of its nature to date. It's a ground breaking work in the black religious experience. No one - especially not white scholars - had ever ventured into this world before. Somehow, Fauset gets people to open up, he allows us all a peak into this world. I would only recommend this if you are interested in black religious history and American racial history.

[Dan Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 73 years old (hence its lack of the term "African American"), but it contains vivid portrayals of new black religious groups in Philadelphia and New York. Arthur Fauset, a biracial anthropologist and high school principal, did pioneering oral history and ethnographic work with these groups circa 1940. He never defines what a "cult" is, and I think it's a pretty problematic term, since the line between religion and cult is so subjective. Still, Fauset shows that many of these supposed cults aren't so different from major African American Protestant denominations. Mt. Sinai, the United House of Prayer for All People, and the Church of God display many features of Holiness and Pentecostal churches. Father Divine's group and the Moorish Science Temple move away from Protestantism, but are similar to the other groups in that they help African Americans address social problems and navigate the segregated American culture. Fauset also argues against the idea that black religions preserve in stasis traditions from Africa. Those African roots are present in some cases, but American social circumstances and acts of religious imagination have shaped many African American new religions.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The local community college library discontinued this work and it was available for free. I tend to be game for research on cults; I find them endlessly fascinating.

The author, whom we would now consider biracial, spent time investigating and exploring cult-like groups which had either sprung up or gained decent following primarily among the black population in the Philadelphia area in the late 1930s. Two of them seem to be some kind of Christian group (a more Pentecostal group, and "Bishop Grace's" crowd); one of them seems to be a precursor of the Black Hebrew Israelites, and another a precursor of the Nation of Islam, yet quite distinct (the Moorish Temple). The "Father Divine" movement seemed to be its own thing.

The author explores each group with testimonials from members. He compares and contrasts them in terms of their doctrines and what made them attractive. He utilizes his evidence to push back against many of the racial theories of his age - greater spirituality and emotionalism among the black population, primarily. He did well at considering how participation in these cults gave people a sense of community, cohesion, and/or identity.

An interesting read for certain.

[Kyle "Bapo" Roque · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you know what B.R.I.C.S. means, you need to read this book. This work is a foundational book for all apologetics who desire to address men and women who are captured by false teachings of this world, especially in black and brown communities. As this is an introduction to these Religious cults, this will help all build a "rolodex" of information to understand new forms of Nefro Religious Cults of today (B.R.I.C.S) and why they are so enticing to our current and future generation of believers and none.

[Yamil Hernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

TLDR: Tender ethnographic case study that treats black religions sects. A snapshot into how even 80 years ago marginalised faiths became mirrors of the society that feared what it couldn’t control.