New World A-Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great Migration

by Judith Weisenfeld

Winner of the 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Book Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions

Demonstrates that the efforts to contest conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America that still resonate today.    When Joseph Nathaniel Beckles registered for the draft in the 1942,  he rejected the racial categories presented to him and persuaded the registrar to cross out the check mark she had placed next to Negro and substitute "Ethiopian Hebrew."  "God did not make us Negroes," declared religious leaders in black communities of the early twentieth-century urban North. They insisted that so-called Negroes are, in reality, Ethiopian Hebrews, Asiatic Muslims, or raceless children of God. Rejecting conventional American racial classification, many black southern migrants and immigrants from the Caribbean embraced these alternative visions of black history, racial identity, and collective future, thereby reshaping the black religious and racial landscape. 
Focusing on the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, Father Divine's Peace Mission Movement, and a number of congregations of Ethiopian Hebrews, Judith Weisenfeld argues that the appeal of these groups lay not only in the new religious opportunities membership provided, but also in the novel ways they formulated a religio-racial identity. Arguing that members of these groups understood their religious and racial identities as divinely-ordained and inseparable, the book examines how this sense of self shaped their conceptions of their bodies, families, religious and social communities, space and place, and political sensibilities. 

Weisenfeld draws on extensive archival research and incorporates a rich array of sources to highlight the experiences of average members. The book demonstrates that the efforts by members of these movements to contest conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America about the nature of racial identity and the collective future of black people that still resonate today.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Race, Grad School, Spirituality

368 pages, Hardcover

Published February 7, 2017

Reviews

[Brother Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not finish this book, but I liked what I read about in the first few chapters. I learned a lot of history.

[Greg Soden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful history featuring charismatic leaders and ordinary people who founded and practiced in the Moorish Science Temple, the Ethiopian Hebrews, Nation of Islam, and with Father Divine. The history of intertwining race and religion is compelling reading for often overlooked pieces of US history.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific exploration of how Black migrants in the early 20th century resisted White constructs of race and religion by joining and leading religious movements that rejected American racial categories. By comparing and contrasting five groups – Father Divine's Peace Movement, the Nation of Islam, the Moorish Science Temple, and a pair of Black Jewish movements – Weisenfeld shows how Blacks took control of their "religio-racial identity," either by rejecting racial categories altogether or insisting they be called Moorish Americans, Hebrews, etc.

One of my favorite parts of the book is how Weisenfeld manages to wring interesting stories out of Census data and draft registration cards, which were a site of conflict between the religio-racial identity of these groups' followers and the American bureaucracy that wanted to pigeonhole them into predetermined racial categories.

If I have any complaint, it's that the scholarly writing is fairly dense, difficult though not impossible for a layperson, which is unfortunate, given the groundbreaking nature of the study and the inherently fascinating topic at hand. A popular-level version would be welcome.

[Mikayla Chen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another gutted book for class.

Notes from my synthesis chart:
I'm going to be honest, I feel indifferent -- maybe even bored? I don't feel drawn into this conversation. I think it might because this is a more dense academic piece, but I don't really feel like there's a point where I'm like, "This is why this matters. This is why I should care about this topic."

It's about cults, but at the same time, it's not.

Will update this review after Weisenfeld speaks w/the class on Tuesday.

[Diana Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and eye-opening read about black founded and supported religions, Was most familiar with the Nation of Islam so very helpful to learn about the theologies, way of life, etc. of Black Jews, followers of Fr. Divine, and the Moorish Science Temple.

[Maria Gutierrez-Vera · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75-4/5

Incredibly informative overview of religious culture and individual lives among Black Americans in the urban North. At times sterile, it is positioned as a significant intervention in religious studies, which is far more apparent than any other argument the author purports to make.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 5 out of 5]

incisive analysis & riveting narratives. highly recommend.

[Parris · Rating 5 out of 5]

super cool to be able to read very in-depth about one specific topic. love weisenfeld's writing and research!!!

[C F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbly interesting for any scholar of religion and race, especially in the urban setting.

[Jim Razinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was able to get an advance read of this through NetGalley.

This is a fascinating account of some smaller, and generally unknown to the majority demographic (I'll venture generally unknown to a minority as well), segments of our society. I recall the Nation of Islam from my teen years, but admit not hearing much of them recently. I'm not sure of their relevance anymore. Indeed, I don't know if the NOI can have any relevance given the opening the xenophobic 2016 Rethuglican candidate has afforded the bigots and their platform against ...anything ... Islam. The dominance of black Christianity, coupled with the fervor of alt-right bigotry and the wrong image of Islam on the world stage, despite any differences from NOI Islam?...well, NOI will get lost. I admit ignorance with respect to Ethiopian Hebrews, and the other religio-racial movements. I learned much with this.

The research has depth and is well cited. I think the historian goal of preservation of history is admirable, but this text unfortunately comes across as too academic to be accessible to the general public and I don't know who will want to read this outside of academia. I found the narrative tedious in the early chapters, and somewhat repetitious in the later ones, but still enlightening.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fascinating book is an account of six movements within the African American community, ranging from Nation of Islam to Father Divine. The authors explores the ways that distinctive dress, dietary habits, and history (as described by the founders) unite to give a sense of belonging and identity to adherents.

ARC from Netgalley

[djreggiereg Mas Reg]

I cannot wait to read this book...my sister Judy told me that Judith had written about our grandfather Rabbi Ellis McLeod. I've heard the struggles grandpa and grandma went through to get here. I've searched through the Ellis Island website to find their ships passage and the relatives house in Harlem they stayed. I even found his draft card. The rest stops there. Their children Doris(mother) and Daisy(aunt) were sent to Jamaica as soon as they were able to go to school and didn't return until somewhere in their teens or 20's to go to college in the US. That means between 1925 and 1946 my mother and aunt only knew of the work grandpa was doing. I did know that grandma and grandpa were part of Garvey's U.N.I.A.

Judith Weisenfeld I know that I will enjoy this book no matter how much has been entered of my grandfather.

Hibuk Gadol (Big Hug)

Reggie

[David Withun · Rating 4 out of 5]

-