From the black church basement to the public pavement: Grassroots alliances, the sunday school, organized youth activism, and a public theology of education

Abstract

This article examines the efforts of Sunday school attendees to challenge racism in America during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Participants formed alliances with nonreligious Black activist movements such as the Southern Youth Negro Congress and the Youth Council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to address issues that impacted African-American youth and adults as a result of racism and White supremacy while fighting for social, political, and economy equality and status as first-class citizens in America.