Introduction

Abstract

This introduction provides an outline of the book by discussing topics such as Black power and the Black church. Black freedom struggles in the borderland and the Black Power Movement in Cairo, Illinois. A large emphasis is placed on the exploration of the changing relationship of the Black church and African American Christianity to Cairo Black freedom struggles. The story of Karen Rice, a Black Power activist, is also provided in order to show how stories of this kind during the Black Power Movement raised important questions about Black Power’s de-Christianization and bolstered recent calls from scholars in the emergent subfield of “Black Power Studies” to probe more deeply the relationship between the Black church, African American Christianity, and the Black Power Movement.