MyStory, YourStory, OurStory: Literacy Development in the Black Church Past, Present, & Future

Abstract

The Black Church is the oldest anti-racist institution in America. Having educated generations of Black families, birthed schools, universities, hospitals, financial institutions, various music genres, and nurtured numerous advocates and martyrs for freedom, including access to literacy, it is directly responsible for many of the most significant gains in racial equity in American history. Yet, the Black Church has largely been ignored in conversations concerning the best way to educate Black students in America's schools. A question for the 21st century is: What can educators, particularly literacy researchers, learn from the Black Church? The Black Church is an extremely underutilized resource from which educators could learn best practices in literacy education to potentially reduce educational inequities with persistence. What are some of these best practices? How and why are they implemented in the learning environment of the Black Church? When simultaneously discussing the historical development of the Black Church and the literacy development of African Americans, it becomes apparent that they portray a mutually reinforcing relationship. This growth, based on a foundation of Black Liberation Theology and a continuous need to fight racism, developed from the initial need for a unified response to the slavemasters’ efforts to justify slavery with a perverted interpretation of the Christian Bible. This detailed discussion of the Black Church's origins, historical development, and contemporary practices will highlight the complex connections between religion, literacy, language, relationships, and politics, and inform scholarship of the Black Church's role as the established expert in the education of Black people.