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Palgrave Macmillan

Black Religion

Malcolm X, Julius Lester, and Jan Willis

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  • © 2008

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Afro-Eccentricity and Autobiography

  2. The Spiritual Journey of Malcolm X

  3. The Spiritual Children of Malcolm X

Keywords

About this book

This book explores the spiritual dimensions (political, racial, sexual, and violent) of Malcolm X's journey from Christianity to Islam, Julius Lester's journey from Christianity to Judaism, and Jan Willis's journey from Christianity to Buddhism.

Reviews

"This book will be very useful for courses in the study of religious autobiography...Highly recommended." - Choice"Hart is an original thinker. In this new book, he challenges and subverts the prevailing narrative about Black Religion, namely, that it is essentially Protestant Christianity in blackface, by presenting a constructive reading of the autobiographies of three black figures whose spiritual journeys led them away from Protestant roots to embrace, respectively, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. He traces conjunctions and disjunctions between the lives of Malcolm X, Julius Lester, and Jan Willis - figures he artfully characterizes as 'Afro-Eccentric' - adding a Coda describing his perspective as author that articulates one of the most brilliant accounts of religion anywhere. By so doing, Hart revises and expands the scope of the very term Black Religion in a profoundly sophisticated way. The richness, breadth, and depth of Hart s intellect radiate from every page." - Melvin K. H. Peters, Professor of Religion, Duke University"Hart s 'Afro-Eccentric' readings of Malcolm X, Julius Lester, and Jan Willis offer not only a fascinating trope for interpreting Black Religion, his readings mark a distinctive and singular point of departure into the varieties of African American religious experience. Surpassing the most current scholarship on the deployment of religious autobiography and black religious experience, Hart s Afro-Eccentric readings set a new rigorous standard for the interpretation of difference in black religious hermeneutics. A novel force to be reckoned with for a very long time to come." - Victor Anderson, Professor of Christian Ethics, Vanderbilt Divinity School"Every now and then an iconoclastic, and deeply personal voice, breaks through to challenge dominant stories within a field. I believe William Hart's latest book, Black Religion, does exactly that." - American Journal of Theology and Philosophy

About the author

WILLIAM DAVID HART is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, USA.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Black Religion

  • Book Subtitle: Malcolm X, Julius Lester, and Jan Willis

  • Authors: William David Hart

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230612730

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy Collection, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: William David Hart 2008

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-230-60537-4Published: 21 July 2008

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-0-230-10721-2Published: 14 August 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-0-230-61273-0Published: 09 June 2008

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 228

  • Topics: Black Theology, Sociology of Religion

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