What compels a person to risk her life to change deeply rooted systems of injustice in ways that may not benefit her? The thousands of Black Churchwomen who took part in civil rights protests drew on faith, courage, and moral imagination to acquire the lived experiences at the heart of the answers to that question. AnneMarie Mingo brings these forgotten witnesses into the historical narrative to explore the moral and ethical world of a generation of Black Churchwomen and the extraordinary liberation theology they created. These women acted out of belief that what they did was bigger than themselves. Taking as their goal nothing less than the moral transformation of American society, they joined the movement because it was something they had to do. Their personal accounts of a lived religion enacted in the world provide powerful insights into how faith steels human beings to face threats, jail, violence, and seemingly implacable hatred. Throughout, Mingo draws on their experiences to construct an ethical model meant to guide contemporary activists in the ongoing pursuit of justice.

A depiction of moral imagination that resonates today, Have You Got Good Religion? reveals how Black Churchwomen’s understanding of God became action and transformed a nation.

AnneMarie Mingois an associate professor of ethics, culture, and moral leadership at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Acknowledgments

Introduction  “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around”: A Legacy of Self-Determination in Black Freedom Struggles

1 “We Shall Overcome”: Socio-Historical Influences on Black Women’s Participation in the Civil Rights Movement

Moral Exemplar Ella Baker, A Believer in Freedom and Black Women’s Leadership

2 “Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed On Freedom”: Forming Freedom Faith

Moral Exemplar   Rev. Dr. Prathia L. Hall, A Facilitator of Freedom Faith

3 “We Shall Not Be Moved”: Cultivating Courageous Resistance

Moral Exemplar   Dr. Willa Beatrice Player, A Cultivator of Courage in a College Community

4 “Keep Your Eyes On The Prize, Hold On”: Testing Theo-Moral Imagination

Moral Exemplar  Eberta Lee Spinks: Imagining Beyond the Visible Reality

5 “Which Side Are You On?:” A Theology Of Movements For Liberation

Moral Exemplar  Bree Newsome Bass, Choosing a Religion of Freedom and Justice

Epilogue “Have You Got Good Religion?”

Appendix

Notes

Index