'Jesus is black.': Race and Christianity in African American church art, 1968--1986

Between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s, black Christian congregations increasingly commissioned art that incorporated references to Africa, African American history, a black Jesus, and political leaders. The new church art had several precedents from the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century and thus continued a certain tradition in African American thought. However, in frequency, in scope, and in its choice of subjects, it marked a significant departure from earlier examples.;Popularized in the post-1960 period, African American church art must be considered in the context of historical movements such as Black Power, the Black Arts Movement, and black theologies. Its imagery responded to the same issues that lay at the heart of these movements. However, black church art created during this time offered not only new interpretations of race and politics, but also of Christianity. This dissertation examines how congregations engaged in a careful negotiation of race and religion in order to create an identity rooted in both.;Focusing on three mural projects, I propose that by utilizing diverse strategies such as familiar Christian iconography, sacred texts, or denominational history, African American churches attempted to "sacralize" perceived "secular" subjects, such as black history, through church art. As the mixed reception of these images illustrates, the process of "sacralization" resulted in new understandings of both Christianity and race that congregation members sometimes rejected. At the same time, it was this very process that encouraged acceptance of the new imagery.;Ultimately, I argue that African American church art created during this period was a key component of many congregations' move toward what scholar David D. Daniels calls the "new black middle-class religion." Murals, windows, and sculpture articulated congregational identity in a visual manner. Their imagery contributes to a broader understanding of the interaction between Christianity and race during a critical period of American history.