Slavery and the eclipse of the African Gods, 1760-1860 -- The crucible of the Anglo-African conscience, 1861-1893 -- The vale of tears, 1894-1919 -- The new Negro, 1920-1955 -- The Civil Rights ethos, 1956-1980 -- Postmodern African-American worlds, 1981-1994.
List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART 1. SLAVERY AND THE ECLIPSE OF THE AFRICAN GODS, 1760-1860 : Penitential cries to God (1760) / Jupiter Hammon -- A prayer for new birth (1776) / Lemuel Haynes -- A mother's prayer fo the child in her womb (1779) / Phillis Wheatley -- A prayer for faith (1787-1830) / Richard Allen -- A prayer for hope (1787-1830) / Richard Allen -- A prayer for love (1787-1830) / Richard Allen -- A Thanksgiving prayer for the abolition of the African slave trade (1808) / Absalom Jones -- A prayer for sanctification (1808?) / Jarena Lee -- A prayer for Africa's children (1808) / Peter Williams, Jr. -- A prayer for trust (1817) / Peter Williams, Jr. -- A prayer for the abolition of slavery (1813) / George Lawrence -- A slave woman's prayer (1816) / (Stephen Hays) -- A desire to know our characters (1816) / John Jea -- For the morning (1816) / John Jea -- Prayers from a pilgrim's journal (1820) / Daniel Coker -- A prophet's plea to God (1829) / David Walker -- And now what wait we for? (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- A prayer for divine companionship (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- A prayer for holy zeal (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- A prayer for the children of Africa in America (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- A prayer for purification (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- A prayer for vision (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- O God, this great work is thine (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- Purge us from all our dross (1835) / Maria W. Stewart -- The hour of prayer (1837) / Daniel Alexander Payne -- Prayer for dedication of a church edifice (1848) / Daniel Alexander Payne -- A teacher's prayer (1841) / Ann Plato -- Instructions in the midst of prayer (1843) / Rebecca Cox Jackson -- A pastor's last prayer for his people (1854) / London Ferrill -- A slave mother's doleful prayer (1858?) / Fannie Woods.
PART 2. THE CRUCIBLE OF THE ANGLO-AFRICAN CONSCIENCE, 1861-1893 : A piteous prayer to a hidden God (1861) / (Harriet A. Jacobs) -- A poor Negro's prayer (1864) / (Anonymous) -- A sacred ode: a prayer for the consecration of a pulpit (1866) / Daniel Alexander Payne -- A prayer for the mourner's bench (1867) / An anonymous "colored" woman -- Poetic prayer for a new day (1870) / Charles Henry Phillips -- A prayer at Westminster Abbey (1878) / James Theodore Holly -- Always pray (1878) / Sojourner Truth -- We bless God (1888) / Alexander Crummell -- A benediction for a peaceful soul (1889) / Anthony Binga, Jr. -- A prayer for power (1889) / Orrin Stone -- Doxology (1890) / Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard -- I will look up (1890) / Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard -- Matin hymn (1890) / Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard -- Thou lovest me (1890) / Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard -- Unuttered prayer (1890) / Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard -- A slave mother's prayer (1890) / Sallie Smith -- Some prayers of slave children (1890) / Sallie Smith -- A bishop's benediction (1892) / Singleton Thomas Jones -- O God, save me (1893) / Frederick Douglass -- A conversation with the Lord (1893) / Amanda Smith.
PART 3. THE VALE OF TEARS, 1894-1919 : A prayer for spiritual assurance (1894) / Charles Price Jones -- As I am running (1906) / Charles Price Jones -- Lord, rebuke thy servant not (1906) / Charles Price Jones -- Prayer for consecration (1906) / Charles Price Jones -- Our plea (1894) / Benjamin Tucker Tanner -- Hidden grief (1895) / Benjamin Tucker Tanner -- Who? (1895) / Benjamin Tucker Tanner -- Ah, tender soul (1899) / Benjamin Tucker Tanner -- Again and one more time (1895) / (Anonymous) -- The sun done rose (1895) / (Anonymous) -- An offering (1895) / Eloise Alberta Veronica Bibb -- Lead gently, Lord (1895) / Paul Laurence Dunbar -- The warrior's prayer (1895) / Paul Laurence Dunbar -- When storms arise (1895) / Paul Laurence Dunbar -- The soul's thirst (1895) / Lewis Ruffin Nichols -- A psalm of the soul (1896) / Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman -- A hymn of praise (1902) / Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman -- Elijah's stay (1898) / John B. Smalls -- A prayer for the human heart (1898) / John B. Smalls -- A slave father's prayer (1898) / Jacob Stroyer -- Lord God, to whom our fathers pray'd (1899) / Benjamin Griffith Brawley -- A hymn (1900) / Priscilla Jane Thompson -- A prayer (1907) / Priscilla Jane Thompson -- The century prayer (1901) / James Ephraim McGirt -- Stand by me (1905) / Charles Albert Tindley -- A litany of Atlanta (1906) / William Edward Burghardt Du Bois -- Give us grace (1909-1910) / William Edward Burghardt Du Bois -- A prayer for endurance (1909-1910) / William Edward Burghardt Du Bois -- A prayer for vision and thought (1909-1910) / William Edward Burghardt Du Bois -- The prayers of God (1914) / William Edward Burghardt Du Bois -- A vision at the great Azusa prayer meetings (1907) / Charles Harrison Mason -- An exhortative invocation (1919) / Charles Harrison Mason -- I'll follow thee (1908) / Clara Ann Thompson -- Out of the deep: a prayer (1908) / Clara Ann Thompson -- Storm-beaten (1908) / Clara Ann Thompson -- Appeal to heaven (1914) / Maurice N. Corbett -- Lord, your weak servants bow (1914) / Maurice N. Corbett -- Thou hast supplied my every need (1916-1918) / Theodore Henry Shackelford -- A prayer for the nations (1918) / Walter Henderson Brooks.
PART 4. THE NEW NEGRO, 1920-1955 : Cleave us a way, O Lord (1920) / Raymond Garfield Dandridge -- God of our weary years (1921) / James Weldon Johnson -- A prayer for Good Friday (1923) / George Alexander McGuire -- A prayer for the synod ... (1924) / George Alexander McGuire -- We are fully in thy sight (1924) / Charles Albert Tindley -- Pagan prayer (1925) / Countee Porter Cullen -- The shroud of color (1925) / Countee Porter Cullen -- Prayer for freedom from race prejudice (1925) / Robert C. Lawson -- Keep me from sinkin' down (1927) / (Robert Nathaniel Dett) -- A deacon's campmeeting prayer (1928) / (Anonymous) -- De same God (1928?) / (Anonymous) -- Draw me, dear Jesus (1928) / Garfield Thomas Haywood -- A marriage prayer (1929) / Lewis Garnett Jordan -- O Lord, have mercy! (1930) / (James Cameron) -- The inward conflict (1932) / Walter Henderson Brooks -- Holy Spirit, come! (1940) / Walter Henderson Brooks -- In this hour (1941) / Walter Henderson Brooks -- One thing I crave (1945) / Walter Henderson Brooks -- Precious Lord, take my hand (1932) / Thomas Andrew Dorsey -- Sunday School prayers (1933) / (Benjamin Elijah Mays and Joseph William Nicholson) {We thank thee -- Thankful pleading -- Thy holy presence -- A Sunday morning prayer -- We beg thee -- We ask thee -- We surrender to thee -- Thy wonderful blessings -- Forever and ever -- The sweet voice -- Duty bound to pray -- Bless the low in Spirit} -- Grant me strength (1934) / Esther Popel -- A Thanksgiving prayer (1935) / William Massie -- A prayer of contrition (1935) / John Nathaniel Samuels-Belboder -- A mother's desperate plea (1939) / (Richard Wright) -- A familiar prayer (1940) / (J.G. St. Clair Drake) -- Touch me, Lord Jesus (1941) / Lucie Mae Campbell -- God speed the day (1941) / Ralph Mark Gilbert -- Look thou with compassion upon every heart (1941) / Ralph Mark Gilbert -- O shepard divine (1941) / Ralph Mark Gilbert -- Our need for thee (1941) / Ralph Mark Gilbert -- We need thy hand (1941) / Ralph Mark Gilbert -- Return, O Lord (1944) / Charles Eric Lincoln -- They would pray (1945) / (Benjamin Albert Botkin) -- Dear God, thank you for the morning light (1945) / Elizabeth J. Dabney -- O my God, please close this war (1945) / Elizabeth J. Dabney -- Please send our boys back home (1945) / Elizabeth J. Dabney -- What it means to pray through (1945) / Elizabeth J. Dabney -- I ask you, Jesus, to take care of me (1949) / Diana Brown -- Send it now, Lord (1951) / (William H. Pipes) -- Thank thee for everything (1951) / (William H. Pipes) -- Thou have widen the way for us (1951) / (William H. Pipes) -- I let go of my accumulations (1951) / Howard Thurman -- O God, I need thee (1951) / Howard Thurman -- The prayer of Florence's mother (1952) / James Arthur Baldwin -- Lead me, guide me (1953) / Doris Akers.
PART 5. THE CIVIL RIGHTS ETHOS, 1956-1980 : A prayer for a college woman (1956) / William Lloyd Imes -- A pastoral prayer (1956) / Martin Luther King, Jr. -- A prayer for freedom (1957) / Raphael Philemon Powell -- Prayer for teacher (1958) / (James Mercer Langston Hughes and Arra Wendell Bontemps) -- The eighth psalm (1958) / Charles Eric Lincoln -- A prayer for love (1958) / Charles Eric Lincoln -- Bless those who teach (1961) / John Malcus Ellison -- Rekindle our sense of wonder (1961) / John Malcus Ellison -- We cast ourselves upon thee (1961) / Jesse Jai McNeil -- Brother Ezekiel prays besides Hetta's deathbed (1966) / (Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander) -- Vyry's prayer in the wilderness of reconstruction (1966) / (Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander) -- A child's prayer (1966) / (Otho B. Cobbins) -- A prayer for African American peoplehood (1968) / Albert B. Cleage, Jr. -- The hasty word (1969) / Howard Thurman -- We don't know how (1969) / Howard Thurman -- Give me a clean heart (1970) / Margaret Pleasant Douroux -- Memorial prayer at Howard University in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King (1970) / Smallwood Edmond Williams -- A prayer for a positive attitude (1972) / Leon H. Sullivan -- Good Friday declarations of awareness (1972) / M. Moran Weston -- Benediction (1973) / William Lee Ransome -- Lord, help me to hold out (1974) / James Cleveland -- Dear Jesus, I love you (1976) / Walter Hawkins -- The prayers of our grandmothers (1977) / Jesse Louis Jackson -- Help me, Lord, to stand for the kingdom (1978) / James Alexander Forbes, Jr. -- Pray for the Christian family (1978) / Fred C. Lofton -- You know the purpose of our gathering, Jesus (1980) / James Brown -- A prayer before the everlasting fountain (1980) / Gardner Calvin Taylor.
PART 6. POSTMODERN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WORLDS, 1981-1994 : The classic African-American folk prayer (1981) / (Melva W. Costen) -- The plea of a raped woman (1982) / (Alice Walker) -- A prayer for healing (1983) / Richard Daniel Henton -- O God, slow us down (1983) / George Thomas -- Thank you for each one of them (1984) / William Townsend Crutcher -- Lord, we didn't come here to stay (1984) / (Wyatt Tee Walker) -- A benediction for a church ground breaking service (1989) / Benjamin Stanley Baker -- Trying to see the light (1989) / James Arthur Baldwin -- A peace and affirmation prayer (1989) / Johnnie Colemon -- Lord, I'm willing (1989) / Genna Rae McNeil -- A plea for divine prescence (1989) / J. Alfred Smith, Sr. -- An altar prayer (1989) / Jeremiah Wright, Jr. -- O God of love, power and justice (1990) / James Alexander Forbes, Jr. -- Dear God, if you please (1992) / Matthew L. Watley -- Dear God, my son prays (1992) / William Donnel Watley -- O God, death is all around (1992) / William Donnel Watley -- O God, I get so tired of racism wherever I go (1992) / William Donnel Watley -- I call upon your name, Lord Jesus (1993) / Leroy Davis -- We need thee, Lord Jesus, as never before (1993) / Fred C. Lofton -- A pastor's prayer for a son on drugs (1993) / Lloyd Preston Terrell -- A pastor's prayer for those in prison (1993) / Lloyd Preston Terrell -- I must tell Jesus (1993) / Nancy Lynne Westfield -- A prayer for liberation that leads to liberating love (1994) / Frank Madison Reid III -- A Lenten prayer (1994) / Obie Wright, Jr. -- Why, Jesus?! (1989) / (Jeff Stetson) -- Afterword: A Scholar's Benediction / James Melvin Washington -- Contributors -- Glossary of Terms -- Selected Bibliography -- Notes on Sources -- Index.
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