The Crossroads Project

African American personal faith and organized traditions have had historic impact | Opinion The history of faith in the African American community is not only about individual faith but also serves as a counter to the racism of religious communities in America.

My latest in the @inquirer.com today, read it for free!
share.inquirer.com/talMFY

The instructors for the Black Buddhism workshop below include @xroadproj.bsky.social Community Stories Fellow Rima Vesely-Flad who contributed a project, "Uplifting Black Nichiren Buddhist Voices" to our SPIRIT HOUSE site.

Black Buddhism Faculty Training Workshop
@princetonccsr.bsky.social
August 5-8, 2026.
Application deadline: February 23.

Focused on pedagogy in the study of Black Buddhism; conversation among scholars of African American religion and Buddhism; encouraging students to pursue Buddhist Studies.

How music galvanized the fight for civil rights | Cornell Chronicle Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches tapped into a Black musical tradition that animated the Civil Rights Movement, says Ambre Dromgoole, assistant professor of Africana religions and music.

A lovely profile of @xroadproj.bsky.social Research Fellow @ambrelynae.bsky.social in the Cornell Chronicle. You can also view her exhibit about gospel songwriter Roxie Ann Moore on SPIRIT HOUSE.

www.crossroads-spirithouse.org/dromgoole

SPIRIT HOUSE SPIRIT HOUSE invests in and celebrates the richness and abundance of Black religions as they manifest through scholarly research, artistic expression, and community building.

Gearing up for a new semester? Did you know that @xroadproj.bsky.social's SPIRIT HOUSE gallery of 36 projects on varied aspects of Black religious histories, communities, and cultures has a teaching guide? Check it out here:

The Center for Religion and Cities Presents:
Faith and Justice in the City: The Black Religion Summit
an online event
Feb 5, 2026 from 5pm to 7pm EST

Featuring @xroadproj.bsky.social Community Stories Fellow Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera.

Registration information in the link.

@xroadproj.bsky.social Community Stories Fellow Shantel George's book, The Yoruba Are on a Rock: Recaptured Africans and the Orisas of Grenada, is on #Slaveryarchive's list of the 10 best books of 2025.

More Crossroads Fellows: Khytie Brown, Samiha Rahman, Eziaku Nwokocha, and Fatima Siwaju.

Project Director @judithweisenfeld.com connected with many Crossroads Fellows: @mjcressler.bsky.social, @spiritcitizen.bsky.social, and Charrise Barron.

Ahmad Greene-Hayes (r), Khytie Brown, Jamil Drake, Jathan Martin, Joseph Winters, Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh, and Yvonne Chireau.

2022 Crossroads Research Fellow @ahmadgreene.com’s book *Underworld Work* was also the subject of a round table discussion.

Judith Weisenfeld, Nicole Myers Turner, Terence Keel, Jamil Drake, Wangui Muigai, and Danielle Boaz.

@xroadproj.bsky.social staff and fellows have been busy at this year’s annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion. Project Director @judithweisenfeld.com’s book *Black Religion in the Madhouse* was the subject of a round table discussion.

Check out this exhibit at Howard University on Black religious life in Gordon Parks' photography, curated by @xroadproj.bsky.social affiliate Dr. Melanee C. Harvey. It closes on December 1, 2025.

@xroadproj.bsky.social Director @judithweisenfeld.com's book, *Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake,* will be the subject of a roundtable at #aarsbl2025.

Black and white image of a river baptism with the words SPIRIT HOUSE: A Crossroads Project added.

New projects and a teaching resources added to the Crossroads Project's online gallery at SPIRIT HOUSE! Designed by @mpgphd.bsky.social, the site features 37 original projects exploring Black religious histories, communities and cultures. 1/2

Visit the site: www.crossroads-spirithouse.org

SPIRIT HOUSE SPIRIT HOUSE invests in and celebrates the richness and abundance of Black religions as they manifest through scholarly research, artistic expression, and community building.

In addition to the new projects, SPIRIT HOUSE now features a teaching guide (linked below), also available in text form at the project site (crossroads.princeton.edu/resources/te...).
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Black and white image of a river baptism with the words SPIRIT HOUSE: A Crossroads Project added.

New projects and a teaching resources added to the Crossroads Project's online gallery at SPIRIT HOUSE! Designed by @mpgphd.bsky.social, the site features 37 original projects exploring Black religious histories, communities and cultures. 1/2

Visit the site: www.crossroads-spirithouse.org

Black Religion in the Americas Seminar The Crossroads Project’s Black Religion in the Americas Seminar explores topics in religions and cultures broadly and from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, biography, cu...

We are excited to announce the 2025-2026 schedule for the @xroadproj.bsky.social's *Black Religion in the Americas Seminar,* which meets on select Fridays on Zoom. Free and open to faculty, graduate students, and interested members of the public. Registration required.

Congratulations to the Journal of Africana Religions on @ahmadgreene.com's appointment as Managing Editor. The journal and field are fortunate to have such a stellar scholar involved in this work.

YouTube video by Mellon Foundation In Monumental Art, Discover Untold Stories of America

Revisit @xroadproj.bsky.social Arts Fellow @ashoncrawley.bsky.social's moving 2023 sound installation on the National Mall as part of an exhibit curated by the Mellon Foundation. You can learn more at our SPIRIT HOUSE site:
www.crossroads-spirithouse.org/crawley

Donate Here As we embark on our exciting journey as a newly established stand-alone center, our primary goal is to secure vital funding of $12,000 wi...

As we embark on our exciting journey as a newly established stand-alone center, our primary goal is to secure vital funding of $12,000 within the next three months.
r3center1.blogspot.com/p/donate.html

Congratulations to @xroadproj.bsky.social friends @jstuart.bsky.social and Eziaku Nwokocha on being selected for the next cohort of @csraac.bsky.social Young Scholars in American Religion!

There's still time to submit a proposal to share your work in our new seminar. The sessions will be virtual and open to colleagues, students, and interested members of the general public with registration.

Photograph of some old, typed notes about a newspaper article from June 20, 1866

For Juneteenth, I published some newly (re)discovered evidence about the very first celebration of the holiday in 1866. Read more …

Spirituals and Shout Songs from the Georgia Coast | Smithsonian Folkways Recordingsicon-circle-playsvg-new-pause-buttonicon-circle-playsvg-new-pause-buttonicon-circle-playsvg-new-pause-buttonicon-circ... Acclaimed upholders of the African American ring shout, the McIntosh County Shouters keep the faith, form, and fervor of the generations-old tradition rooted in their small community of coastal Georgi...

The Smithsonian Folkways site is a treasure trove of African American, African diaspora, and African religious music. For Juneteenth, Folkways recommends "Spirituals and Shout Songs from the Georgia Coast."

More than a massacre: How an outsider captured Mother Emanuel's legacy (RNS) — In 'Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church,' journalist Kevin Sack offers perspective on the historic Black church, beyond the 2015 murder ...

An interview with Kevin Sack about his new book on the history of Charleston's Mother Emanuel AME.

YouTube video by LIL BUZZ DirectOr In The Shadow of Malcolm X

We're so glad to have this video from the Africana Islamic Social Sciences and Humanities Association of the May conference, "In the Shadow of Malcolm X," held in Dakar, Senegal to mark Malcolm's 100th birthday.

Buffett Q&A: Reflections from Our Inaugural Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows : Buffett Institute for Global Affairs - Northwestern University Read insights from four Northwestern undergraduate and graduate students who attended COP29 through the Buffett Institute's support.

Read about the work of @xroadproj.bsky.social Community Stories Fellow KB Dennis Meade's undergraduate research assistant, Atarah Israel. Israel worked with Dennis Meade and Khytie Brown on their documentary *Crossing the Kalunga Line.*

So great to read @mpgphd.bsky.social's conversation with @ahmadgreene.com about his new book, *Underworld Work: Black Atlantic Religion Making in Jim Crow New Orleans,* which is a game-changer. #AfAmReligion

Home - Reading Religion

There are lots of #AfAmReligion books available for review on Reading Religion, and grad students are welcome to review. Here are a few:

Ahmad Greene-Hayes, *Underworld Work*
Kai Parker, *City of Black Souls*
Alphonso Saville, *The Gospel of John Marrant*
Danielle Boaz, *Voodoo*

Theology Meets Southern Gothic Horror in Ryan Coogler’s "Sinners" - Reading Religion The title Sinners invites a theological reading. Who are the sinners, and what is sin? In a world where whiteness proclaims itself as salvation, Remmick’s declaration—“I am the way”—parodies Christian...

A review by Amber Lowe: "Theology Meets Southern Gothic Horror in Ryan Coogler's *Sinners*."