Baptized in Blood: The Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865–1920, by Charles Reagan Wilson

On the Lived Theology Reading List: Baptized in Blood

In Baptized in Blood, Charles Reagan Wilson has created a significant and well-written study of the South’s civil religion, one of two public faiths in America. Wilson shows how in the wake of the Civil War, southerners adopted the Lost Cause as a way to preserve their cultural identity by blending Christian rhetoric and symbols with the rhetoric and imagery of Confederate tradition. Read More

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The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered, by Roland L. Freeman

On the Lived Theology Reading List: The Mule Train

The Mule Train, about 150 people in twenty mule-drawn wagons from Marks, Mississippi, was determined to make the nation aware of the plight of America’s poor. This was the start of the Poor People’s Campaign, created by Dr. King shortly before he was assassinated. Both The Mule Train and its origin is now mostly forgotten, but The Mule Train commemorates it in this collection of photographs by Roland Freeman and others. Read More

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The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, by Jon N. Hale

On the Lived Theology Reading List: The Freedom Schools

In The Freedom Schools, Jon N. Hale discusses the Mississippi Freedom Schools, which were formed during 1964 as part of the Mississippi Freedom Summer. These schools were started by educators and activists to provide an alternative education for African American students that would facilitate student activism and participatory democracy, and had a crucial role in the civil rights movement as well as the development of progressive education in the United States as a whole. Read More

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Myths America Lives By: White Supremacy and the Stories That Give Us Meaning, by Richard T. Hughes

On the Lived Theology Reading List: Myths America Lives By

In this revised second edition of Myths America Lives By, Richard T. Hughes delves anew into the thought of black critics dissatisfied with America’s betrayal of its foundational beliefs. Hughes posits that six myths lie at the heart of the American experience. Taken as aspirational, four of those myths remind us of our noblest ideals, challenging us to realize our nation’s promise while galvanizing the sense of hope and unity we need to reach our goals. Read More

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